Propertius: A Hellenistic Poet on Love and Death

This book offers a detailed reading of some of the most stimulating and problematic of Propertius' elegies.

Theodore D. Papanghelis (Author)

9780521106535, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 September 2009

252 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

The bond between love and death has long been recognised as a defining characteristic of the elegies of Propertius, but scholars have rarely clarified how or to what degree Propertius differed from other love poets in associating these themes. In this book, Dr Papanghelis traces the radical way in which Propertius dealt with amorous and morbid fantasies in his poems. He argues that the modes of erotic expression used in the elegies are fundamentally unconventional, to the point that the definitions of love and death are interdependent. This book offers a detailed reading of some of the most stimulating and problematic of Propertius' elegies, offering fresh insight on the question of the poet's sensuous temperament and the significance of the love–death relationship in his works.

Preface
Abbreviations
1. Introductory
2. nostis puer haesit ocellis: the lessons of 1.19
3. in amore mori: witches and lovers
4. in amore mori: the shipwreck
6. in amore mori: crime passionnel
7. in amore mori: minor instances in Book 2
8. Strange beauty: a reading of 4.7
Bibliography
Indexes.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]