I thank the good friends and colleagues who urged me to publish a selection of my papers, especially most recently James Hankins, Richard Janko, and Jan Ziolkowski. I am also grateful to Gregory Nagy for encouragement and for accepting the volume into the series Myth and Poetics of which he is editor. I deeply appreciate his gracious foreword, and thank him for many other kindnesses over the years.

In preparing the published articles for reprinting, I found Kenneth Morrell’s skill and generosity with the scanner indispensable for the speedy accomplishment of a task that would otherwise have taken many days and weeks; for all this I thank him.

The Cornell University Press and particularly Bernhard Kendler have been courteous and understanding hosts. Carol Betsch and Adrienne Mayor guided me with dexterity and patience through the intricate process of putting a not too easy manuscript into proper shape for printing.

I am grateful to Matthew W. Kay and Russell Edward Martin of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for helping in preparation of the manuscript and for their expertise with computers. Matthew also assisted in framing correspondence and obtaining permissions to reprint previously published articles. I am indebted also to the original publishers for allowing those papers to appear again and have acknowledged their courtesy in the individual chapters.

Mary Louise Lord came to my aid at every stage of the undertaking, from the choice of selections to editing and reediting. Her scholarly {xi|xii} acumen and her experience with medieval Latin manuscripts were invaluable in dealing with this manuscript also. Her love and devotion have kept the whole enterprise alive.

Albert Bates Lord
Cambridge, Massachusetts {xii|xiii}