ABSTRACT
The chapter addresses the widely disparate views expressed by scholars on issues such as Sextus Propertius’ attitude to the Augustan regime. It considers what can be learnt from the elegies themselves, and the way in which scholars have responded to them. The chapter points out that the work of Propertius has caused major debates on issues to do with the transmission of texts, the number of elegies, the placing of lines within some elegies and the number of books. It argues that some of Propertius’ poetry is influenced by the fact that he is an Umbrian/Etruscan. Propertius’ Monobiblos was composed under their patronage and that of Cornelius Gallus, the first Roman elegist. The chapter concludes that Maecenas did have a marked effect upon Propertius and his poetry, even if Maecenas’ influence was limited by the fact that Propertius was willing to compose poems only on certain topics.
