Greek Elegiac Poetry
Tyrtaeus author Solon author Theognis author Mimnermus author Douglas E Gerber editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Published:1st Oct '99
Should be back in stock very soon
Noble verse.
The Greek poetry of the archaic period that we call elegy was composed primarily for banquets and convivial gatherings. Its subject matter consists of almost any topic, excluding only the scurrilous and obscene. In this completely new Loeb Classical Library edition, Douglas Gerber provides a faithful translation of the fragments and significant testimonia that have come down to us, with full explanatory notes.
Most substantial in this volume is the collection of elegiac verses to which Theognis’ name is attached. Drinking and merry-making are frequent themes in these poems; there are also more reflective and philosophic pieces and love poems. Together they offer an interesting picture of an aristocratic man’s views about life, friendship, fate, and daily concerns. Also notable in this volume is the martial verse of the Spartan Tyrtaeus and the poetry of Solon, Athens’ famous lawmaker.
Gerber’s texts and general scholarship, including helpful notes, are fully up-to-date, his presentation is lucid... and his translations are neat and accurate, as well as faithful to, for example, the obscenity of iambos (the era of euphemistic Loebs is over). These volumes form a fine complement to Campbell's Greek Lyric set; they deserve to be widely used. -- Stephen Halliwell * Greece and Rome *
Gerber has distilled an impressive amount of scholarship. That feat, together with the excellence of his translations, makes these volumes among the most distinguished of those recently issued. -- H. G. Edinger * Phoenix *
ISBN: 9780674995826
Dimensions: 162mm x 108mm x 28mm
Weight: 363g
512 pages