Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.01.05 Amanda Kolson Hurley, Catullus . London: Bristol Classical Press, 2004. Pp. 158. ISBN 1-85399-669-6. $20.00.
Reviewed by Christopher Nappa, University of Minnesota (cnappa@umn.edu)
Word count: 898 words
One of the surprising things about Catullan scholarship, given the nearly universal prominence of Catullus in Latin curricula, is that it has been hard to find introductions to the poet that are at once reliable and readable. Amanda Kolson Hurley's introduction goes a long way toward filling that gap, and for its intended audience it is a definite success. The book is part of Bristol Classical Press's Ancients in Action series; the intended audience of the series, and thus of Hurley's book, is, according to the series description on the back cover, "the modern general reader." The books are designed to introduce important ancient figures including, so far, Catullus, Lucretius, Ovid, Horace, Spartacus, and Cleopatra and to cover "the essentials of each subject's life, works, and significance for later western civilisation." The book consists of an introduction, conclusion, and seven chapters. The first of these, "Between Myth and History: The Life of Catullus," is a useful summary of what we know and think we know about the life of Catullus. Hurley does a good job of pointing out where our evidence is unreliable while still acknowledging that the life of Catullus as reconstructed in the nineteenth century has taken on a life of its own and has to be reckoned with even though it may not, in every respect, be accurate. | |
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