Latin Explorations (Routledge Revivals) Critical Studies in Roman Literature [Paperback]

Latin Explorations, first published in 1963,offers a fresh approach to Roman poetry from Catullus to Ovid. Traditionally, the period is divided for specialist studies  Lyric, Epic and Elegy. In each of them, techniques of interpretation prevail, isolated from contemporary ideas about poetry and dominated by barriers between textual, exegetical and aesthetic criticism.

Kenneth Quinn discerns in Roman poetry of this period the adolescence, maturity and decay of a single coherent tradition whose internal unity surpasses differences of form. His argument attempts to reverse the dissociation of purely academic research from appreciative criticism, whilst also incorporating the work of textual scholars. Each chapter is supported by a detailed analysis of the texts: nearly 700 lines of poetry are discussed and translated.

Latin Explorations will be of significant value not only to students of the Classics, but also to the Latinless general reader who is interested in Roman literature.

Preface; Abbreviations 1. Horaces Spring Odes 2. Vigils Tragic Queen 3. Emergence of a Form: The Latin Short Poem 4. Dramatic Monologue in the Odes of Horace 5. Tacitus Narrative Technique 6. Propertius, Horace, and the Poets Role 7. Propertius and the Poetry of the Intellect 8. The Tempo of Virgilian Epic 9. Persistence of a Theme: The Proempticon; List of Poems and Passages Discussed; Index