F.M. Ahl, Lucan: An Introduction

Frederick M. Ahl, well known to the scholar of Lucan through his recent articles on the Pharsalia, here undertakes to introduce the poet to a wider audience. He directs his work "to the Latinless reader as well as to the classicist." Both should welcome the effort, since even for the Latinist, Lucan's reputation has steadily declined from the time when Dante ranked him among the four great poets of antiquity. A book of an introductory nature has been long overdue, especially in the English speaking world where the last major study was Mark Morford's very fine The Poet Lucan.