Games of Venus: An Anthology of Greek and Roman Erotic Verse from Sappho to Ovid

"Games of Venus," the first comprehensive anthology of ancient Greek and Roman erotic verse, revives the tradition of eroticism in the arts for the modern reader. Unblushingly rendered with robust translations, "Games of Venus" presents the whole spectrum of erotic poetry from Sappho to Ovid. Recreating in English the full range of styles and tones present in the original Greek and Latin, the translators capture the gamut of amorous situations portrayed in these poems. The volume contains a useful introduction acquainting the reader with ancient sexual mores in their social setting, and offers a helpful guide to reading ancient erotic verse. The poems are prefaced by brief sketches of each poet's life and times, poetic output and style, and are accompanied by informative notes elucidating references to myth, geography, historical events and personages, as well as unfamiliar sexual and social customs.

GREECE: Archilochus Alkman Mimnermos Sappho Ibycus Anacreon Theognis Hipponax Pindar Bacchylides Miscellaneous Lyric and Inscriptions Hermesianax Asclepiades Callimachus Theocritus Herodas Machon The Grenfell Papyrus from Marisa Anonymous Song Anonymous Epigrams Meleager ROME: Catullus Virgil Horace Tibullus Sulpicia Propertius Ovid