Virgil on the Nature of Things by Monica R Gale
The Georgics has for many years been a source of fierce controversy among scholars of Latin literature. Is the work optimistic or pessimistic, pro- or anti-Augustan? Should we read it as a eulogy or a bitter critique of Rome and her imperial ambitions? This book suggests that the ambiguity of the poem is the product of a complex and thorough-going engagement with earlier writers in the didactic tradition: Hesiod, Aratus and - above all - Lucretius. Drawing on both traditional, philological approaches to allusion, and modern theories of intertextuality, it shows how the world-views of the earlier poets are subjected to scrutiny and brought into conflict with each other. Detailed consideration of verbal parallels and of Lucretian themes, imagery and structural patterns in the Georgics forms the basis for a reading of Virgil's poem as an extended meditation on the relations between the individual and society, the gods and the natural environment.
'The book is characterized by thorough scholarship, discerning interpretation, and clear expositionThe success that she has achieved speaks both for her own energy and imagination, and for the abiding importance of the relationship between Virgil and his great predecessor.' Journal of Roman Studies
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780521781114 |
| ISBN 10 | 0521781116 |
| Title | Virgil on the Nature of Things |
| Author | Monica R Gale |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 2000-11-09 |
| Number of pages | 336 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |