DEBORAH BECK is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics at the University of Texas, Austin. She is the author of Homeric Conversation (2005) and Speech Presentation in Homeric Epic (2012). She is also the producer of 'Musings in Greek Literature,' a podcast featuring the work of advanced Greek students reading ancient Greek poetry at the University of Texas at Austin.

• 1. Homer Odyssey: heroism, home, and family; 2. Homer Iliad: leadership and loss; 3. Apollonius Argonautica: gender, emotion, and the limits of human skill; 4. Vergil Aeneid: rage and isolation; 5. Ovid Metamorphoses: stories of Eros and Epic.

'Overall, a very novel book on a major theme, which allows a synthetic look at a trait of the epic genre that counts for much in its poetic success, in its continuity and its renewals. I recommend reading it in its entirety to specialists, but also to all those interested in ancient literature.' Françoise Létoublon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review