Poetry as Window and Mirror

Klooster (classics, U. of Amsterdam) presents a revision of her 2009 PhD dissertation at the University of Amsterdam, in which she contributes a new perspective to the recently revived interest in third-century BC Greek poetry. Concentrating on the interaction between contemporary poets, she examines the dynamics of imitation and reception in light of poetical self-positioning. In the courtly Alexandrian surroundings, she explains, choosing a poetic model and affiliation determined a poet's position in the cultural field. She discusses poetic predecessors in epigram; coming to terms with poetic models; appropriating mythical poets; criticizing and praising contemporaries; persona, alias, and alter ego in sphragix poetry; and authority and inspiration in the age of the museum. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jacqueline Klooster, Ph. D. (2009) in Classics, University of Amsterdam, is researcher and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. She has published various articles on Hellenistic Poetry including narratological analyses of time and space in Apollonius and Theocritus (Brill, 2007).