The Aesthetics of Hope in Late Greek Imperial Literature

Dawn LaValle Norman is a Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University's Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry.

• Introduction. Christians among Imperial Greek writers in the third century; 1. Mapping third-century literature from the Severans to Constantine; 2. The end of dialogue? The Christianization of a tradition; 3. Compilation and unity in Imperial sympotic traditions; 4. Rhetoric and the problem of rivalry; 5. The lyric tradition and changing hymnic forms; Conclusion.

'... this book is rich in sophisticated insights, and the contrastive analysis with earlier literature makes it a highly stimulating reading well beyond the immediate subject of Methodius' Symposium. The book stands as an invitation to scholars of imperial literature to look at Christian materials and to scholars of Christianity to look at non-Christian literature. The comparison with imperial literature is exceptionally fruitful and stimulating; at the same time, the author rightly indicates that future work on Methodius should further investigate the links to Christian literature ... Methodius' Symposium, with LaValle Norman's reading of it, is an important wake-up call for scholars of early Christianity and beyond.' Alberto Rigolio, Bryn Mawr Classical Review