Catullus, Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library No. 6) [Hardcover]

Gaius Valerius Catullus (Author), Albius Tibullus (Author), G.P. Goold (Editor), F.W. Cornish (Translator), J.P. Postgate (Translator), J.W. Mackail (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1988 | Series: Loeb Classical Library (Book 6)

Catullus (Gaius Valerius, 84–54 BCE), of Verona, went early to Rome, where he associated not only with other literary men from Cisalpine Gaul but also with Cicero and Hortensius. His surviving poems consist of nearly sixty short lyrics, eight longer poems in various metres, and almost fifty epigrams. All exemplify a strict technique of studied composition inherited from early Greek lyric and the poets of Alexandria. In his work we can trace his unhappy love for a woman he calls Lesbia; the death of his brother; his visits to Bithynia; and his emotional friendships and enmities at Rome. For consummate poetic artistry coupled with intensity of feeling Catullus's poems have no rival in Latin literature.

Tibullus (Albius, ca. 54–19 BCE), of equestrian rank and a friend of Horace, enjoyed the patronage of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, whom he several times apostrophizes. Three books of elegies have come down to us under his name, of which only the first two are authentic. Book 1 mostly proclaims his love for 'Delia', Book 2 his passion for 'Nemesis'. The third book consists of a miscellany of poems from the archives of Messalla; it is very doubtful whether any come from the pen of Tibullus himself. But a special interest attaches to a group of them which concern a girl called Sulpicia: some of the poems are written by her lover Cerinthus, while others purport to be her own composition.

The Pervigilium Veneris, a poem of not quite a hundred lines celebrating a spring festival in honour of the goddess of love, is remarkable both for its beauty and as the first clear note of romanticism which transformed classical into medieval literature. The manuscripts give no clue to its author, but recent scholarship has made a strong case for attributing it to the early fourth-century poet Tiberianus.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An authoritative and up-to-date...text and a translation that communicates accurately and clearly the meaning of the Latin.
--Michael Roberts (New England Classical Newsletter & Journal )

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin (translation)
Original Language: Latin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library; 2nd edition (1988)
• Language: English, Latin
• ISBN-10: 0674990072
• ISBN-13: 978-0674990074
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Major new edition of Catullus should become standard, January 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Catullus (Phoenix Supplementary Volumes) (Hardcover)

Thomson's edition of Catullus finally weds a commentary to his twenty-odd year old critical text. For the scholar of neoteric poetry, Thomson's book is a must; undergraduates will find it too vast and too unconcerned with elementary matters (also with literary matters) but very helpful for bibliography on each poem (a role Quinn's text was growing a bit long in the tooth for). Graduate students are compelled to use this as their standard text. Thomson is at his best when unraveling the often diffuse manuscript tradition of this often-read, little-understood poet. For classicists with only a passing interest in Catullus and his work, Fordyce (supplemented by Quinn for the "obscene" poems) remains more than usable.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ancients In a Translation That is Alive Today, May 3, 2010

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S. H. Wells (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Catullus, Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library No. 6) (Hardcover)

The Loeb Classical Library collects three poets of love together in one volume. First, Catullus is probably the most often studied poet of the group. The reading the poems and glancing across the page at the Latin original gives the reader a much stronger sense for how carefully crafted Catullus's verse is. The Loeb editon has been in circulation for about 90 years; however, it has recently been revised and reissued. Since Catullus was a little racy for the early 20th Century, many of his poems were translated into a very stilted form (or not translated at all). The new edition from Loeb corrects this and takes into account the 100 years of classical scholarship to produce a very authoratative and readable edition.

Second, Tibullus presents an interesting case, because few if any of his poems can directly be attributed to him. This in and of itself may not merit much attention -- particularly after reading the textual introduction which described just how torured a path classical texts have walked in coming down to us today. The poems about Sulpicia are the real interest here in that they may be written by her.

Finally, Tiberianus's Pervigilium Veneris attracts attention because it suggests the move away from classical poetry to Medieval forms.

The Loeb edition is well crafted with sewn binding and acid-free paper. These poets have survived 2000 years, and the Loeb edition is sure to be valued for generations.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Catullus and Tibullus: Exemplars of Roman Love Poetry, January 14, 2005

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Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Catullus, Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris (Loeb Classical Library No. 6) (Hardcover)

Catullus and Tibullus relatively belong to the same epoch in the history of Latin Poetry; and they also derive their inspiration through the same source--from Erato the Muse of Love Poetry. What one will encounter, then, while reading their works, is what may be perhaps the finest manifestation of Roman Love Poetry that has been passed over to us through the ages. With the exception of Propertius or Ovid, Catullus and Tibullus have no rival when it comes to the art of love poetry; and one may argue that the former poets only surpass the later in their bulk of extant poems and in their depth of subject-matter. Also included in this volume, is the Vigil of Venus, a warm and colorful poem attributed to a certain Tiberianus, who belongs to much later time, likely during the reign of the Antonines. As the introduction points out, the Vigil of Venus contains the first piece of Romanticism to be found in Western Poetry. It is a poem of exceptional merit, and it is not unworthy of the majesty of Catullus and Tibullus. Taken as a whole, students of Latin Literature, and poets of our day, have much to learn and enjoy by reading these noble classics.