Versus Maximiani : der Elegienzyklus textkritisch herausgegeben, übersetzt und neu interpretiert

Sammanfattning: The Versus Maximiani or Elegies of Maximian were highly estimated for their ethical standard in the Middle Ages and were often copied and read. Throughout Europe you can still find about 50 more or less complete manuscripts containing the Elegies or some fragments of them. The text has also been edited several times.In about 350 elegiac distichs an old man, called Maximianus (IV 26), brags about his youth when he could surpass any man in every way, and laments his old age, which denies him the good things of life, above all love, of which he gives four examples from his own experience. The present work contains a new critical edition of the Elegies or rather Cycle of Elegies, built on a new reading of the manuscripts. A translation of the text into German has been made to increase the accessibility of the complex text.The introduction deals with two questions, which have intrigued scholars throughout the centuries: The dating of the poem and the identification of the author. A close reading of the text reveals new aspects on the structure and the purpose of the work, and on the identity of Maximianus, not as the author but as the target of a parodic and satiric lampoon.