The genre of Roman elegy had a lifespan of just 50 years, but its influence on literature, art, and ways of conceptualizing and representing love has been profound. A Companion to Roman Love Elegy, edited by Barbara Gold, an eminent figure in the discipline, is the first comprehensive work dedicated solely to the study of love elegy.
The text explores the genre through 33 essays on Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Sulpicia, and Ovid, their Greek and Roman predecessors and later writers influenced by their work. The approaches of these essays vary broadly--some articles focus on specific writers or texts, others centre on the historical and material context, Greek and Roman influences on the elegists, style, meter, translation, aspects of production, and differing critical perspectives.
Original essays from respected experts look back to earlier works on Roman elegy and offer a retrospective view of the state of the discipline, whilst also developing new approaches in the field. Taken as a whole, the volume reveals the new layers of meaning currently being exposed in Roman elegy and its influence on a wide range of academic disciplines.
