Propertius, Greek myth, and Virgil : rivalry, allegory, and polemic

Resource Information

The work Propertius, Greek myth, and Virgil : rivalry, allegory, and polemic represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Missouri Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Propertius, Greek myth, and Virgil : rivalry, allegory, and polemic

Title remainder

rivalry, allegory, and polemic

Statement of responsibility

Peter J. Heslin

Creator

• Heslin, Peter

Author

• Heslin, Peter

Subject

• Latin poetry
• Latin poetry
• Latin poetry -- History and criticism
• Mythology, Greek, in literature
• Mythology, Greek, in literature
• Mythology, Greek, in literature
• Criticism, interpretation, etc
• Propertius, Sextus
• Propertius, Sextus -- Criticism and interpretation
• Virgil
• Virgil
• Virgil
• Propertius, Sextus
• Criticism, interpretation, etc

Genre

• Criticism, interpretation, etc

Language

eng

Summary

This volume offers a strikingly innovative account of Propertius' relationship with Virgil, positing a keen rivalry between two of the greatest poets of Latin literature, contemporaries within the circle of Maecenas. It begins by examining all of the references to Greek mythology in Propertius' first book; these passages emerge as strongly intertextual in nature, providing a way for the poet to situate himself with respect to his predecessors, both Greek and Roman. More specifically, myth is also the medium of a sustained polemic with Virgil's Eclogues, published only a few years earlier. Virgil's response can be traced in the Georgics, and subsequently, in his second and third books, Propertius continued to use mythology and its relationship to contemporary events as a vehicle for literary polemic. This volume argues that their competition can be seen as exemplifying a revised model for how the poets within Maecenas' circle interacted and engaged with each other's work - a model based on rivalry rather than ideological adhesion or subversion - while also painting a revealing picture of how Virgil was viewed by a contemporary in the days before his death had canonized his work as an instant classic. In particular, its novel interpretation offers us a new understanding of Propertius, one of the foundational figures in Western love poetry, and how his frequent references to other poets, especially Gallus and Ennius, take on new meanings when interpreted as responses to Virgil's changing career

Additional physical form

Also available in electronic format.

Cataloging source

YDX

Dewey number

874/.0109

Index

index present

LC call number

PA6646

LC item number

.H47 2018

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography