Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-422) and index.
Contents
Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: the quest for the American Aeneas -- Translatio cultus -- Edward Taylor's classicism -- Cotton Mather's epic in prose -- Surge for cultural independence: the flourishing of American classicism -- George Washington and the Vergilian moment -- The American epic writ large: the example of Phillis Wheatley -- The radical shift in discourse -- The persistence of the American Aeneas in Hawthorne -- The persistence of the American Aeneas in Melville -- Conclusion: America's classical origins besieged -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
