Propertius: Elegies I

Propertius' celebration of his love for Cynthia broke new ground in Latin poetry: sensuous, passionate, witty, yet complex and allusive. The appeal of his 'Monobiblos' (Book I) is direct and immediate but his profound grasp of the violent and contradictory emotions of the relationship pushed his language into new areas and new forms. So he is a difficult and important poet, with the kind of difficulty that appeals to modern readers. This edition is designed to serve two different kinds of readers. For those who are not Latin specialists there is an elegant but literal translation alongside the Latin text, with a critical essay on each poem to lead the reader into the richness of the Latin. On the other hand Latinists will find here new light on the text itself. Above all, the edition is dedicated to reading poetry as poetry.

R.I.V. Hodge taught classics in Cambridge and R.A. Buttimore at Merchant Taylor's School, Northwood, Middlesex, and Wellington College, Berkshire.