Heroides 16 and 17 : introduction, text and commentary

"Ovid's Heroides", letters in elegiac verse supposedly penned by famous mythological lovers, have attracted renewed scholarly attention over the past twenty or so years. "Heroides" 16 and 17, the letters exchanged by Paris and Helen, are the subject of this volume.

It consists of an Introduction, the Latin text of "Heroides" 16 and 17 with apparatus criticus, and a detailed commentary followed by bibliography and indexes.

Dr Michalopoulos elucidates the content, structure and background of "Heroides" 16 and 17 and brings new light to bear on the interpretation of the poems, supplementing Palmer's (1898) old but still useful commentary on the single and double Heroides and Kenney's (1996) valuable commentary on the double Heroides.

The Introduction discusses Ovid's treatment of his literary sources and models - mainly his own Amores, Ars Amatoria, and Heroides 5 and 7, and Vergil's "Aeneid" - and surveys Ovid's language, style and wit.

The commentary deals in detail with these same areas and covers relevant aspects of myth, intertextuality, metre and text.