Carpe Diem
<i>Carpe Diem</i>
Carpe diem – 'eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!' – is a prominent motif throughout ancient literature and beyond. This is the first book-length examination of its significance and demonstrates that close analysis can make a key contribution to a question that is central to literary studies in and beyond Classics: how can poetry give us the almost magical impression that something is happening here and now? In attempting an answer, Robert Rohland gives equal attention to Greek and Latin texts, as he offers new interpretations of well-known poems from Horace and tackles understudied epigrams. Pairing close readings of ancient texts along with interpretations of other forms of cultural production such as gems, cups, calendars, monuments, and Roman wine labels, this interdisciplinary study transforms our understanding of the motif of carpe diem.
- Illuminates a key motif in ancient literature, which was hugely influential in later literature
- Advances our understanding of seminal authors such as Horace and reveals the importance of lesser known texts
- Interprets literary texts alongside other forms of cultural production, such as artworks on gems and cups, calendars, monuments, inscriptions, and Roman wine labels
Product details
November 2022Adobe eBook Reader
9781009041324
0 pages
17 colour illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- 1. The archaeology of Carpe Diem: Sardanapallus, monuments, epigrams, and false beginnings
- 2. A moveable feast: Wine storage-places as drinkable calendars in Horace
- 3. Gathering leaves: Horace, choice of words, cyclical time, and the production of presence
- 4. The pleasure of images: Epigrams and objects 100 ʙᴄ – ᴀᴅ 100
- 5. As is the generation of leaves, so are the generations of cows, mice, and gigolos…: Excerpe Diem! or excerpts of 'Carpe Diem'.
