Stair Ercuil Ocus A Bás: The Life And Death of Hercules

Cur síos

Gordon Quinn (foilsithe den chéad uair / first published 1939)

xl + 264 pp. ISBN 1 870 16638 8

Gordon Quinn’s edition of this tale, justly described as excellent by Brian Ó Cuív, brought to the attention of a wider public the last of the notable Irish versions of the Greek myth of Hercules. This version, adapted in the fifteenth century from an English translation by Caxton of a French original, was described by the editor as a ‘thoroughly Irish’ tale, apart, of course from its central theme. This volume, together with the Irish adaptation of the Aeneid (Vol. 6 above), were made the subject of the Society’s annual seminar, held in conjunction with the Departments of Irish at UCC in 2005. The papers given at the seminar is published in Subsidiary Series No. 17, edited by Kevin Murray.