Lucan Lucan

Marco Anneo Lucano nación en la ciudad hispana de Córdoba en el año 39 y murió en Roma en el año 65. De familia ilustre tanto por el valor de su alcurnia como por el de su talento, causa asombro, a pesar de su corta vida -Nerón le obligó a suicidarse a los veintiséis años a causa de su compromiso en la conjura de Pisón-, la abundancia de su obra, fruto de una capacidad poética que obtuvo reconocimiento oficial y público. La «Farsalia» es una obra compleja de gran vitalidad, capaz de generar significados múltiples y de provocar desencuentros e interpretaciones dispares. Lucano lleva a cabo con la «Farsalia» una transformación radical de la epopeya al convertir en su objeto la denuncia exasperada de ala guerra fratricida, de la subversión de los valores morales, de la instauración del reino de la injusticia. Es un poema de los vencidos, un poema de la derrota y de la exaltación de las víctimas.

Lucan's great poem, Pharsalia , recounts events surrounding the decisive battle fought near Pharsalus in 48 B.C. during the civil war between the forces of Pompey and Julius Caesar. Though the subject of this unfinished masterpiece is historical, many of its features are characteristic of epic poetry: Rousing battle scenes; tales of witches, monsters, and miracle; detailed catalogues; intricate similes; and speeches with a high degree of rhetorical elegance. However, Lucan's deft mix of humor and horror, of political satire, literary parody, history, and epic is entirely his own. Jane Wilson Joyce's superb translation conveys the drama and poetry of the original. Her use of natural English rhythms in a loose six-beat line comes close to matching the original Latin hexameters, wile her language preserves Lucan's sequence of images. An enlightening introduction, notes, and a full glossary augment the translation.

A magnificent new translation of the enduring epic about the sundering of the Roman Republic. Lucan lived from 39-65 AD at a time of great turbulence in Rome. His  Civil War  portrays two of the most colorful and powerful figures of the age-Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, enemies in a vicious struggle for power that severed bloodlines and began the transformation of Roman civilization. With Right locked in combat with Might, law and order broke down and the anarchic violence that resulted left its mark on the Roman people forever, paving the way for the imperial monarchy. Accessible and modern yet loyal to the rhetorical brilliance of the original, this will be the definitive  Civil War  of our times. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.