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DÖPP, S., Zeitgeschichte in Dichtungen Claudians. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1980. XII,281p. Nice privately green cloth rebinding. Spine gilt titled. Series: Hermes, Einzelschriften, Heft 43. 'On the considerable number of monographs, commentaries and papers that have in recent years occupied themselves with Claudian as a poet writing on contemporary themes, the present volume is in my view arguably the best. 'From bias free of very kind', it attempts an investigation of the manner in which C.'s poems respond to the various historical situations which prompted their composition, and in its honesty and sobriety of judgement it deserves every commendation. (...) Three introductory chapters survey the history of research on C. as, first, man of letters, then historical source, then 'official propagandist'; discuss the political character of C.'s poetry; and examine the vexed subject of C.'s religious allegiance and, as a corollary, the role of the pagan elements in his work. The core of the book is sequence of paired chapters, in which the first sketches the historical background to a particular poem or group of poems, while the second provides an analysis of the structure of the poem(s) in question and an assessment of how each responds to the circumstances in which it was composed. A short closing summary draws together the main general points that have emerged in the course of the detailed discussions preceding.' (J.B. HALL in The Classical Review (New Series), 1985, p.291). € 35.00 (Antiquarian) ISBN: 9783515029506