Catullus: Reprint Edition - Hardcover

Catullus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674103505 ISBN 13: 9780674103504

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1965

Synopsis

Catullus (Gaius Valerius, 84-54 BCE), of Verona, went early to Rome, where he associated not only with other literary men from Cisalpine Gaul but also with Cicero and Hortensius. His surviving poems consist of nearly sixty short lyrics, eight longer poems in various metres, and almost fifty epigrams. All exemplify a strict technique of studied composition inherited from early Greek lyric and the poets of Alexandria. In his work we can trace his unhappy love for a woman he calls Lesbia; the death of his brother; his visits to Bithynia; and his emotional friendships and enmities at Rome. For consummate poetic artistry coupled with intensity of feeling Catullus's poems have no rival in Latin literature.

Tibullus (Albius, ca. 54-19 BCE), of equestrian rank and a friend of Horace, enjoyed the patronage of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, whom he several times apostrophizes. Three books of elegies have come down to us under his name, of which only the first two are authentic. Book 1 mostly proclaims his love for 'Delia', Book 2 his passion for 'Nemesis'. The third book consists of a miscellany of poems from the archives of Messalla; it is very doubtful whether any come from the pen of Tibullus himself. But a special interest attaches to a group of them which concern a girl called Sulpicia: some of the poems are written by her lover Cerinthus, while others purport to be her own composition.

The Pervigilium Veneris, a poem of not quite a hundred lines celebrating a spring festival in honour of the goddess of love, is remarkable both for its beauty and as the first clear note of romanticism which transformed classical into medieval literature. The manuscripts give no clue to its author, but recent scholarship has made a strong case for attributing it to the early fourth-century poet Tiberianus.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Catullus, of Verona, went early to Rome, where he associated not only with other literary men form Cisalpine Gaul but also with Cicero and Hortensius. Tibullus, of equestrian rank and a friend of Horace, enjoyed the patronage of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, whom he several times apostrophizes. The Pervigilium Veneris, a poem of not quite a hundred lines celebrating a spring festival in honor of the goddess of love, is remarkable both for its romanticism which transformed classical into medieval literature.

About the Author

Peter Green is Dougherty Centennial Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin and Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa. He is the author of many books, including "Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography "(California, 1991) and "Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age "(California, 1990). His translations include Ovid's "The Poems of Exile: Tristia and the Black Sea Letters "(California, 2005), Juvenal's "The Sixteen Satires "(third edition, 1998), and Apollonios Rhodios's "The Argonautika: The Story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece " (California, 1997).

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1965
• ISBN 10: 0674103505
• ISBN 13: 9780674103504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 273
• Editor: Merrill Elmer Truesdell