A New Sublime: Ten Timeless Lessons on the Classics

By Piero Boitani

“[It] will move you across the globe and back in time.” - Library Journal

Europa Compass series – new format and covers

For the readers of Mary Beard and Bethany Hughes

(Re)discover the timeless beauty of ancient literature

The classics “never exhaust what they have to say”. Informed by this belief, linguistic expert Piero Boitani invites the reader to explore the wisdom of the works of literature underpinning Western culture, and highlights their profound and sometimes surprising connection to the present.

The themes explored in this book are as wide-ranging as they are enduringly relevant. They include the Iliad’s depiction of power and war, as well as its invocation of compassion as one of the necessary foundations of society; the Odyssey as the world’s first novel; Lucretius and the way he transformed Greek scientific thought into sublime poetry; Virgil’s celebration of the history of Rome, from small village to world capital, as well as Tacitus’ denunciation of the imperialistic nature of Roman power; and Ovid’s Metamorphoses—a poem about incessant change the first postmodern classic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Europa Compass
• Release date: Feb 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781787701939

Piero Boitani

Piero Boitani is professor of comparative literature at the University of Rome, “La Sapienza.” He is the founding president of the European Society for English Studies and a fellow of the British Academy. In 2002, he was awarded the Feltrinelli Prize for Literary Criticism—Italy’s most prestigious literary award. Boitani is the author of numerous books, including The Shadow of Ulysses and The Bible and Its Rewritings.