The Complete Poems of Tibullus: An En Face Bilingual Edition

by Tibullus, Lygdamus, Sulpicia

Tibullus is considered one of the finest exponents of Latin lyric in the golden age of Rome, during the Emperor Augustus's reign, and his poetry retains its enduring beauty and appeal. Together these works provide an important document for anyone who seeks to understand Roman culture and sexuality and the origins of Western poetry.- The new translation by Rodney Dennis and Michael Putnam conveys to students the elegance and wit of the original poems.- Ideal for courses on classical literature, classical civilization, Roman history, comparative literature, and the classical tradition and reception.- The Latin verses will be printed side-by-side with the English text.- Explanatory notes and a glossary elucidate context and describe key names, places, and events.- An introduction by Julia Haig Gaisser provides the necessary historical and social background to the poet's life and works.- Includes the poems of Sulpicia and Lygdamus, transmitted with the text of Tibullus and formerly ascribed to him.

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, ebook

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Albius Tibullus (c. 55 BC – 19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins.

Tibullus's chief friend and patron was Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, himself an orator and poet as well as a statesman and a commander. Messalla, like Gaius Maecenas, was at the centre of a literary circle in Rome. This circle had no relationship with the court, and the name of Augustus is found nowhere in the writings of Tibullus. About 30 BC Messalla was dispatched by Augustus to Gaul to quell a rising in Aquitania and restore order in the country, and Tibullus may have been in his retinue. On a later occasion, probably in 28, he would have accompanied his friend who had been sent on a mission to the East, but he fell sick and had to stay behind in Corcyra. Tibullus had no liking for war, and though his life seems to have been divided between Rome and his country estate, his own preferences were wholly for the country life.

The loss of Tibullus's landed property is attested by himself (i. I, 19 seq.), "Felicis quondam, nunc pauperis agri" ("Fields of one once prosperous, now impoverished" ;cf. 41, 42). Its cause is only an inference, though a very probable one. That he was allowed to retain a portion of his estate with the family mansion is clear from ii. 4, 53. Tibullus may have been Messalla's contubernalis in the Aquitanian War (Vita Tib. and Tib. i. 7, 9 seq., a poem composed for Messalla's triumph), and may have received militaria dona (Vita Tib.).

Tibullus died prematurely, probably in 19,[1] and almost immediately after Virgil. His death made a deep impression in Rome, as we learn from his contemporary, Domitius Marsus, and from the elegy in which Ovid (Amores, iii. 9) enshrined the memory of his predecessor.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, as the Propertius, read this for a Cavafy essay. I liked these translations less, though. Something felt very... bleh about them. Not sure whether that's tiredness, or something else, but it didn't grab me. Then again, I've always preferred Propertius to Tibullus anyway, so maybe it's just the content. Who knows.

[james · Rating 5 out of 5]

tibullus' latin is so accessible + effective! trying to read a load of latin before rome

[Birgitta Hoffmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Tibullus. I particularly like they way in which his imagery works on so many different levels all at the same time. I also know from bitter experience that any attempt to translate him into English is likely to fall short of either the beauty of the Verse meter, the apparent simplicity of the language, the richness of the imagery - or in a bad case all three.
This translation has received rave reviews amongst other on BMCR, so I was really looking forward to it and congratulations translating him into blank verse is hard enough and on the whole the English makes decent reading. It is only when you look at the Latin and then the translated version that you realise that the English frequently doesn't even convey the primary meaning of the text...'aqua liquida'is really not 'calm waters' quite the opposite.

A disappointment, but it got me to read the Latin poems again...