Inspiring poets from Ben Jonson and Alexander Pope to W. H. Auden and Robert Frost, the writings of Horace and Persius have had a powerful influence on later Western literature. The Satires of Persius are highly idiosyncratic, containing a courageous attack on the poetry and morals of his wealthy contemporaries even the ruling emperor, Nero. The Satires of Horace, written in the troubled decade ending with the establishment of Augustus s regime, provide an amusing treatment of men s perennial enslavement to money, power, glory, and sex. Epistles I, addressed to the poet s...

Commonly considered the greatest of Roman satirical poets, Juvenal is the author of sixteen satires of Roman society, notable for their pessimism and ironic humor. In this new translation of the Satires, Professor Rudd combines textual accuracy with colorful poetry, vividly conveying Juvenal's gift for evoking a wealth of imagery with a few economical phrases.
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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.

This commentary fulfils the need for a student edition of Horace's literary epistles, which have recently been the subject of renewed scholarly interest.

In these studies of Latin poetry Niall Rudd demonstrates a variety of critical methods and approaches. He shows how it can be fruitful at different times to consider the historical background of a poem, its language or structure, its place in a literary tradition, the role of critical paradigms, and so on. But if no single approach has special and invariable authority this does not imply critical anarchy. Each has its own validity for different purposes, its own strengths and limitations. The reader must be versatile and sensitive to a range of possibilities, but not doctrinaire.

'A systematic study of all the Satires, this book includes] for each Satire an exposition of argument and structure illustrated by pieces of either idiomatic translation of paraphrase, a description ofhistorical and social background, and comments on the quality of the poem ... this happy blend of historical scholarship and literary criticism is aimed at a wide audience.' Michael Coffey, Classical Review

This introduction to three of Juvenal's satires aims to
help intermediate high school or college readers understand the meaning
of Juvenal's Latin. Satire I is Juvenal's explanation of why he writes
poetry and satire. Satire III discusses why life in Rome has become
intolerable. Satire X concerns itself with explaining why most prayers
are misguided and, if answered, harmful.

This text sets out to illuminate all the central themes of Roman satire. It offers a synchronic assessment of different aspects of the work of Lucilius, Horace, Persius and Juvenal: their aims; their styles; and their views on freedom of speech, class patronage, Greeks and sex. In addition it contains a sympathetic presentation in English of the poetry of Lucilius.