Commentary on the Pseudonymous Letters of Aeschines

by Zilong Guo

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Extent: 428 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Classical Studies, Literary Studies

Series: Themes and Forms in Graeco-Roman Literature

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2025)

ISBN: 9783161646881

6.06 x 9.09 inches

Price: $194.00

In stock

Through a comprehensive introduction and detailed commentary, Zilong Guo reappraises the letters attributed to the Attic orator Aeschines. These letters merit a place in Greek literature for their synthesis of preexisting literary forms. Letters 2, 3, 7, 11, and 12 imitate the letters of Demosthenes in a manner akin to rhetorical exercises. Letters 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 exhibit features reminiscent of the epistolary fiction that flourished in the first centuries AD. Letter 4 is a prose paraphrase of Pindar’s victory odes. Like other literary forgeries, these letters are both problematic and fascinating. Likely products of rhetorical culture, they nevertheless hold a unique place as early – and remarkably successful – examples of how literary and political trends were interwoven to (re)shape the Classical tradition.

  • By (author) Zilong Guo