Ancient Love Themes in Contemporary Music
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and (Contemporary Song by Maroon 5) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Daphnis and Chloe, the main character’s lives are put against the backdrop of the natural world. While Daphnis and Chloe share romantic interest and Read More …
(Ancient Text by Tibullus, translated by Bing And Cohen) and Just The Way You Are (Contemporary Song by Bruno Mars) ParallelTextLyricsListen Beauty is an important theme when discussing love because it is often the initial object of attraction between people. Read More …
(Ancient Text by Lucretius, translated by Martin Ferguson Smith) and Love Will Tear Us Apart (Contemporary Song by Joy Division) ParallelTextLyricsListen Joy Division’s song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is bitter love song about how love will ruin a relationship. Read More …
(Ancient Text by Theocritus, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and You Belong with Me (Contemporary Song by Taylor Swift) ParallelTextLyricsListen In both Theocritus’ idyll 11 and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me” they present a narrator talking to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Euripides, translated by AJ Podlecki) and Before he Cheats (Contemporary Song by Carrie Underwood) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Euripides’ Medea, towards the end Medea find out that Jason has cheated on her and started a new life with a Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER (Contemporary Song by Marina and the Diamonds) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Ovid’s Ars Amatoria he writes about the ways to find and pick up women. He talks about Read More …
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and Like a Virgin (Contemporary Song by Madonna) ParallelTextLyricsListen A popular concept in love is virginity and how it can be a somewhat new and scary experience this is seen both in Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and You Belong With Me (Contemporary Song by Taylor Swift) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Ovid’s second book on love, he is talking about how to find a lover. As part of his advice he Read More …
(Ancient Text by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald) and It’s not u it’s me (Contemporary Song by Bea Miller) ParallelTextLyricsListen These two pieces reflect the common theme of leaving a relationship to better oneself and reach one’s goals and aspirations Read More …
(Ancient Text by Propertius, translated by Peter Bing, Rip Cohen) and Everybody’s Changing (Contemporary Song by Keane) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Propertius and Keane talk about how people around them have changed. Propertius talks about this after losing his lover. He says, Read More …
(Ancient Text by Euripides, translated by A. J. Podlecki) and I knew you were trouble (Contemporary Song by Taylor Swift) ParallelTextLyricsListen A popular concept in love is betrayal and abandonment that leaves the other lost, confused and heartbroken. Of course Read More …
(Ancient Text by Plato, translated by Alexander Nehamas, Paul Woodruff) and Be Alright (Contemporary Song by Dean Lewis) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Symposium, many men are gathered and are discussing what love means to each of them. During Alcibiades speech, we see Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Peter Bing, Rip Cohen) and Nicotine (Contemporary Song by Panic! at the Disco) ParallelTextLyricsListen Throughout Catullus’s 76 poem, we see him struggling to get over a relationship. He begins to describe it as some Read More …
(Ancient Text by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald) and Grenade (Contemporary Song by Bruno Mars) ParallelTextLyricsListen Unrequited love is no new concept looking at these two piece of works one can see that it was as prevalent today as it Read More …
(Ancient Text by Meleager, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Always in My Head (Contemporary Song by Coldplay) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Coldplay’s song “Always in My Head” and Meleager’s poem G-P 41 are about lovers unsuccessfully trying to get Read More …
(Ancient Text by Tibullus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and Make you feel pretty (Contemporary Song by lovelytheband) ParallelTextLyricsListen A common phrase in today’s society is “gold digger” when referencing a woman who seems to be after a man for Read More …
(Ancient Text by Lucretius, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Something in the Way You Move (Contemporary Song by Ellie Goulding) ParallelTextLyricsListen Lucretius criticizes love and claims that it is physically and emotionally damaging. He compares lovers to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Gaius Valerius Catullus, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Breathe Again (Contemporary Song by Sara Bareilles) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Sara Bareilles and Catullus decide that the best way to escape love to is to leave it Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Jessie’s Girl (Contemporary Song by Rick Springfield) ParallelTextLyricsListen Ovid’s poem describes how people always want things and people they can’t have, such as a girl who belongs to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and Love is a Battlefield (Contemporary Song by Pat Benatar) ParallelTextLyricsListen Ovid and Pat Benatar both recount the difficult, emotionally challenging nature of love, with both metaphorically comparing love to a military Read More …