There is much more Greek poetry than the Iliad or the Odyssey. This collection includes lyrical and epigonic poems, odes, and epigrams that offer a unique selection from early Greek poets such as Hesiod, Pindar, Bacchylides, Alcaeus, and Sappho, as well as from later Alexandrian poets like Theocritus, Bion, and Apollonius of Rhodes. An entire section is dedicated to the poems of the famous Greek Anthology, which spans a thousand years from the Classical to the Byzantine era, and another to the Anacreontea, the enchanting collection of odes about the pleasures of wine, love, and beauty that has been popular for centuries. The English translations, selected by Paul Quarrie, draw from both lesser-known and more famous names. Poets coexist with professors of Greek from top British universities, professional authors and translators alongside enthusiastic amateurs, teachers, librarians, nobility, diplomats, civil servants, bankers, military personnel, and clergy. Historically, the translations range from anonymous editions produced in Tudor England and the golden age of translation led by George Chapman in the seventeenth century, to contemporary translations by Sam Mitci, Fleur Adcock, and Robert Fagles. The editor provides an informative prefatory note, introductions to the Greek Anthology and the Anacreontea, as well as biographies of the translators, where bibliographic details are accompanied by colorful and anecdotal elements.
