Epic Echoes in The Wind in the Willows

This book explores Grahame’s engagements with classical antiquity in The Wind in the Willows , including ancient epic, parody ( Batrachomyomachia ), and pastoral imagery. Irby demonstrates how subtle echoes – such as the structure into 12 books, arming scenes, epic catalogues, anabases and katabases , lying tales, Toad’s "cleverness"—cumulatively suggest a link between The Wind in the Willows and classical literature. This study offers the first sustained treatment of classical allusions in The