Luciano Canfora
Author of The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World
About the Author
Luciano Canfora is Professor of Greek and Latin Philology at the University of Bari, Italy.
Image credit: Luciano Canfora on June 07, 2019 in Bologna, Italy
Series
Works by Luciano Canfora
Teorie e tecnica della storiografia classica: Luciano, Plutarco, Dionigi, Anonimo su Tucidide (1996) 6 copies
Mediterraneo, una storia di conflitti: della difficile unificazione politica del mare nostrum in età classica (e oggi?) (2016) 6 copies
Storia della letteratura greca 2 copies
Εμείς και οι Αρχαίοι: Γιατί η μελέτη των αρχαίων Ελλήνων και των Ρωμαίων ωφελεί την ευφυΐα των… (2003) 2 copies
Ma come fa a essere un papiro di Artemidoro? Ediz. italiana, tedesca, inglese e francese (2008) 2 copies
Comunismo. Un'altra storia 1 copy
Tucidide continuato 1 copy
Book 9791259674227 1 copy
Il Comunista Senza Partito. Seguito Da Democrazia E Lotta Di Classe Nell'antichita Di Arthur Rosenberg. (1984) 1 copy
Philologie et liberté: La plus subversive des disciplines, l'indépendance de pensée et le droit à la vérité (2020) 1 copy
Le metamorfosi 1 copy
Ler os Clássicos 1 copy
"IL PUNTO NON È QUESTO" 1 copy
Lo Spazio letterario della Grecia antica (Roma : Salerno, 1992) — Author — 1 copy
Associated Works
The Oresteia: Agamemnon, Women at the Graveside, Orestes in Athens (0458) — Preface, some editions — 11,647 copies, 87 reviews
Brill's Companion to Thucydides (Brill's Companions in Classical Studies) (2006) — Contributor — 23 copies
Images and Texts on the Artemidorus Papyrus: Working Papers on P. Artemid. (St John's College Oxford, 2008) (Historia - Einzelschriften) (2009) — Contributor — 2 copies
Eduard Meyer: Leben Und Leistung Eines Universalhistorikers (Mnemosyne , Vol Suppl. 112) (German Edition) (1990) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Canfora, Luciano
- Birthdate
- 1942-06-05
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Ecole normale supérieure de Pise (Doctorat, Philologie classique)
Université de Bari (Doctorat, Histoire romaine, 19 64) - Occupations
- full professor
- Organizations
- University of Bari, Italy
- Awards and honors
- Médaille d'or pour le mérite de la science et de la culture (2000)
Chevalier de la grande croix de l'ordre équestre de Sant'Agata (2005)
Croix d'honneur du président de la République hellénique (2005)
Médaille d'or de l'Association Italienne de la Culture Classique, AICC (2011)
Université de Reims (Docteur honoris causa, 20 06) - Relationships
- Canfor, Fabrizio (Père)
Cifarelli, Rosa (Mère)
Cifarelli, Michele (Oncle) - Short biography
- Professore ordinario di Filologia greca e latina presso l'Università di Bari e direttore scientifico della Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino. È membro dei comitati direttivi di varie riviste, sia scientifiche sia di alta divulgazione, come ad esempio il Journal of Classical Tradition di Boston, la spagnola Historia y critica, la rivista italiana di alta divulgazione geopolitica Limes (Gruppo L'Espresso). È membro del comitato scientifico dell'Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani. Dirige inoltre, sin dal 1975, la rivista Quaderni di Storia (ed. Dedalo, Bari). Dirige altresì la collana di testi La città antica presso l'editore Sellerio, nonché la collana Paradosis per le edizioni Dedalo. Molti dei suoi libri sono stati tradotti in USA, Francia, Inghilterra, Germania, Grecia, Olanda, Brasile, Spagna, Repubblica Ceca. Le sue pubblicazioni trattano di filologia, storia e politica dall'età antica all'età contemporanea.
- Nationality
- Italy
- Associated Place (for map)
- Italy
Members
Reviews
A somewhat unusual history, in that it consists of a series of rather loosely connected episodes relating to the famous library of Alexandria, starting with a visit by Hecataeus of Abdera to the tomb of Rameses II and ending with the caliph Omar's command to burn the contents of the library on the grounds that if the books contradicted the book of the Prophet, they deserved to be destroyed, and if they were in accordance with the book of the Prophet, they were superfluous and therefore show more deserved to be destroyed. The final episode in the series, "The Dialogue of John Philoponus with the Emir Amrou Ibn el-Ass while Amrou prepared to burn the Library", could easily have been a story written by Borges. show less
The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World (Hellenistic Culture and Society) by Luciano Canfora
An immensely fascinating book if you get past the second chapter. Instead of trying a literary fiction or a pure biography, Mr. Canfora has opted to string together a number of anecdotes from various early sources to tell the story of the Library of Alexandria. Unfortunately as a reader you have to add a lot yourself. An introduction would have been nice or a small paragraph before each chapter that explains why the text is relevant to the famous library.
Even so, I would highly recommend show more this short book to anyone learning or teaching about the reality behind the legend of both the library and the city of Alexandria. show less
Even so, I would highly recommend show more this short book to anyone learning or teaching about the reality behind the legend of both the library and the city of Alexandria. show less
Bello il rimando iniziale alla “continuità del moto” descritta da Tolstoj, così come il richiamo fin dal titolo alla “scopa” di Don Abbondio, che nei momenti di crisi può spazzare via flagelli. Impietosa l’analisi della nostra politica, in realtà quanto emerge dal libro sa poco di speranza. Un po’ frammentato nei suoi piccoli capitoli.
This is a clever reconstruction of the probable history of the scholarly community that we describe as the "Library at Alexandria" generally regarded as the focus of Hellenistic scholarly activity. There is a historical sketch of its provenance and a reasoned history of its survival until its likely dispersal and destruction. The Author has also provided a lengthy discussion of the various references to the library and the reasons why the various authors recorded the information they have show more passed to us. It is a clever and informative discussion. there is also discussion of the rivalry with the library at Pergamum. This book is definitely a keeper. show less
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 147
- Also by
- 15
- Members
- 2,349
- Popularity
- #10,919
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 36
- ISBNs
- 275
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 2
