Describing Greece

Examines the most important work of non-fiction travel literature in antiquity, Pausanias' Description of Greece.

Pausanias' Description of Greece is the most important non-fictional travel work in ancient Greek literature. It is here explored against contemporary literary currents and the archaeological remains of those places described. Pausanias emerges as a unique witness to what it meant to be a Greek subject of the Roman Empire.The Periegesis Hellados (Description of Greece) by Pausanias is the most important example of non-fictional travel literature in ancient Greek. With this work Professor Hutton examines Pausanias' arrangement and expression of his material and evaluates his authorial choices in light of the contemporary literary currents of the day and in light of the cultural milieu of the Roman empire in the time of Hadrian and the Antonines. The descriptions offered in the Periegesis Hellados are also examined in the context of the archaeological evidence available for the places Pausanias visited. This study reveals Pausanias to be a surprisingly sophisticated literary craftsman and a unique witness to Greek identity at a time when that identity was never more conflicted.