Epic in Republican Rome
Epic in Republican Rome

Author: Sander M. Goldberg

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1995-03-23

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 0195357566

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This book is a major new study of the epic poetry of Republican Rome. Goldberg treats the creators of these now-fragmentary works not simply as predecessors of Vergil, but as pioneers and poets in their own right. But Goldberg goes beyond practical criticism, exploring in the literary experiments of Andronicus, Naevius, Ennius, and Cicero issues of poetry and patronage, cultural assimilation and national ideology, modeling and originality that both come to characterize Roman literature of all periods and continue to shape modern responses to that literature. What emerges from Goldberg's study is both a fresh perspective on Vergil's achievement and new insights into the cultural dynamics of second-century Rome.

Thunder and Lament
Thunder and Lament

Author: Timothy A. Joseph

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0197582141

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"Lucan's epic poem Pharsalia tells the story of the cataclysmic "end of Rome" through the victory of Julius Caesar and Caesarism in the civil wars of 49-48 BCE. This book argues that Lucan's poetic agenda moves in lockstep with his narrative arc, as he fashions the Pharsalia to mark the momentous end of the epic genre. In order to accomplish the closure of the genre, Lucan engages pervasively and polemically with the very first works of Greek and Roman epic - inverting, undoing, and closing off many of the tropes and themes introduced in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and in the foundational Latin epic poems by Livius Andronicus, Naevius, and most of all Ennius. By looking at Lucan's effort to "surpass the poets of old" - a phrase Statius would use of his achievement - this study broadens our appreciation of Lucan's poetic ambitions and accomplishment. Statius also read Lucan as a poet who both thunders and laments, and this book makes the case that Lucan closes off epic's beginnings through not just gestures of thundering poetic violence but also a transformation and expansion of the traditional epic mode of lament. In his story of violent Roman self-destruction and the lamentation that accompanies it, Lucan at the same time uproots and marks the end of the epic song"--

Lucilius and Satire in Second-Century BC Rome
Lucilius and Satire in Second-Century BC Rome

Author: Brian W. Breed

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1108103111

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This volume considers linguistic, cultural, and literary trends that fed into the creation of Roman satire in second-century BC Rome. Combining approaches drawn from linguistics, Roman history, and Latin literature, the chapters share a common purpose of attempting to assess how Lucilius' satires functioned in the social environment in which they were created and originally read. Particular areas of focus include audiences for satire, the mixing of varieties of Latin in the satires, and relationships with other second-century genres, including comedy, epic, and oratory. Lucilius' satires emerged at a time when Rome's new status as an imperial power and its absorption of influences from the Greek world were shaping Roman identity. With this in mind the book provides new perspectives on the foundational identification of satire with what it means to be Roman and satire's unique status as 'wholly ours' tota nostra among Latin literary genres.

De Rerum Natura
De Rerum Natura

Author: William Ellery Leonard

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 2008-08-08

Total Pages: 916

ISBN-13: 9780299003647

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Now available in paperback, this annotated scholarly edition of the Latin text of De Rerum Natura has long been hailed as one of the finest editions of this monumental work. It features an introduction to Lucretius's life and work by William Ellery Leonard, an introduction to and commentary on the poem by Stanley Barney Smith, the complete Latin text with detailed annotations, and an index of ancient sources. --University of Wisconsin Press.