Horace′s ′Carmen Saeculare′ Ritual Magic and the Poets Art - Softcover

Putnam, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 030018266X ISBN 13: 9780300182668

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2015

Synopsis

This is the first book devoted to Horace's Carmen Saeculare, a poem commissioned by Roman emperor Augustus in 17 B.C.E. for choral performance at the Ludi Saeculares, the Secular Games. The poem is the first fully preserved Latin hymn whose circumstances of presentation are known, and it is the only lyric of Horace we can be certain was first presented orally. Michael C. J. Putnam offers a close and sensitive reading of this hymn, shedding new light on the richness and virtuosity of its poetry, on the many sources Horace drew on, and on the poem's power and significance as a public ritual. A rich and compelling work, this poem is a masterpiece, Putnam shows, and it represents a crucial link in the development of Rome's outstanding lyric poet.

About this title

Review

"In this lucid, appreciative study, Putnam revindicates the Carmen Saeculare as a 'neglected masterpiece' of Augustan literature." -- Kenneth Reckford, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"This is a book that will change the conversation about Horace by forcing readers to take seriously, and by enabling them at long last to enjoy, one of Horace's most significant lyric productions." -- Ellen Oliensis, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Michael C. J. Putnam is W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics and professor of comparative literature at Brown University. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including Virgil's Epic Designs: Ekphrasis in the Aeneid (ISBN 0 300 07353 4, ?27.50), published by Yale University Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 030018266X
• ISBN 13: 9780300182668
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 184