ANCIENT EPICS AND CHILDREN'S LITERATURE - (G.L.) Irby Epic Echoes in The Wind in the Willows. Pp. x + 140, ills. London and New York: Routledge, 2022. Cased, £44.99, US$59.95. ISBN: 978-1-03-210510-9

This volume argues that classical intertexts infuse the riverside Arcadia of Kenneth Grahame's children's classic The Wind in the Willows (1908). Through thematic chapters I. explores the ‘epic echoes’ of works by Homer, Apollonius of Rhodes, Aristophanes, Euripides and more, as they connect with the novel. Close readings of how Grahame draws on epic concepts such as heroism, katabasis, wit, xenia, aristeia and nostos offer insights into the characters and exploits of the novel.

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