The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought: Geography, Exploration, and Fiction

For the Greeks and Romans the earth's farthest perimeter was a realm radically different from what they perceived as central and human. The alien qualities of these "edges of the earth" became the basis of a literary tradition that endured throughout antiquity and into the Renaissance, despite the growing challenges of emerging scientific perspectives. Here James Romm surveys this tradition, revealing that the Greeks, and to a somewhat lesser extent the Romans, saw geography not as a branch of physical science but as an important literary genre.

Author: James S. Romm
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 10/09/1994
Pages: 247
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.54h x 5.51w x 1.06d
ISBN: 9780691037882

About the Author
James S. Romm is Assistant Professor of Classics at Bard College.