Metaphors of the Ancient World

The objective of this edited volume is to bring together contributions from the fields of Ancient Greek and Latin Philology that apply the cognitive linguistic framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) to ancient texts and other source material. The individual chapters are unified by this shared theoretical approach, occasionally supplemented by further theoretical frameworks and methodologies from literary criticism and the cognitive sciences.

The scope of the volume is broad, and there is no restriction to specific literary genres or periods of history. Discussion ranges from the Archaic Greek epic poetry of Homer to the early imperial philosophical treatises of Seneca the Younger. Topics treated along the way include Presocratic philosophy, Ancient Greek comedy, and Roman love elegy. This collection of research by theoretically aligned Classicists thereby showcases the potential and versatility of CMT when it comes to the study and interpretation of ancient texts.