Anatomizing Civil War: Studies in Lucan's Epic Technique

Dinter, Martin

ISBN 10: 0472118501 / ISBN 13: 9780472118502

Published by University of Michigan Press, 2013

About this Item

Num Pages: 200 pages. BIC Classification: 1QDAR; DSBB; HBLA1. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 229 x 152 x 25. Weight in Grams: 454. . 2012. hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780472118502

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Anatomizing Civil War: Studies in Lucan's Epic Technique
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472118501
• ISBN 13: 9780472118502
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Imperial Latin epic has seen a renaissance of scholarly interest. This book illuminates the work of the poet Lucan, a contemporary of the emperor Nero who as nephew of the imperial adviser Seneca moved in the upper echelons of Neronian society. This young and maverick poet, whom Nero commanded to commit suicide at the age of 26, left an epic poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey that epitomizes the exuberance and stylistic experimentation of Neronian culture. This study focuses on Lucan's epic technique and traces his influence through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Martin T. Dinter's newest volume engages with Lucan's use of body imagery, sententiae, Fama (rumor), and open-endedness throughout his civil war epic. Although Lucan's Bellum Civile is frequently decried as a fragmented as well as fragmentary epic, this study demonstrates how Lucan uses devices other than teleology and cohesive narrative structure to bind together the many parts of his epic body.

Anatomizing Civil War places at center stage characteristics of Lucan's work that have so far been interpreted as excessive, or as symptoms of an overly rhetorical culture indicating a lack of substance. By demonstrating that they all contribute to Lucan's poetic technique, Martin T. Dinter shows how they play a fundamental role in shaping and connecting the many episodes of the Bellum Civile that constitute Lucan's epic body. This important volume will be of interest to students of classics and comparative literature as well as literary scholars. All Greek and Latin passages have been translated.

About the Author

Martin T. Dinter is Lecturer in Latin Language and Literature at King's College, London.