A Commentary on Horace: Odes Book III

by R. G. M. Nisbet, Niall Rudd

Overview

This Commentary takes critical account of recent writing on the Odes. It deals with detailed questions of interpretation, and shows how Horace combined the tact of a court-poet with a humane individualism, and how he wrote within a literary tradition without losing a highly personal voice. Though the book is not intended for beginners, the editors aim throughout at clarity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199263141
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/29/2004
Series:	Commentary on Horace Ser. , #3
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 5.48(h) x 1.28(d)

About the Author

R. G. M. Nisbet was formerly Corpus Christi Professor of Latin Language and Literature, University of Oxford. Niall Rudd was formerly Professor of Latin at Bristol University.

Table of Contents

General Introduction1. Horace's early life2. The date of Odes I-III3. The ‘Roman Odes'4. Horace and Augustus5. Maecenas and the other addressees6. Horace's ‘love-poems'7. Religion in Horace8. The meaning of the author9. Ambiguity10. Person and persona11. Genre12. Style13. Structure14. The arrangement of the book15. The text16. The ancient commentators17. Metre18. BibliographyCommentaryIndexes

Editorial Reviews

"Latinists have been waiting for this for almost thirty years.... Anyone who loves Latin will relish A Commentary on Horace: Odes Book III. It has, after all, been worth the wait.... The strengths of Nisbet and Rudd's new commentary are very great, and are a function of the extraordinary attention to detail throughout. Its sheer utility value is very high.... Even if we must face the fact that we will never have a commentary on the fourth book from Nisbet's hand, we shall be forever grateful that Rudd was able to make possible the appearance of this volume, a cap to their distinguished careers, and a monument that will endure beside the other two."—Times Literary Supplement

"Much hard thinking lies behind Horace's verse, which Nietzsche called 'lapidary.' Nabokov, that connoisseur of commentary, would have cherished this commentary, as will anyone who reads poetry as it should be read—SLOWLY."—Tom D'Evelyn, Providence Journal (Favorite Books of 2004)

"Nisbet and Rudd complete a series of three magisterial commentaries...on the three books of Horace's masterpiece of collected Odes.... This third volume matches its predecessors in deploying an awesome erudition in the service of sensitive and precise literary analysis. Essential."—Choice

From the Publisher