Back to results
Cover image for book The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought

The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought

Geography, Exploration, and Fiction
By:James S. Romm
Publisher:Princeton University Press
Print ISBN:9780691069333
eText ISBN:9780691201702
Edition:0
Copyright:1992
Format:Page Fidelity

eBook Features

Instant Access

Purchase and read your book immediately

Read Offline

Access your eTextbook anytime and anywhere

Study Tools

Built-in study tools like highlights and more

Read Aloud

Listen and follow along as Bookshelf reads to you

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.