Horace and Housman

by Gaskin, Richard

• ISBN13: 9781137366160
• ISBN10: 1137366168
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-12-05
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The lyric poems of Horace and Housman are two enigmatic bodies of work that have much in common, and a close reading of each poet's writings can illuminate the other's to a much greater extent than has been generally appreciated. This is the first book to provide a detailed, critical comparison between these two poets, and also the first to make use of Housman's unpublished lectures on Horace. Concentrating on the themes of sexuality, pessimism, religion, politics, integrity, form and content, Richard Gaskin offers an insightful examination of Housman's scholarly treatment of Horace and his general approach to literary criticism.

Author Biography

Richard Gaskin is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, UK. He has published extensively in the philosophy of language, philosophy of literature, metaphysics, history of philosophy, and classical literature.

Table of Contents

Preface
Dedication
1. Introduction
2. Pessimism and Pejorism
3. Spring and Death
4. Horace's Attitude to Religion
5. Religion and Politics in Housman
6. Horace and Politics
7. Questions of Integrity and Consistency
8. Form and Content
9. Housman, Literary Criticism, and the Classics
10. Housman's Criticism of Horace
Bibliography