Latin Literature And Its Transmission

A series of innovative studies in the textual and literary criticism of Latin literature and their mutually supportive relationship.

It explores how the texts from classical Greece and Rome have survived and gives an account of the reasons why it was thought worthwhile to preserve them for future generations. In this 4th edition adjustments have been made to the text and the notes have been revised in order to take account of advances in scholarship over the last twenty years.

In the second edition of this classic work a section of notes was included, and a new chapter was added which dealt with some aspects of scholarship since the Renaissance. For this third edition the authors have responded to the urgent need to take account of the very large number of discoveries in this rapidly advancing field of knowledge by substantially revising or enlarging certain sections.

Understanding Latin Literature is a highly accessible, user-friendly work that provides a fresh and illuminating introduction to the most important aspects of Latin prose and poetry. This second edition is heavily revised to reflect recent developments in scholarship, especially in the area of the later reception and reverberations of Latin literature. Chapters are dedicated to Latin writers such as Virgil and Livy and explore how literature related to Roman identity and society. Readers are stimulated and inspired to do their own further reading through engagement with a wide selection of translated extracts and through understanding the different ways in which they can be approached. Central throughout is the theme of the fundamental connections between Latin literature and issues of elite Roman culture. The versatile and accessible structure of Understanding Latin Literature makes it suitable for both individual and class use.

Ancient Roman authors are firmly established in the Western canon, and yet the birth of Latin literature was far from inevitable. The cultural flourishing that eventually produced the Latin classics was one of the strangest events in history, as Denis Feeney demonstrates in this bold revision.

This volume unites, for the first time, contributions from the three fields of Latin literature: Classical, Medieval and Neo-Latin, reflecting on its continuity. It’s particular interest for the studies of European literary history lies in the interactions between Latin and the national literatures.