The Roman Poetry of Love: Elegy and Politics in a Time of Revolution

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

The Roman poetry of love explores the formation of a key literary genre in a troubled historical and political setting. The short-lived genre of Latin love elegy produced spectacular, multifaceted and often difficult poetry. Its proponents, Catullues, Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid, remain to this day some of the most influential poetic voices of Western civilization. This accessible introduction combines aesthetic analysis with socio-political context to provide a concise but comprehensive portrait of the Roman elegy, its main participants and its cultural and political milieu, highlighting and examining the intense affectation of love in these poems. The Roman Poetry of Love explores the works not simply as an expression of a troubled male psychology but also as a reflection of the overwhelming changes that swept through Rome and Italy in the transition from the Late Republic to the Augustan age.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherBloomsbury
Number of pages107
ISBN (Electronic)9781472502155
ISBN (Print)9781780932040
Publication statusPublished - 24 Oct 2013

Publication series

NameClassical World
PublisherBloomsbury Academic

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