This book is an attempt to read the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus in his own context; to look at the poet and his works against the cultural realities of the first century BC as recent advances in historical research allow us to understand them. Catullus' own social background, the circumstances of the literary life of his time, the true extent of his works and the variety of audiences he addressed - these and other questions are explored by Professor Wiseman with new and startling results. Contemporary high society and politics are illustrated through Clodia and Caelius Rufus, considered not as mere adjuncts to Catullus' story but as significant historical personalities in their own right. A final chapter on nineteenth- and twentieth-century interpretations of Catullus' world shows how anachronistic preconceptions have prevented a proper understanding of it, and made this radical reappraisal necessary. Anyone with a serious interest in Latin literature or Roman history will want to read this book. Students in the upper levels of school or at university will find it essential background reading to their work on Catullus and Cicero's Pro Caelio.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Buy $50 in qualifying physical textbooks, get $5 in Amazon MP3 Credit. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
'T. P. Wiseman's Catullus and his World must be one of the most readable and exciting new books about a Latin poet for many years ... [It] can confidently be recommended to anyone interested in Catullus and not just to the professional classical scholar or student.' Francis Cairns, The Times Literary Supplement
'Disarmingly readable, and with many a neat turn of phrase, it is a valuable study of Catullus and his time, full of shrewdness and common sense, sometimes subtle, sometimes provocative.' Richard Jenkyns, The Times Higher Education Supplement
'I applaud the book as a scintillating work of imaginative scholarship.' Peter Jones, The Times
'The book deserves to become required reading for all students of late-republican Rome, its society and its literature.' Tony Woodman, British Book News
'Disarmingly readable, and with many a neat turn of phrase, it is a valuable study of Catullus and his time, full of shrewdness and common sense, sometimes subtle, sometimes provocative.' Richard Jenkyns, The Times Higher Education Supplement
'I applaud the book as a scintillating work of imaginative scholarship.' Peter Jones, The Times
'The book deserves to become required reading for all students of late-republican Rome, its society and its literature.' Tony Woodman, British Book News
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything You Wanted to Know about Catullus . . .,
This review is from: Catullus and his World: A Reappraisal (Paperback)
...BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK!This is a great book, and it's scholarly and exhaustively researched to boot. It's weird, because it's fun and great reading, but you really sense Wiseman's profound ability to get so close to something that is really so far away from our everyday lives--now this is scholarship! He's an intellectual but never haughty or boring. It'll make you want to read all of Catullus' poems right away in any kind of format. I can never tell people enough that it's okay to read Latin (or Greek) literature in translation. The last chapter, concerning Lesbia and modern poetry, is an amazing survey, tracing various poets' incarnations of the Divina Puella, from Marcus Antonius Flaminius' vision of Lesbia as a Medieval damsel-mannequin in distress, to Dorothy Parker's verdict of Lesbia as nothing more than ancient Rome's version of Holly Golightly. I rarely read introductions, but Wiseman's inspired me, especially when he says that "the imagination of one callow youth was caught" when he first read the poems of Catullus when he was 14. Certainly his imagination rivals Catullus' own.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unusually good,
By
This review is from: Catullus and his World: A Reappraisal (Paperback)
This book tells you most everything that can be known or guessed about Catullus, and it does so in a way that is both erudite and entertaining--a rare combination.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
Of all the Latin poets, Catullus is the one who seems to speak most directly to us. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hunc lucum tibi dedico consecroque, pumice expolitum, novum libellum, meae puellae, forum crowd, ludi scaenici, dedication poem, patrician lady Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Shackleton Bailey, Metellus Celer, Valerius Catullus, New York, Clodia Metelli, Great Mother, Ovid Fasti, Ovid Trist, Caelius Rufus, Varro Men, Cornelius Nepos, Greek East, Della Corte, Ancient Society, Basil Bunting, Bona Dea, Book Three, Harold Nicolson, Jack Lindsay, Licinius Calvus, Magna Mater, Manlius Torquatus, Ovid Met, Peter Whigham New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Of all the Latin poets, Catullus is the one who seems to speak most directly to us. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hunc lucum tibi dedico consecroque, pumice expolitum, novum libellum, meae puellae, forum crowd, ludi scaenici, dedication poem, patrician lady Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Shackleton Bailey, Metellus Celer, Valerius Catullus, New York, Clodia Metelli, Great Mother, Ovid Fasti, Ovid Trist, Caelius Rufus, Varro Men, Cornelius Nepos, Greek East, Della Corte, Ancient Society, Basil Bunting, Bona Dea, Book Three, Harold Nicolson, Jack Lindsay, Licinius Calvus, Magna Mater, Manlius Torquatus, Ovid Met, Peter Whigham New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 91
books:
See all 91 books this book cites
58
books
cite this book:
See all 58 books citing this book
- Collected Poems by Vachel Lindsay by Vachel Lindsay in Front Matter, page 232, and page 243
- The Complete Poetry by Gaius Catullus in Front Matter, page 230, and page 242
- Poems and Ballads by Algernon Charles Swinburne on page 214, and page 215
- Poems and Ballads by Algernon Charles Swinburne on page 214, and page 215
- Collected Poems by Basil Bunting on page 232, and page 243
See all 91 books this book cites
- A Preface to Romans: Notes on the Epistle in Its Literary and Cultural Setting by Christopher Bryan on page 85, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Hermaphrodites in Renaissance Europe (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World) by Kathleen P. Long in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Women Writing Latin, Volume One: Women Writing Latin in Roman Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and the Early Christian Era by Laurie J. Churchill on page 21, and page 24
- Roman Wives, Roman Widows: The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities by Bruce W. Winter on page 34, and Back Matter
- Prayer From Alexander To Constantine: A Critical Anthology by Mark Kiley on page 142, and page 143
See all 58 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
