Classical Love Poetry

by Jonathan Chamberlain Williams (Editor), Clive Cheesman (Editor)

This lovely book pairs selections of translated Greek and Roman verse from Homer, Sappho, Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, among others, with fine examples of paintings, sculpture, vases, and decorative objects. The excerpts, which cover the period from the eighth century B.C. to the early Middle Ages, were chosen from famous works, such as Homer's Iliad as well as less well-known pieces, such as the writings of the Greek poet Ibycus. This book demonstrates that the human preoccupation with love in all its forms has inspired writers for millennia: from the expression of enduring faithfulness and familial affection in Homer's description of Hector and Andromache to the passionate intensity portrayed by the later Greek lyric poets and the light-hearted depiction of love as a lost little boy by the anonymous authors of the Inacreontea. The book includes a brief introduction to Greek and Roman views on love and marriage, a short biographical note on each of the major poets, and a glossary of mythical and geographical names.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 18, 2004

About the author

March 8, 1929 - March 16, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/boo...

Writer, photographer, and publisher. Founded the Jargon Society Press.

Reviews

[Isidoro Eduardo Americano do Brasil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately this edition does not have the full original texts in greek/latin, only the first lines in these languages followed by translations.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A varied collection of Greek and Latin love poetry; some tragic, some sweet, some witty. What I particularly liked about this edition was the inclusion of one or two lines of the original Greek (and Latin), which I found a useful aid to my attempted Greek revision. The pictures alongside each poem were also quite lovely.

[Taylor Manookian · Rating 3 out of 5]

stop this was so cute. the guy that was like "whats too many kisses?? how many grains of sand are there on the beach" like omg hes me. there can never be too many
i also liked the sappho ones theyre so full of longing
a lot of them were like omg cupid stay away from me LMAO. but like i get it😭😭😭

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew Ovid was a bit of an O.G Jilly Cooper!
There was a lot of interesting art included from the British Museum, which I didn’t know was part of the collections there, so that was nice to find out. Useful for my next visit.

[ꪶꪖꪜ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good poetry in general, but more art and perhaps more varied selection??

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's nice to see how much (or how little) love poetry has changed, but there seems to be something missing - some sense or meaning lost during the translationing.