Poetry and Civil War in Lucan's Bellum Civile

by Jamie Masters

Overview

This book is a major literary reevaluation of Lucan's epic poem, the Bellum Civile ("The Civil War"). Its main purpose is to bring out the implications of one basic premise: this poem is not only about civil war, but uses the metaphor of civil war (i.e. self-destruction and internal discord) as the basis for the way it tells its story. Aimed primarily at classicists, the book offers a provocative new interpretation of most of the important issues in the poem, while attempting to avoid the glibness of generalization by concentrating on detailed readings of selected parts of the text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521041720
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/10/2007
Series:	Cambridge Classical Studies
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

List of maps; Preface; 1. Caesar at the Rubicon; 2. Massilian compilation; 3. Ilerda; 4. Appius and the Delphic oracle; 5. The Thessalian excursus; 6. Erictho; 7. The endlessness of the Civil War; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"It has been a long time since any work has so provoked my thoughts on Latin epic....I hope this is not the last published work of Jamie Masters." Martha A. Davis, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"...an absolutely brilliant reinterpretation of Lucan's poem that will surely restore Lucan to a position of positive prominence in the history of Latin literature and convince even the most recalcitrant of us to reread and reconsider our views of one long thought to be a maverick among Latin epic poets who seemingly did not conform to humanist canons of propriety and taste." Ex Libris

From the Publisher