Tibullus was one of the leading poets of Augustan Rome. Professor Cairns examines in detail aspects of Tibullus' poetic craftsmanship - his learning, his interest in the meanings of words, his use of suspense and deception, his control of the structures of his elegies - and demonstrates the original qualities of Tibullus' verse. This examination is carried out by relating Tibullus' work at all points to the Hellenistic poetic tradition and the literary genres and conventions it developed. This book will be of particular interest to students of Latin and Hellenistic Greek literature, and, as all Greek is translated, it should also be useful to students of comparative literature.