William Fitzgerald, Emily Gowers, Ennius Perennis: The Annals and Beyond, Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Society, Cambridge Classical Journal, Supplementary Volume, 31. xiii, 172 pages.
- ISBN 9780906014301
- $90.00
Recension par Sandro La Barbera (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa) dans Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.04.19.
Présentation de l'éditeur:
Ennius Perennis: the Annals and Beyond isa collection of eight essays by an international group of scholars ondifferent aspects of the poetry and legacy of Quintus Ennius (239-169BC). Ennius' epic poem the Annals and his many other works,including tragedies, satires and epigrams, survive only in mystifyingfragments, but his influence on Latin poetry was enormous. He is nowbeginning to be appreciated, thanks both to excellent critical editionsand to more enlightened literary and historical approaches, as acomplex and varied poet and a fascinating representative of an era ofintense cultural and political change. While they acknowledge theextent to which later authors are responsible for creating a misleadingperception of Ennius as monolithic, jingoistic and clumsy, these essaysalso reflect on what can be said about the nature and aims of his work,given the limitations of our evidence. Subjects discussed includeCicero's "invention" of Ennius, the part played by the cor (heart) inunifying Ennius' literary project, the possibility of "further voices"and a role for women in Ennius, Virgil's fraught "father-son"relationship with his epic predecessor and Ennius' later reincarnationin the works of Horace and Petrarch. The collection is likely to appealto all who are interested in Latin literature, literary history orreception studies.
William Fitzgerald will, from October 1st 2007, be Professor of Latin,King's College, London and is currently Lecturer in Classics,University of Cambridge and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College. EmilyGowers is Lecturer in Classics, University of Cambridge and Fellow ofSt John's College.