The Roman Elegiac Poets

A classic college textbook containing a judicious selection from the whole field of Roman elegy, with introductory matter and English commentary. It helps the student obtain a general acquaintance with Roman elegiac poetry, and features the writings of Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid.

The five chapters that make up this short book examine the love elegies of the Roman poets Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid from the point of view of the way the meanings attributed to the poems arise out of the interests and preoccupations of the cultural situation in which they are read. Each study is centred around a reading of a poem or poems together with a discussion of a variety of sophisticated theoretical approaches drawn from modern scholars and theorists such as Paul Veyne, Roland Barthes an Michel Foucault. In each case, the modes of analysis involved are pressed hard to see where they may lead, and, equally, where they may show signs of strain. All Latin texts and terms are translated or closely paraphrased.

A Companion to Roman Love Elegy is the first comprehensive work dedicated solely to the study of love elegy. The genre is explored through 33 original essays thatoffer new and innovative approaches to specific elegists and the discipline as a whole. Contributors represent a range of established names and younger scholars, all of whom are respected experts in their fields Contains original, never before published essays, which are both accessible to a wide audience and offer a new approach to the love elegists and their work Includes 33 essays on the Roman elegists Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Sulpicia, and Ovid, as well as their Greek and Roman predecessors and later writers who were influenced by their work Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in Roman elegy from scholars who have used a variety of critical approaches to open up new avenues of understanding

The Roman elegiac poet Propertius was one such author. This final published collection, issued in 16 BCE, has been traditionally read as an abandonment by Propertius of his earlier flippant love poems for a more mature engagement with Roman public life or else a comical send-up of imperial policies as embodied in Rome's public buildings. The Elegiac Cityscape explores Propertius' Rome and the various ways his poetry about the city illuminates the dynamic relationship between one individual and his environment. The relationship between poet and city is complicated at every turn by the presence in the background of the emperor Augustus, whose sustained artistic patronage of Roman monuments brought about the most pervasive transformation that the city had yet seen. Combining the approaches of archaeology and literary criticism, Tara S. Welch examines how Propertius' poems on Roman places scrutinize the monumentalization of various ideological positions in Rome, as they poke and prod Rome's monuments to see what further meanings they might admit. The result is a poetic book rife with different perspectives on the eternal city, perspectives that often call into question any sleepy or complacent adherence to Rome's traditional values. Book jacket.

Excerpt from The Roman Elegiac Poets The need of a college textbook containing a judicious selection from the whole field of Roman elegy with suitable introductory matter and English comments has long been evidenced by the announcements of various publishers that such books were in preparation. The present edition was undertaken many years ago by my father, the plan as then conceived being somewhat less comprehensive than that which has now been worked out At the time of his death he had already written some notes on Propertius for the contemplated book, the last words appearing in his manuscript, penned amid increasing feebleness, being, by a touching coincidence, one of his happy English versions, reading, 'Ah me! that the strain should be so feeble in my mouth!' (4, 1, 58). Such of those first-draft notes as were available have been included in this edition under the signature "(C. S.)." The magnitude of the task has grown with the years, as the vast amount of material published in connection with the four authors from which these selections are taken has increased. Moreover, the classes in which a book of this kind will be used require in many cases a relatively advanced grade of comment; yet the linguistic basis for higher scholarship is too often in America sadly wanting, and, incongruous as it may appear, the somewhat elementary note seems to be required, side by side with one that stimulates to original research. It is with a full appreciation of the impossibility of meeting equally well all the possible varieties of demands made by the different users of the book that the editor ventures at length to give it to the public. The arrangement of both the commentary and a carefully selected conspectus of variant textual readings on the same page with the text will, in practice, commend itself as the most practical one for the kind of classes for which the book is intended. Special effort has been made by running analysis to make the outline of the elegy clear to the student. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Latin love elegy is one of the most important poetic genres in the Augustan era, also known as the golden age of Roman literature. This volume brings together leading scholars from Australia, Europe and North America to present and explore the Greek and Roman backdrop for Latin love elegy, the individual Latin love elegists (both the canonical and the non-canonical), their poems and influence on writers in later times. The book is designed as an accessible introduction for the general reader interested in Latin love elegy and the history of love and lament in Western literature, as well as a collection of critically stimulating essays for students and scholars of Latin poetry and of the classical tradition.