Propertius: Elegies Book IV

Propertius' fourth book is his most challenging and innovative. It disrupts genre; dislocates time and order; and meditates on gender, perception and history. A sort of postmodernism combines with narrative and structural verve, incisively physical writing and a gallery of colourful characters. This edition makes a demanding and rewarding text more accessible and more intelligible. The text is new; help and fresh ideas are offered on the text and meaning of words. A wide range of literary, inscriptional and archaeological material is used to illuminate this many-sided poetry. Much more space is given than in previous editions to literary interpretation and historical contextualization, in the light of modern work. The book is approached as a dynamic sequence of poems rather than a collection. The edition should be valuable to both students and scholars.

Introduction; SEX. PROPERTI LIBER QUARTVS; Commentary.

Propertius' fourth book is his most challenging and innovative. It disrupts genre; dislocates time and order; and meditates on gender, perception and history. This detailed commentary, with introduction and new text, provides much new material for approaching this important work. Both students and scholars will find it valuable.

Gregory Hutchinson is Professor of Greek and Latin Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College. His most recent publications include Cicero's Correspondence: A Literary Study (1998) and Greek Lyric Poetry (2001).