CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Love and Friendship
Chapter 2: Loyalty: The Missing Virtue
Chapter 3: Gratitude and Liberality
Chapter 4: Grief and the Self
Chapter 5: Love and the State
Conclusion
Bibliography
David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University.
Among his books are Pity Transformed (2001); The Emotions of the
Ancient Greeks (2006); Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral
Idea (2010); and Beauty: The Fortunes of an Ancient Greek Idea
(2014). He is a past president of the American Philological
Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
and an honorary fellow of the Australian
Academy of the Humanities.
"Konstan (classics, New York Univ.) provides original insights into
love in ancient times... Though brief, the book challenges
traditional belief on ancient love and theoretical compensation in
a concise and clear wayâ. Relationships today are perceived quite
differently than they were by the ancient Romans and Greeks, for
whom love was much more subtle. These subtleties are the backbone
of Konstan's study. Highly Recommended." -- CHOICE
"The tension between altruism and reciprocity runs through the
entire work, without Konstan falling into the trap of anachronism
... This book clearly shows that Greek and Roman writers
(especially philosophers) -- among others -- have elaborated what
we now define as altruistic views of love and friendship." --
Doralice Fabiano, Emotions: History, Culture, Society
"The book provides a welcome extension to currently available
studies on love in the classical world, drawing as it does on a
broader canvas and providing a refreshing reminder that other forms
of love rather than the erotic were just as prominent and just as
socially, politically and philosophically relevant. In so doing the
author sheds light on some hitherto obscure features not just of
ancient life but of modern life as well." -- Paul Chrystal,
Classics
for all
"In this elegant and entertaining book David Konstan probes the
affective, ethical, and social dimensions of love and friendship in
ancient Greece and Rome. Ranging widely over literary and
philosophical sources, Konstan deftly explores issues of selfhood,
identity, and other-concern that are as relevant today as they were
for the ancients." --Douglas Cairns, University of Edinburgh
"For a long time David Konstan has been our leading interpreter of
Greek and Roman friendly love. In this masterful new book, he
achieves yet deeper insights, showing how an ideal of disinterested
love informs a wider set of values: loyalty, gratitude, grief, and
political solidarity. Written with Konstan's sui generis
combination of insight, scholarship, philosophical rigor, and
grace, In the Orbit of Love simultaneously illuminates and charms."
--Martha C.
Nussbaum, University of Chicago
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