Myth and Poetry in Lucretius [Paperback]

Assesses Lucretius' aims and methodology by considering his attitude to myth and its role in the De Rerum Natura.This book attempts to provide a more positive assessment of Lucretius' aims and methodology by considering the poet's attitude to myth, and the role which it plays in the De Rerum Natura, against the background of earlier and contemporary views.This book attempts to provide a more positive assessment of Lucretius' aims and methodology by considering the poet's attitude to myth, and the role which it plays in the De Rerum Natura, against the background of earlier and contemporary views.Lucretius' De Rerum Natura is a philosophical epic, devoted to the exposition of Epicurean philosophy. Since the system was materialistic, and highly critical of myth and poetry, Lucretius' use of mythological language and imagery is surprising. Dr. Gale considers the poem against the background of earlier and contemporary views of myth, and suggests that Lucretius was well aware of the tension between his two roles as poet and philosopher, and attempted to resolve it by developing a bold and innovative theory of myth and poetry.Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The philosophical background: Greek myth and mythology; 2. The cultural background: myth and belief in late Republican Rome; 3. The literary background: the De Rerum Natura as epic; 4. Lucretius' theory of myth; 5. Latent myth in the De Rerum Natura; 6. The proem and the plague; Conclusion: myth as a poetic and philosophical tool; Bibliography; General Index; Index of passages cited. What makes her [Gale] discussion exciting, at least for this reader, is the sense that this complex of ideas remains vital after two millennia; it is far more robust and viable than notions of aestheticism, art for art's sake, or the autonomous text. Classical Views Gale offers a rigorous reading and well-worked out theory of the use of the divine images in a work that is repudiating divinity. Her exploration and metils*