Spell of Hypnos

Silvia Montiglio is Basil L Gildersleeve Professor of Classics at Johns Hopkins University. Her previous books include Silence in the Land of Logos; Wandering in Ancient Greek Culture; From Villain to Hero: Odysseus in Ancient Thought; and Love and Providence: Recognition in the Ancient Novel.

'This enthralling and thoroughly enjoyable book helps us to understand how different literary genres deal with the seemingly unremarkable and inactive - but actually deeply nuanced and intriguing - things that happen while the ancients either sleep or wrestle with wakefulness. Silvia Montiglio has written a masterpiece of literary analysis which at the same time discloses a fascinating chapter in the history of Greek culture.' - Marco Fantuzzi, Professor of Ancient Greek Literature, University of Macerata and Visiting Professor of Greek, Columbia University, author of Achilles in Love: Intertextual Studies; 'The sleepscapes revealed here are fascinating for the windows they open onto such fruitful topics as emotion and agency, isolation and belonging, or divine and poetic justice. It is rare to find a study that deals so expertly with such a diverse span of genres, and rare again to find one that does so through such an absorbing topic. This is an important, enjoyable, and illuminating book.' - Alex Purves, Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Literature, UCLA, author of Space and Time in Ancient Greek Narrative; This is a subtle, wide-ranging, and illuminating study, from which any student of Greek literature stands to learn a great deal.' - Sheila Murnaghan, Allen Memorial Professor of Greek, University of Pennsylvania