Inconsistency in Roman epic : studies in Catullus, Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid and Lucan / James J. O'Hara.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Hara, James J., 1959- author.

Series:

Roman literature and its contexts.

Roman literature and its contexts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Epic poetry, Latin--History and criticism.

Epic poetry, Latin.

Inconsistency (Logic).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 165 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How should we react as readers and as critics when two passages in a literary work contradict one another? Classicists once assumed that all inconsistencies in ancient texts needed to be amended, explained away, or lamented. Building on recent work on both Greek and Roman authors, this book explores the possibility of interpreting inconsistencies in Roman epic. After a chapter surveying Greek background material including Homer, tragedy, Plato and the Alexandrians, five chapters argue that comparative study of the literary use of inconsistencies can shed light on major problems in Catullus' Peleus and Thetis, Lucretius' De Rerum Natura, Vergil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Lucan's Bellum Civile. Not all inconsistencies can or should be interpreted thematically, but numerous details in these poems, and some ancient and modern theorists, suggest that we can be better readers if we consider how inconsistencies may be functioning in Greek and Roman texts.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Series-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; CHAPTER 1 Greek versions; CHAPTER 2 Catullus 64: Variants and the virtues of heroes; CHAPTER 3 Death, inconsistency, and the Epicurean poet; CHAPTER 4 Voices, variants, and inconsistency in the Aeneid; CHAPTER 5 Inconsistency and authority in Ovid's Metamorphoses; CHAPTER 6 Postscript: Lucan's Bellum Civile and the inconsistent Roman epic; Bibliography; Index of passages discussed; General index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-158) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-107-15776-5

1-280-95950-9

9786610959501

0-511-29635-5

0-511-29558-8

0-511-29399-2

0-511-55620-9

0-511-61856-5

0-511-29479-4

OCLC:

476086655