Literary Criticism : Ancient & Classical

A collection of essays on Ovid's cycle of sophisticated and subversive didactic poems on love, The Art of Love and Cures for Love, written by leading scholars and offering a range of perspectives on the poetics, politics, and erotics of the poems. - ;The Art of Love celebrates the bi-millennium of Ovid's cycle of sophisticated and subversive didactic poems on love, traditionally assumed to have been brought to completion around AD 2. Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love) and Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love), which purport to teach young Roman men and women how to be good lovers, were partly responsible for the poet's exile from Rome under the emperor Augustus. None the less they exerted great. influence over ancient and later love poetry. This is the first collection in English devoted to the poems, and brings together many of the leading figures in the field of Latin literature and Ovidian studies from the British Isles, Germany, Italy, and the United States. It offers a range of perspectives on the poetics, politics, and erotics. of the poems, beginning with a critical survey of recent research, and concluding with papers on the ancient, medieval, and modern reception of the poems. - more...

Price: $125.00

The first comparative study of its kind, The Augustan Art of Poetry uses translations to explore the artistic influence of the Roman poetry of the Augustan age upon English neoclassical poetry. The book foregrounds the artistry of central texts such as Dryden's translation of Virgil and Pope's Homer. Comparisons are also made with modern versions. - ;While previous studies have concentrated largely upon political concerns, The Augustan Art of Poetry is an exploration of the influence of the Roman Augustan aesthetic on English neo-classical poets of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the conclusion of his translation of Virgil, Dryden claims implicitly to have given English poetry the kind of refinement in language and style that Virgil had given the Latin. In this timely new study Robin Sowerby offers a strong. apologia for the fine artistry of the Augustans, concentrating in particular on the period's translations, a topic and method not hitherto ventured in any full-length comparative study. The mediation of the Augustan aesthetic is explored through the De Arte Poetica of Vida represented in the Augustan version. of Pitt, and its culmination is represented by examination of Dryden's Virgil in relation to predecessors. The effect of the Augustan aesthetic upon versions of silver Latin poets and upon Pope's Homer is also assessed and comparisons are drawn with modern translations. - ;Sowerby's performance is exemplary:his belief in the validity of an English Augustan aesthetic, and in the excellence of its best products, shines forth on every page of this earnest study. - James A. Winn, Translation and Literature;a stimulating book, richly crammed with matter...a major contribution to the study of literary translation. - John Talbot, Essays in Criticism;He has argued his case well. - Contemporary Review, Volume 288;...this is an important study of literary translations - Michael J. Franklin, MLR, 103.1 more...

Price: $145.00

Whether watching political candidates quote Jesus or tracking court cases on how the stories of Adam and Eve should be taught in schools, we are surrounded by the legacy of the Bible in our contemporary world. Every person needs to know the core Bible stories—those biblical stories that have cultural, historical, or literary significance—that lie at the foundation of Western civilization. Professor Timothy Beal argues that without knowing these core stories, we cannot fully participate more...

Price: $19.99

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman scholar Censorinus bestowed upon his best friend a charming birthday present: The Birthday Book, which appears here in its long-awaited first English translation. Laying out everything he knew about birthdays, the book starts simply, but by the conclusion of this brief yet brilliant gem, Censorinus has sketched a glorious vision of a universe ruled by harmony and order, where the microcosm of the child in the womb corresponds to the macrocosm of the planets. Alternately serious and playful, Censorinus touches on music, history, astronomy, astrology, and every aspect of time as it was understood in third-century Rome. He also provides ancient answers to perennial questions: Why does the day begin at midnight? Where did Leap Year come from? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?. Embodying the proverbial gift that keeps on giving, The Birthday Book has long been treasured by scientists, poets, and scholars, and Holt Parker’s graceful and lively new translation—accompanied by an illuminating introduction and detailed notes—is itself a present for Latinists, historians of science, and anyone looking for an unusual birthday gift. more...

Price: $25.00

This book examines the life and times and poetry of the extremely prolific and versatile ‘Abbasid poet Ibn al-Rumi (d. 283/896). Particular attention is devoted to tracing the influences in his distinctive poetic style and themes. more...

Price: $249.00