Lucretius and the Early Modern (Classical Presences) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198713843 ISBN 13: 9780198713845

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2015

Synopsis

The rediscovery in the fifteenth century of Lucretius' De rerum natura was a challenge to received ideas. The poem offered a vision of the creation of the universe, the origins and goals of human life, and the formation of the state, all without reference to divine intervention. It has been hailed in Stephen Greenblatt's best-selling book, The Swerve, as the poem that invented modernity. But how modern did early modern readers want to become?

This collection of essays offers a series of case studies which demonstrate the sophisticated ways in which some readers might relate the poem to received ideas, assimilating Lucretius to theories of natural law and even natural theology, while others were at once attracted to Lucretius' subversiveness and driven to dissociate themselves from him. The volume presents a wide geographical range, from Florence and Venice to France, England, and Germany, and extends chronologically from Lucretius' contemporary audience to the European Enlightenment. It covers both major authors such as Montaigne and neglected figures such as Italian neo-Latin poets, and is the first book in the field to pay close attention to Lucretius' impact on political thought, both in philosophy - from Machiavelli, through Hobbes, to Rousseau - and in the topical spin put on the De rerum natura by translators in revolutionary England. It combines careful attention to material contexts of book production and distribution with close readings of particular interpretations and translations, to present a rich and nuanced profile of the mark made by a remarkable poem.

About this title

About the Author:

David Norbrook, Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford,Stephen Harrison, Fellow and Tutor in Classics, Corpus Christi College, and Professor of Latin Literature, University of Oxford,Philip Hardie, Senior Research Fellow, Trinity College, and Honorary Professor of Latin Literature, University of Cambridge

David Norbrook is Emeritus Merton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford.

Philip Hardie is a Senior Research Fellow at Trinity College, University of Cambridge.

Stephen Harrison is a Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.

Review:

"Lucretius and the Early Modern makes for instructive and compelling reading, but
advanced background knowledge is required. The volume boasts articles written by
distinguished scholars in the field, and it is exciting to see their conjoined efforts in
a single publication...Together with Ada Palmer's Reading Lucretius in the
Renaissance (2014) and Stephen Greenblatt's The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (2011), Lucretius and the Early Modern is an excellent updated resource for scholars who want to strengthen their academic approach to the subject and investigate promising research venues in Lucretian studies." --Daniele Macuglia, Renaissance Quarterly

"This slim, unassuming volume contains some of the most interesting and cutting-edge research in the reception of Lucretius' De rerum natura (hereafter). The last decade has witnessed a major revival of interest in Lucretian studies, and there has been no dearth of scholarship on Lucretius' reception in and influence on the early modern period. The editors of this volume have done an admirable job of publishing important current research by leading scholars in their fields...Overall, this volume is a welcome addition to an ever-growing field of study on Lucretian reception. The editors should be congratulated on bringing together the scholars for this volume, and the authors for their insightful contributions." --Patrick M. Owens, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0198713843
• ISBN 13: 9780198713845
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Norbrook David, Harrison Stephen, Hardie Philip