🎉   Please check out our new website over at books-etc.com.

Seller
Your price
£99.81
RRP: £120.00
Save £20.19 (17%)
Printed on Demand
Dispatched within 7-9 working days.

Canidia, Rome's First Witch

Format: Hardback
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London, United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 9th Feb 2017
Dimensions: w 156mm h 234mm d 14mm
Weight: 503g
ISBN-10: 1350003883
ISBN-13: 9781350003880
Barcode No: 9781350003880
Trade or Institutional customer? Contact us about large order quotes.
Synopsis
Canidia is one of the most well-attested witches in Latin literature. She appears in no fewer than six of Horace's poems, three of which she has a prominent role in. Throughout Horace's Epodes and Satires she perpetrates acts of grave desecration, kidnapping, murder, magical torture and poisoning. She invades the gardens of Horace's literary patron Maecenas, rips apart a lamb with her teeth, starves a Roman child to death, and threatens to unnaturally prolong Horace's life to keep him in a state of perpetual torment. She can be seen as an anti-muse: Horace repeatedly sets her in opposition to his literary patron, casts her as the personification of his iambic poetry, and gives her the surprising honor of concluding not only his Epodes but also his second book of Satires. This volume is the first comprehensive treatment of Canidia. It offers translations of each of the three poems which feature Canidia as a main character as well as the relevant portions from the other three poems in which Canidia plays a minor role. These translations are accompanied by extensive analysis of Canidia's part in each piece that takes into account not only the poems' literary contexts but their magico-religious details.

New & Used

Seller Information Condition Price
-New£99.81
+ FREE UK P & P

What Reviewers Are Saying

Submit your review
Newspapers & Magazines
In seeking to understand this literary figure on her own terms in each of her major appearances, Paule strengthens our understanding of Horace's poetic intent and enriches our appreciation of the complexity of the poet's engagement with witches and demonic figures. Paule's prose style is clear and strives to engage the reader. The combination of clarity and insightful analysis in this monograph makes the positions offered engaging. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * The discussions of individual poems are unfailingly rich ... Paule's book provides the perfect complement to ... broad-ranging diachronic surveys, focusing in on one witch, one poetic corpus, and engaging in close reading. * Classics for All Reviews * [The book] offers an original insight not only into the literary figure of Canidia, but also into the poems in which she features and their interpretation. [Paule] is, therefore, to be congratulated on this stimulating volume, which is also commendable for the careful signposting and the clear style that make this study accessible to a wide variety of readers, from experienced scholars of Horace to those with little or no prior background knowledge. * The Classical Review * Students of Horatian poetry are likely to be Paule's primary audience, but those interested in the poetic potential of characters that might deceptively strike as flat or "stock" will find much of value here, as will those occupied with witch figures in literature more generally. The strengths of Paule's discussion lie in is ability to identify insightful poetic allusions and connections internal and external to Horace's poetry. * Ancient History Bulletin * The book shows the character's plural and moving character ... [It] is very accessible, including for students. Accessibility is facilitated by clear and summarized remarks at each end of the chapter. * Anabases (Bloomsbury translation) * In this excellent in-depth literary study, Maxwell Teitel Paule persuasively shows how Horace uses the malleable demonic figure of Canidia in different roles to serve his own changing poetic needs. * Barbette Stanley Spaeth, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, College of William and Mary, USA * In this fascinating book Paule investigates Canidia as the prototypical witch, a demonic entity provided with an incredible variety of features. Through his insightful analysis he suggests new interpretations for Horace's poetry. * Alberto Cavarzere, Professor of Latin Literature, University of Verona, Italy *