Acknowledgments

[ix] I wish to thank the following people, who have inspired, aided, and encouraged me in this work: Leonard Muellner, who first suggested that I think about Briseis; Mary Ebbott, Gloria Ferrari, and Albert Henrichs, each of whom read several drafts and greatly improved the book with their precision and clarity of thought; and Gregory Nagy, whose influence and vision will, I trust, be obvious in the following pages.

I am indebted to the Classics Department at Harvard University, under whose aegis most of my research and the writing of this book was undertaken. In addition to those members of the department already mentioned, I am grateful to Christopher Jones, Richard Tarrant, Richard Thomas, the late Charles Segal, and Jan Ziolkowsky, as well as Stephen Mitchell of Folklore and Mythology, each of whom has had a profound impact on my thinking. I would also like to acknowledge my new colleagues at the University of Houston, Richard Armstrong and Francesca Behr, for their encouragement in the final stages.

Finally, I wish to thank my parents, Paul and Genny Dué, my sisters, Domigne, Monique, and Celeste, and above all my husband, Ryan Hackney, for their love and devoted support.