The epigrams of Philodemos

The new edition of The Epigrams of Philodemos collects all the epigrams attributed to the Epicurean philosopher and poet Philodemos of Gadara (c.110-c.40 B.C.), and is the first to receive separate publication since the brief - and incomplete - Programmschrift of George Kaibel in 1885. The heart of this book consists of a newly edited text, the result of a reexamination of several manuscripts of the Greek Anthology. Thirty-eight epigrams (two only doubtfully Philodemean, and two spurious) are printed in the original Greek and in English translation, with full critical apparatus and commentary. Sider also includes the text of a recently edited papyrus containing fragments of many previously known and newly discovered epigrams by Philodemos. In addition to the usual issues involved in editing a classical poet - i.e. the poet's life, his use of meter, the epigrammatic tradition, and the place of the epigrams in the Greek Anthology - Sider's introduction considers the relationship between Philodemos' philosophy and poetry. He explains how the epigrams fit into the literary views expressed in Philodemos' On Poems and how they accord with the Epicurean stance against the writing of poetry. This edition is far more comprehensive than any other text and commentary on Philodemos' epigrams, and is the only one to assess his poetry in the light of his poetic theory. It will be of great use to students of Greek and Latin poetry, where echoes of Philodemos are found in works of Vergil, Catullus, Horace, Ovid, Marital, and Propertius.