The premise of Micaela Janan's detailed study of Propertius' Book IV is that different critical approaches are required in order to understand the various kinds of Latin poetry. Janan uses modern psychoanalytical methods to examine Propertius (c.54-2 BC), who helped to shape the form of the Latin elegy, and explores the social and political forces that helped to create his poems. Following an introduction to the study's concepts, each chapter concentrates on specific poems with extracts in Latin and in English translation.