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Caesar and the Storm
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Caesar and the Storm Unknown - 2008

by Matthews, Monica


From the publisher

This commentary on a part of book 5 of Lucan's 'historical epic' poem De Bello Civili aims to provide the reader with as thorough an analysis as possible of literary and historical points of interest within the text and so to facilitate a fuller understanding and appreciation of one of the most important episodes in the poem, Julius Caesar's failed attempt to cross the Adriatic in the midst of a great storm.
It examines how the episode contributes to the long tradition of epic storm narratives dating back to Homer and also how it contributes to the wider themes of the poem as a whole, in particular to Lucan's portrayal of Caesar.
A line-by-line commentary is combined with longer notes summarizing issues of particular importance. Such issues include: the influence of Roman love-poetry in the depiction of the relationship between Caesar and his men, Lucan's use of Virgil's Nisus and Euryalus episode, and the tradition of theoxeny narratives lying behind the scene at the home of the fisherman Amyclas which allows us to view Caesar as 'playing the part' of a traditional god or hero.
Throughout, Lucan's engagement with the works of Homer, Virgil (particularly the Aeneid but also the Georgics), Ovid and Seneca, and the ways in which the lack of a traditional divine machinery in his poem is compensated for are considered.

Details

  • Title Caesar and the Storm
  • Author Matthews, Monica
  • Binding unknown
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 321
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Peter Lang, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 2008-02
  • ISBN 9783039107360
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: Ancient (To 499 A.D.)
    • Cultural Region: Italy
    • Interdisciplinary Studies: Classics

About the author

The Author: Monica Matthews studied Classics at Jesus College, Oxford, from 1985 to 1989. After a number of years working in school-teaching and publishing she studied for an M.A. in Classics at University College London followed by a Ph.D. in Classics at King's College London. She received her doctorate in 2004.