The Cambridge Companion to Latin Love Elegy

Critical introduction to the fascinating genre of Latin love elegy, exploring its Greek and Latin precursors, the individual elegists, the world it presents, and why it has been so important to the concept of love and lament in the history of Western literature. Suitable for students and non-specialists.

In this volume leading international scholars offer a comprehensive, critical and engaging presentation of the genre of Latin love elegy. Opening with an outline of Greek elegy and Latin precursors, the volume challenges the conception of Gallus as the ''inventor'' of Latin love elegy, highlights how Sulpicia, the only woman whose poetry is extant, makes the genre unique in the history of Augustan literature in terms of gender, and provides fresh presentations of the canonical Latin elegists. Five chapters visit the world of Latin love elegy, the time, place and political background, the stock figures and the slavery of love and erotic campaigning. A whole section treats the limits of Latin love elegy, which seem to be inherent to the genre itself. Nevertheless, the volume closes with a series of investigations into the reception of Latin love elegy, which attests to its vital influence on the history of Western literature.