Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (1985), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
These ardent, even obsessed, poems about erotic passion are among the brightest jewels in the crown of Latin literature. Written by Propertius, Rome's greatest poet of love, who was born around 50 b.c., a contemporary of Ovid, these elegies tell of Propertius' tormented relationship with a woman he calls "Cynthia." Their connection was sometimes blissful, more often agonizing, but as the poet came to recognize, it went beyond pride or shame to become the defining event of his life. Whether or not it was Propertius' explicit intention, these elegies extend our ideas of desire, and of the human condition itself.
User reviews
LibraryThing member languagehat
This book got me my first bookstore job: the manager and I discussed various versions of Propertius, then he said "Would you by any chance be interested in working here?"
LibraryThing member a211423
Contains his famously dramatic and obsessive elegies to, for, and about Cynthia. In matters of the heart, not much has changed since 50 BCE in Rome.
Subjects
Awards
National Translation Award (Winner — 2005)
Prix Jules Janin (1932)
Language
Original language
Latin
Physical description
224 p.; 7.7 inches
ISBN
0140444645 / 9780140444643