Brill’s Companion to Lucan

Lucan was the nephew of Seneca, and like him, condemned to self suicide by Nero. His magnificent poem, Bellum civile, remained beloved throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern era. In this volume, 29 chapters delve into current approaches, reception history, and analysis of separate figures and themes on the poem. The section on reception includes an essay by Carole Newlands (U. of Colorado, Boulder) of Statius' Silvae 2.7, a bibliography of Lucan in medieval Latin, his reception in the English Renaissance, and in translations. Other topics are internal evidence for the completeness of the Bellum civile, the work as an anti-Aeneid, the Nile digression in Book 10, depiction of crime in both Lucan and Statius, and the figure of Cato. Excerpts from the poem are cited in Latin, without English translation. A complete bibliography of cited works is provided. Edited by Lucan specialist Paolo Asso (U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor), the chapters are written by Asso and an impressive group of scholars in Europe and North America. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)