Poetry Archive
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Aeneas
Posted on July 8, 2012 | No CommentsI argue that Book 2 is Aeneas -
The Absence of Archaic Altruism: Hesiod
Posted on July 7, 2012 | No CommentsFor Hesiod and the Archaic Greeks, the attributes of the gods and the way that the gods respond to humanity forces mortals into a cycle of helplessness. -
Delia as Nemesis: The Tibullan Mistress Evolved
Posted on July 7, 2012 | No CommentsAmong the Latin elegists, Tibullus is unique in his celebration of two poetic mistresses. Cornelius Gallus, who dedicated his four books to a woman named Lycoris, effectively established a paradigm for focusing on a single mistress that was largely maintained by the later elegists. -
Devotion and Disillusionment: The Catullus Persona in Carmen 63
Posted on July 7, 2012 | No CommentsPaul W. Harkins contributes an interesting layer to the argument specific to poem 63.4 He writes that c. 63 is an allegory for Catullus' love life, with Attis representing Catullus and Cybele representing Lesbia.5 His argument is certainly attractive but I disagree with two main points. -
Aging Women and Aging Men: Lydia in Horace
Posted on July 6, 2012 | No CommentsIn the following pages, I examine Ode 1.25 in detail, creating a reading informed by comparisons with passages from Horace -
Genuine Literary Criticism and Aristophanes
Posted on June 29, 2012 | No CommentsIn order to argue that there is no genuine literary criticism in the Frogs we must first define genuine literary criticism. While it is almost universally agreed that the first piece of genuine literary criticism was Aristotle's Poetics written in 335 BC, there is less consensus as to what genuine literary criticism entails. -
New and Old-School Poets at the End of the Republic
Posted on June 12, 2012 | No CommentsPerhaps you -
Cicero and the Roman Republic
Posted on June 12, 2012 | No CommentsAs an active politician, Cicero composed and published many law court and political speeches; but he also produced treatises on philosophical, political and oratorical matters, and he wrote numerous letters to friends, family and fellow politicians and even tried some poetry. -
Urban Hymns: Horace and city life
Posted on June 9, 2012 | No CommentsIn his spare time he wrote verses. He moved in the circle of Virgil, and was introduced to Maecenas, an enormously rich Etruscan who had become Octavian -
Ancient Greek Yarn-Making
Posted on February 13, 2012 | No CommentsFrom these artist-potters come the Museum ceramics on whose decoration we can trace all the processes of yarn-making. The group includes a charming pyxis, or toilet box, of the fifth century, and two rare onoi, or rove-making implements, of the previous century.
