Generic Composition in Greek and Roman Poetry : 9780979971310 : 31 Dec 2007 : Original in conception and powerful in scope, Generic Composition in Greek and Roman Poetry remains one of the most important books on early Greek, Hellenistic and Roman poetry in a generation. First published in the philological climate of the early 1970s, Francis Cairns' book was among the first works that sought to further our comprehension of difficult or obscure ancient poems by applying new literary-critical conventions and terminology, notably the concept of genre. Ancient literary studies have grown more sophisticated over the last years, and Generic Composition in Greek and Roman Poetry now finds itself very much in the midst of current debates. The new edition includes a new Postscript by the author, and important corrections to the text, notes, and indices. The original publisher remarked, "This is the first serious attempt to formulate a system of literary criticism for ancient poetry, derived who