The Living Death of Antiquity

The Living Death of Antiquity examines the historical development of a neoclassical aesthetic in visual art and sculpture centred on simplicity and grandeur. Fitzgerald describes its ideals and potential as well as its remaining significance in modern culture.

After taking a BA in Classics at Oxford (1974) and a PhD in Comparative Literature at Princeton (1980), William Fitzgerald taught for 23 years in the US, at the University of California, San Diego and Berkeley. He returned to the UK in 2003 and taught at Cambridge University until 2007, when he became Professor of Latin Language and Literature at King's College London. He has published books and articles on Latin literature, especially poetry, and on classical reception.

- 1: Introduction: Why Neoclassicism? - 2: The Iliad Backtranslated: Alexander Pope and John Flaxman - 3: Sculpture between the Graceful and the Heroic: Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen - 4: Voicing Antiquity: the Anacreontea and Charles Leconte de Lisle's Études Latines - 5: Modernism, Neoclassicism, and Irony: Erik Satie's Socrate - Conclusion