Forthcoming | Literary History in the Parian Marble, by Andrea Rotstein


The CHS is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of Literary History in the Parian Marble, by Andrea Rotstein, through Harvard University Press.

Inscribed some time after 264 BCE, the Parian Marble offers a chronological list of events with an exceptional emphasis on literary matters.Literary History in the Parian Marble explores the literary and historiographical qualities of the inscription, the genre to which it belongs, and the emerging patterns of time. Endorsing the hypothesis that the inscription was originally displayed at a Parian shrine honoring Archilochus, Andrea Rotstein argues that literary history was one of its main concerns. Though it may be conventional in its focus on the chronology of poets, their inventions and victories, the Parian Marble is nonetheless idiosyncratic in the range of authors displayed. By reconstructing the methods by which information might have been obtained, Rotstein contributes to an understanding of the way literary history was practiced within the local communities of ancient Greece, away from the major Hellenistic centers of scholarship.

The Parian chronicle has not been the subject of a comprehensive study for almost a century. Literary History in the Parian Marble brings to the English-speaking audience up-to-date information about the inscription, including a revision of Felix Jacoby’s Greek text and a complete translation.

Andrea Rotstein is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Tel Aviv University. She was one of four winners of the first Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research. The inaugural ceremony was held on May 17, 2015, during Tel Aviv University’s annual Board of Governors meeting. Enjoy her talk in the video below: