Prolegomena to a new critical edition of Lucretius

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Marcus Deufert
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: from 2015 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 275356971

Prolegomena to a new critical edition of LucretiusThe didactic poem De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things) of Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 97-55 BC) experiences a great renaissance in the moment since Stephen Greenblatt has argued in his Pulitzer price winning book The Swerve that the rediscovery of Lucretius in 1417 marks the symbolic turning point from Middle Ages to modern times. However, the difficult and badly transmitted text of the poem (about 7500 lines in six books) still lacks a truely critical edition. My research project shall close this gap. It will lead to a new edition of Lucretius for the Bibliotheca Teubneriana (publishing house: Walter de Gruyter) in which the Carolingian and humanistic transmission will be critically presented for the first time on the basis of explictily developed and thus verifiable criteria. During the funding phase I will finalise the critical apparatus of my edition and write a companion volume with Prolegomena (Preliminary Remarks) which will ensure transparency about my critical decisions in dealing with the manuscripts. It will consist of two chapters, the first treating the Carolingian, the second the renaissance manuscripts of Lucretius. They will analyse these complex textual traditions and use them as the basis to show in detail which readings will be included or excluded from my apparatus. Edition, Prolegomena, and a commentary (already finished in manuscript) will form a large synthesis and build a solid foundation for future work on Lucretius in various disciplines: for instance for translations, as well as for studies in the history of philosophy, sciences, and reception and for linguistic, literary, and cultural studies.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants