Rebecca Armstrong
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199284030
- eISBN:
- 9780191712500
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284030.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book studies in detail the representations of Pasiphae, Ariadne, and Phaedra in Latin poetry. It investigates both the literary history of the myths (the Greek roots, the interactions between ...
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This book studies in detail the representations of Pasiphae, Ariadne, and Phaedra in Latin poetry. It investigates both the literary history of the myths (the Greek roots, the interactions between Roman versions) and their cultural resonance. In addition to close readings of the major treatments of each woman's story (in Catullus, Virgil, Ovid, and Seneca), the book offers extended thematic explorations of the importance of memory, wildness, and morality in the myths. By extending the net to encompass three women (all from the same ill-fated family), the book gives a clear picture of the complexity and fascinating interconnectedness of myths and texts in Ancient Rome.Less
This book studies in detail the representations of Pasiphae, Ariadne, and Phaedra in Latin poetry. It investigates both the literary history of the myths (the Greek roots, the interactions between Roman versions) and their cultural resonance. In addition to close readings of the major treatments of each woman's story (in Catullus, Virgil, Ovid, and Seneca), the book offers extended thematic explorations of the importance of memory, wildness, and morality in the myths. By extending the net to encompass three women (all from the same ill-fated family), the book gives a clear picture of the complexity and fascinating interconnectedness of myths and texts in Ancient Rome.
Denis Feeney
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter investigates the historiographical traditions concerning the patrician family of the Manlii Torquati, and the use made of those traditions by the two Roman poets Catullus and Horace. The ...
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This chapter investigates the historiographical traditions concerning the patrician family of the Manlii Torquati, and the use made of those traditions by the two Roman poets Catullus and Horace. The family of the Manlii Torquati are marked in Roman historiography for the template of a father killing his son, and the historians treat the family as a hard test case for the survival of aristocratic tradition: how can a family perpetuate a family tradition if the tradition says you have to kill your inheritor? The chapter demonstrates how three major poems — Catullus Poem 61, Horace Epistles 1.5, and Odes 4.7 — all capitalize on the family traditions as they address two members of this family; who are, it is argued, father and son. Both Catullus and Horace are interested in the precarious nature of family continuity in the Roman aristocracy.Less
This chapter investigates the historiographical traditions concerning the patrician family of the Manlii Torquati, and the use made of those traditions by the two Roman poets Catullus and Horace. The family of the Manlii Torquati are marked in Roman historiography for the template of a father killing his son, and the historians treat the family as a hard test case for the survival of aristocratic tradition: how can a family perpetuate a family tradition if the tradition says you have to kill your inheritor? The chapter demonstrates how three major poems — Catullus Poem 61, Horace Epistles 1.5, and Odes 4.7 — all capitalize on the family traditions as they address two members of this family; who are, it is argued, father and son. Both Catullus and Horace are interested in the precarious nature of family continuity in the Roman aristocracy.
John Godwin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781904675631
- eISBN:
- 9781781380703
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781904675631.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Of all the Roman poets, Catullus is the most accessible for the modern reader. His poems range from the sublimely beautiful to the scatologically disgusting, from the world of heroic epic poetry to ...
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Of all the Roman poets, Catullus is the most accessible for the modern reader. His poems range from the sublimely beautiful to the scatologically disgusting, from the world of heroic epic poetry to the dirt of the Roman streets. This book, which assumes no prior knowledge of the poet or of Roman poetry in general, explores Catullus in all his many guises. In six concise chapters, it deals with the cultural background to his poetic production, its literary context, the role of love, Alexandrian learning and obscenity, and, in the final chapter, considers the coherence and rationale of the collection as a whole. Each chapter is illustrated by readings of a number of poems, chosen to give a representative overview of Catullus' poetry. All quotations from the text are translated, and a brief discursive section of ‘Further Reading’ is provided at the end of each chapter. A timeline giving dates of authors mentioned and a full bibliography are also supplied.Less
Of all the Roman poets, Catullus is the most accessible for the modern reader. His poems range from the sublimely beautiful to the scatologically disgusting, from the world of heroic epic poetry to the dirt of the Roman streets. This book, which assumes no prior knowledge of the poet or of Roman poetry in general, explores Catullus in all his many guises. In six concise chapters, it deals with the cultural background to his poetic production, its literary context, the role of love, Alexandrian learning and obscenity, and, in the final chapter, considers the coherence and rationale of the collection as a whole. Each chapter is illustrated by readings of a number of poems, chosen to give a representative overview of Catullus' poetry. All quotations from the text are translated, and a brief discursive section of ‘Further Reading’ is provided at the end of each chapter. A timeline giving dates of authors mentioned and a full bibliography are also supplied.
T. P. Wiseman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions ...
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This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions through looking at five problematic texts, ranging in date from the 50s bc to the mid‐first century ad: Cicero Pro Rabirio Postumo 35, Catullus ap. Schol. Bern. on Lucan 1.544, Manilius Astronomica 5.478–85, Phaedrus 5.7.23–7, Philo De legatione 96. The chapter is not concerned to propose a particular hypothesis in relation to these texts, but aims to understand what the texts presuppose in terms of dramatic genre and the use of the chorus. The discussion overall explores the limitations of what we know and challenges an overly schematic or static view of pantomime performance.Less
This chapter explores the question of how far it is possible to establish the nature of the pantomime performance and the difference between ‘pantomime’ and ‘mime’. It engages with these questions through looking at five problematic texts, ranging in date from the 50s bc to the mid‐first century ad: Cicero Pro Rabirio Postumo 35, Catullus ap. Schol. Bern. on Lucan 1.544, Manilius Astronomica 5.478–85, Phaedrus 5.7.23–7, Philo De legatione 96. The chapter is not concerned to propose a particular hypothesis in relation to these texts, but aims to understand what the texts presuppose in terms of dramatic genre and the use of the chorus. The discussion overall explores the limitations of what we know and challenges an overly schematic or static view of pantomime performance.
R. O. A. M. Lyne
S. J. Harrison (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203963
- eISBN:
- 9780191708237
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203963.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book collects the papers of Oliver Lyne, and was conceived by a group of his former pupils and colleagues as a memorial to Oliver. To make it the more accessible, effective, and compact, it was ...
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This book collects the papers of Oliver Lyne, and was conceived by a group of his former pupils and colleagues as a memorial to Oliver. To make it the more accessible, effective, and compact, it was eventually decided to omit papers which were particularly short or technical, or which had been superseded through Oliver's later work or changes of view. Oliver's output may be grouped into three periods: the first (A) from the beginning to the publication of The Latin Love Poets (1980); the second (B) from 1983 to the publication of Horace: Behind the Public Poetry (1995); the third (C) the papers that followed. The papers (like the books) present a striking concentration on the most well-known period of Latin poetry, from c.60 BC to c.20 AD, and show particular concern with the relation of personal and public poetry. Period A is chiefly preoccupied with personal poetry, which is conceived as reflecting actual personality and opinions. Period B deals with poetry which seems to present a public and Augustan stance. This stance, however, is undermined; undermining indeed (with its more devious congeners) forms perhaps the central concern in Lyne's analysis of poetry. The return to avowedly or professedly personal poetry in period C now gives more emphasis to its literary forms and structures, and to intertextuality.Less
This book collects the papers of Oliver Lyne, and was conceived by a group of his former pupils and colleagues as a memorial to Oliver. To make it the more accessible, effective, and compact, it was eventually decided to omit papers which were particularly short or technical, or which had been superseded through Oliver's later work or changes of view. Oliver's output may be grouped into three periods: the first (A) from the beginning to the publication of The Latin Love Poets (1980); the second (B) from 1983 to the publication of Horace: Behind the Public Poetry (1995); the third (C) the papers that followed. The papers (like the books) present a striking concentration on the most well-known period of Latin poetry, from c.60 BC to c.20 AD, and show particular concern with the relation of personal and public poetry. Period A is chiefly preoccupied with personal poetry, which is conceived as reflecting actual personality and opinions. Period B deals with poetry which seems to present a public and Augustan stance. This stance, however, is undermined; undermining indeed (with its more devious congeners) forms perhaps the central concern in Lyne's analysis of poetry. The return to avowedly or professedly personal poetry in period C now gives more emphasis to its literary forms and structures, and to intertextuality.
G. O. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199279418
- eISBN:
- 9780191707322
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279418.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The study of Latin poetry-books, though seen as important, has suffered from limited engagement with Greek literature and papyri. This book, which combines unpublished and recently published pieces, ...
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The study of Latin poetry-books, though seen as important, has suffered from limited engagement with Greek literature and papyri. This book, which combines unpublished and recently published pieces, shows the importance of considering Greek and Latin works together, and of using Greek and Latin papyri in the study of poetic books. Important here are both new texts and evidence on the making and reading of books. The study of book-structure should embrace books which consist of short poems and books which make up part of long poems. The combination of poems within books, of books within a group or series, and of works within an œuvre, are all related. Book-structure should be seen as an aspect of sequential reading; changes and meanings, it emerges, are more significant than abstract symmetries. The book frames a series of discussions of major poems and collections from the 3rd and 1st centuries BC with an illustrated survey of poetry-books and reading and a more general discussion of structures involving books. The main poets discussed are Callimachus, Apollonius, Posidippus, Catullus, Horace, Ovid; there is a chapter on Latin didactic (Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Manilius). The discussions deal with fundamental issues in the works, and, in accordance with the approach advocated, bring in many critical and scholarly questions beside book-structure.Less
The study of Latin poetry-books, though seen as important, has suffered from limited engagement with Greek literature and papyri. This book, which combines unpublished and recently published pieces, shows the importance of considering Greek and Latin works together, and of using Greek and Latin papyri in the study of poetic books. Important here are both new texts and evidence on the making and reading of books. The study of book-structure should embrace books which consist of short poems and books which make up part of long poems. The combination of poems within books, of books within a group or series, and of works within an œuvre, are all related. Book-structure should be seen as an aspect of sequential reading; changes and meanings, it emerges, are more significant than abstract symmetries. The book frames a series of discussions of major poems and collections from the 3rd and 1st centuries BC with an illustrated survey of poetry-books and reading and a more general discussion of structures involving books. The main poets discussed are Callimachus, Apollonius, Posidippus, Catullus, Horace, Ovid; there is a chapter on Latin didactic (Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Manilius). The discussions deal with fundamental issues in the works, and, in accordance with the approach advocated, bring in many critical and scholarly questions beside book-structure.
Elizabeth Marie Young
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226279916
- eISBN:
- 9780226280080
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226280080.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Translation as Muse: Poetic Translation in Catullus’s Rome questions the truism that poetry and translation are inherently at odds, arguing for translation as a defining condition of ancient Roman ...
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Translation as Muse: Poetic Translation in Catullus’s Rome questions the truism that poetry and translation are inherently at odds, arguing for translation as a defining condition of ancient Roman lyricism. The study focuses on the late Republican poet Catullus, arguing that translation plays a central role in his work and conditions many of his most celebrated innovations. It argues that translation permeates this poet’s oeuvre but in forms that are frequently unrecognizable to modern readers. It suggests that many poems we moderns would tend to label as lyric originals have been shaped by Roman translation practices and mentalities quite different from our own. Chief among these is the foundational Roman assumption that translation is not a literary liability but a sign of power and a potential motor of poetic invention. Re-reading Catullan translation from this perspective exposes new layers of ingenuity within a familiar corpus of Latin poems and also offers a number of ancillary rewards: it illuminates the idiosyncrasies of Roman translation practice, it reconfigures our understanding of translation history, and it calls into question basic assumptions about lyric poetry, the genre most closely associated with Catullus’s eclectic oeuvre.Less
Translation as Muse: Poetic Translation in Catullus’s Rome questions the truism that poetry and translation are inherently at odds, arguing for translation as a defining condition of ancient Roman lyricism. The study focuses on the late Republican poet Catullus, arguing that translation plays a central role in his work and conditions many of his most celebrated innovations. It argues that translation permeates this poet’s oeuvre but in forms that are frequently unrecognizable to modern readers. It suggests that many poems we moderns would tend to label as lyric originals have been shaped by Roman translation practices and mentalities quite different from our own. Chief among these is the foundational Roman assumption that translation is not a literary liability but a sign of power and a potential motor of poetic invention. Re-reading Catullan translation from this perspective exposes new layers of ingenuity within a familiar corpus of Latin poems and also offers a number of ancillary rewards: it illuminates the idiosyncrasies of Roman translation practice, it reconfigures our understanding of translation history, and it calls into question basic assumptions about lyric poetry, the genre most closely associated with Catullus’s eclectic oeuvre.
G. O. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199279418
- eISBN:
- 9780191707322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279418.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues for an elaborate thematic network in the second, four-book version of Callimachus' Aetia. It considers the relation of the constituent sections to the poem and each other, and the ...
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This chapter argues for an elaborate thematic network in the second, four-book version of Callimachus' Aetia. It considers the relation of the constituent sections to the poem and each other, and the nature of the change between the two-book and the four-book version. Knowledge emerges as the central theme, sought by both narrator and characters, in contrasting circumstances. The poem presents a cosmos: gods, humans, men, women, old, young are compared in regard to knowledge (including experience). An appendix shows the strategy and shape of Catullus 65-8b. The chapter is based on study of most of the original papyri.Less
This chapter argues for an elaborate thematic network in the second, four-book version of Callimachus' Aetia. It considers the relation of the constituent sections to the poem and each other, and the nature of the change between the two-book and the four-book version. Knowledge emerges as the central theme, sought by both narrator and characters, in contrasting circumstances. The poem presents a cosmos: gods, humans, men, women, old, young are compared in regard to knowledge (including experience). An appendix shows the strategy and shape of Catullus 65-8b. The chapter is based on study of most of the original papyri.
G. O. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199279418
- eISBN:
- 9780191707322
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279418.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Greek papyri, especially of epigrams, are used to show the connections and problems of the Catullan corpus. It is argued that a three-book collected edition does not fit the ancient material: poems ...
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Greek papyri, especially of epigrams, are used to show the connections and problems of the Catullan corpus. It is argued that a three-book collected edition does not fit the ancient material: poems 61-4 were issued separately; a (1-60) and c (65-116) are the somewhat distorted remains of two simultaneous books, which are to be read together and compared. c falls into two parts (c1 65-68b, c2 69-116) which are themselves to be contrasted, and which between them display Catullus matching the range of Callimachus' elegy. c2, c1, and a are seen to exploit differently the concern of epigram with physical objects. In c2 the objects are parts of the body; this helps c2 create a distinctive world.Less
Greek papyri, especially of epigrams, are used to show the connections and problems of the Catullan corpus. It is argued that a three-book collected edition does not fit the ancient material: poems 61-4 were issued separately; a (1-60) and c (65-116) are the somewhat distorted remains of two simultaneous books, which are to be read together and compared. c falls into two parts (c1 65-68b, c2 69-116) which are themselves to be contrasted, and which between them display Catullus matching the range of Callimachus' elegy. c2, c1, and a are seen to exploit differently the concern of epigram with physical objects. In c2 the objects are parts of the body; this helps c2 create a distinctive world.
R.O.A.M. Lyne
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203963
- eISBN:
- 9780191708237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203963.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This paper presents the classic treatment of this loose grouping of poets in the middle of the first century BC, exploring their interrelationship and common poetic themes and forms (especially the ...
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This paper presents the classic treatment of this loose grouping of poets in the middle of the first century BC, exploring their interrelationship and common poetic themes and forms (especially the epyllion).Less
This paper presents the classic treatment of this loose grouping of poets in the middle of the first century BC, exploring their interrelationship and common poetic themes and forms (especially the epyllion).
Charles Martindale
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199240401
- eISBN:
- 9780191714337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199240401.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter attempts to counter one common objection to aesthetic judgements about artworks (including works of literature): that they are formalistic, detaching formal features of the work from the ...
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This chapter attempts to counter one common objection to aesthetic judgements about artworks (including works of literature): that they are formalistic, detaching formal features of the work from the discursive and ideological contexts of their use. It argues that the Kantian judgement of taste is a judgement of form and content. This is illustrated in connection with some Odes of Horace and poem 64 of Catullus. It argues that the issue changes complexion if attention shifts from qualities ‘in’ the work to the mind of the receiver. Derrida’s deconstruction of the neo-Kantian notion of the autonomy of art and the issue of the frame/parergon (with Propertius 1. 16 as an instance) are also examined.Less
This chapter attempts to counter one common objection to aesthetic judgements about artworks (including works of literature): that they are formalistic, detaching formal features of the work from the discursive and ideological contexts of their use. It argues that the Kantian judgement of taste is a judgement of form and content. This is illustrated in connection with some Odes of Horace and poem 64 of Catullus. It argues that the issue changes complexion if attention shifts from qualities ‘in’ the work to the mind of the receiver. Derrida’s deconstruction of the neo-Kantian notion of the autonomy of art and the issue of the frame/parergon (with Propertius 1. 16 as an instance) are also examined.
R.O.A.M. Lyne
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203963
- eISBN:
- 9780191708237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203963.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This paper takes a completely positive view of extreme love, as seen in Catullus' Laodamia. In this it follows The Latin Love Poets. But its view of Propertius fascinatingly combines the polemical ...
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This paper takes a completely positive view of extreme love, as seen in Catullus' Laodamia. In this it follows The Latin Love Poets. But its view of Propertius fascinatingly combines the polemical author, ‘taking issue’ with another text, and the tortured author, whose subversion of his own vision subverts his attempt to confute Catullus.Less
This paper takes a completely positive view of extreme love, as seen in Catullus' Laodamia. In this it follows The Latin Love Poets. But its view of Propertius fascinatingly combines the polemical author, ‘taking issue’ with another text, and the tortured author, whose subversion of his own vision subverts his attempt to confute Catullus.
R.O.A.M. Lyne
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203963
- eISBN:
- 9780191708237
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203963.003.0016
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This paper provides textual and interpretative notes on issues in poems 10, 28, 30, 34, 61, and 68 of Catullus.
This paper provides textual and interpretative notes on issues in poems 10, 28, 30, 34, 61, and 68 of Catullus.
Llewelyn Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199554188
- eISBN:
- 9780191594991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554188.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This introductory chapter begins by discussing the nature of metrical form, and explaining the various ways in which metre can contribute to the meaning of poetry, before presenting the main focus of ...
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This introductory chapter begins by discussing the nature of metrical form, and explaining the various ways in which metre can contribute to the meaning of poetry, before presenting the main focus of the book: the meaning possessed by metres by virtue of their history of usage. The relation of metrical meaning to genre is discussed, and the inherently negotiable nature of metrical character, which is both complex and changeable over time. Greek precedents for Roman metrical play are considered, but the claim is made for a characteristically Roman perception of metrical form, a consequence of Roman poetry's peculiarly belated and derivative nature; and related to that, for the unusually academic character of Roman metrical practice, and the consequent need to study the metrical theory of Roman metricians alongside poetic practice. The arguments are illustrated with reference to Horace Odes 4.7 and Ovid Remedia Amoris, and finally through close readings of poems by Martial and Catullus.Less
This introductory chapter begins by discussing the nature of metrical form, and explaining the various ways in which metre can contribute to the meaning of poetry, before presenting the main focus of the book: the meaning possessed by metres by virtue of their history of usage. The relation of metrical meaning to genre is discussed, and the inherently negotiable nature of metrical character, which is both complex and changeable over time. Greek precedents for Roman metrical play are considered, but the claim is made for a characteristically Roman perception of metrical form, a consequence of Roman poetry's peculiarly belated and derivative nature; and related to that, for the unusually academic character of Roman metrical practice, and the consequent need to study the metrical theory of Roman metricians alongside poetic practice. The arguments are illustrated with reference to Horace Odes 4.7 and Ovid Remedia Amoris, and finally through close readings of poems by Martial and Catullus.
Llewelyn Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199554188
- eISBN:
- 9780191594991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554188.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter investigates the ethos embodied by the hendecasyllable, a favourite metre of the Flavian authors Statius and Martial. Starting from one of Statius' most ambitious hendecasyllabic poems, ...
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This chapter investigates the ethos embodied by the hendecasyllable, a favourite metre of the Flavian authors Statius and Martial. Starting from one of Statius' most ambitious hendecasyllabic poems, Silvae 4.3 on the Via Domitiana, it shows that the hendecasyllable was perceived to embody the character of its most celebrated exponent, Catullus, and that the account of the Via Domitiana comes vividly to life when the Catullan quality imparted by the metre is allowed to assert itself. Other aspects of the metre are then considered, especially the polar relationship operative between it and the dactylic hexameter, and its particular aptness for poetic accounts of diminutive topics. Suggestions are made about the character of the metre as it had been encountered by Catullus. These insights are then fed back into a concluding analysis of the metrical dimension of another arresting deployment of hendecasyllables by Statius, the celebration-cum-lament on Lucan's birthday at Silvae 2.7.Less
This chapter investigates the ethos embodied by the hendecasyllable, a favourite metre of the Flavian authors Statius and Martial. Starting from one of Statius' most ambitious hendecasyllabic poems, Silvae 4.3 on the Via Domitiana, it shows that the hendecasyllable was perceived to embody the character of its most celebrated exponent, Catullus, and that the account of the Via Domitiana comes vividly to life when the Catullan quality imparted by the metre is allowed to assert itself. Other aspects of the metre are then considered, especially the polar relationship operative between it and the dactylic hexameter, and its particular aptness for poetic accounts of diminutive topics. Suggestions are made about the character of the metre as it had been encountered by Catullus. These insights are then fed back into a concluding analysis of the metrical dimension of another arresting deployment of hendecasyllables by Statius, the celebration-cum-lament on Lucan's birthday at Silvae 2.7.
Llewelyn Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199554188
- eISBN:
- 9780191594991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554188.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter tackles the class of iambic metres, represented in non-dramatic Latin verse by the iambic trimeter, ‘limping’ iambic and the epodic systems used by Horace in the Epodes. After a ...
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This chapter tackles the class of iambic metres, represented in non-dramatic Latin verse by the iambic trimeter, ‘limping’ iambic and the epodic systems used by Horace in the Epodes. After a consideration of the continuing prominence of the choliambic or ‘limping’ iambic, the discussion turns to the peculiarly Roman development represented by the ‘pure’ iambic trimeter, which offers a salient illustration of the interpenetration of academic theory and poetic practice in Roman metrical usage. The argument focuses on the parody of Catullus 4 attributed to Virgil, Catalepton 10, but there is also close analysis of Horace's theoretical commentary on iambics and later contributions from the Latin metricians. After a rehearsal of recent work on Horace's meaningful deployment of metres in the Epodes, the chapter concludes by reading Epode 16, a combination of hexameters and pure trimeters, in the light of the understanding gained into pure iambics earlier in the chapter.Less
This chapter tackles the class of iambic metres, represented in non-dramatic Latin verse by the iambic trimeter, ‘limping’ iambic and the epodic systems used by Horace in the Epodes. After a consideration of the continuing prominence of the choliambic or ‘limping’ iambic, the discussion turns to the peculiarly Roman development represented by the ‘pure’ iambic trimeter, which offers a salient illustration of the interpenetration of academic theory and poetic practice in Roman metrical usage. The argument focuses on the parody of Catullus 4 attributed to Virgil, Catalepton 10, but there is also close analysis of Horace's theoretical commentary on iambics and later contributions from the Latin metricians. After a rehearsal of recent work on Horace's meaningful deployment of metres in the Epodes, the chapter concludes by reading Epode 16, a combination of hexameters and pure trimeters, in the light of the understanding gained into pure iambics earlier in the chapter.
Llewelyn Morgan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199554188
- eISBN:
- 9780191594991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554188.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter concentrates on a single, representative metrical system from Roman lyric poetry — the sapphic stanza — and traces its use through Catullus, Horace, and Statius. In Statius we find that ...
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This chapter concentrates on a single, representative metrical system from Roman lyric poetry — the sapphic stanza — and traces its use through Catullus, Horace, and Statius. In Statius we find that the form carries with it the associations of its most prolific user, Horace, but still retains a tangibly ‘Sapphic’ quality, recalling the archaic Greek poet whose name it carried. In Catullus the evocation of Sappho is more obvious, the adoption of her signature metre in 51 accompanying a version of a sapphic poem, but the power of delivering the demolition of that affection, the iambic Poem 11, in sapphics has not been appreciated. Horace's sapphics play an important role in his self-positioning within the broad lyric field, in particular in poems such as Odes 1.12 and 4.2 where comparison and contrast with Pindar are in play. But the ability of the sapphic stanza to imply humility and lower aspirations is discernible in other odes as well, a number of which are analysed here.Less
This chapter concentrates on a single, representative metrical system from Roman lyric poetry — the sapphic stanza — and traces its use through Catullus, Horace, and Statius. In Statius we find that the form carries with it the associations of its most prolific user, Horace, but still retains a tangibly ‘Sapphic’ quality, recalling the archaic Greek poet whose name it carried. In Catullus the evocation of Sappho is more obvious, the adoption of her signature metre in 51 accompanying a version of a sapphic poem, but the power of delivering the demolition of that affection, the iambic Poem 11, in sapphics has not been appreciated. Horace's sapphics play an important role in his self-positioning within the broad lyric field, in particular in poems such as Odes 1.12 and 4.2 where comparison and contrast with Pindar are in play. But the ability of the sapphic stanza to imply humility and lower aspirations is discernible in other odes as well, a number of which are analysed here.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Analysis of mediality in Callimachus, Ennius, Lucretius, and Catullus maps the traditions inherited by the Augustan poets. While Callimachus embraces song and its association with divine inspiration ...
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Analysis of mediality in Callimachus, Ennius, Lucretius, and Catullus maps the traditions inherited by the Augustan poets. While Callimachus embraces song and its association with divine inspiration but still presents his writing practices realistically, the early Roman poets assume that they are writers and gradually adopt song when reaching for greater sublimity. A discussion of the reception of the disputed carmina conuiualia in Horace and Vergil concludes this section on background.Less
Analysis of mediality in Callimachus, Ennius, Lucretius, and Catullus maps the traditions inherited by the Augustan poets. While Callimachus embraces song and its association with divine inspiration but still presents his writing practices realistically, the early Roman poets assume that they are writers and gradually adopt song when reaching for greater sublimity. A discussion of the reception of the disputed carmina conuiualia in Horace and Vergil concludes this section on background.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This is the first in a series of chapters on the Augustan literary epistle, where the advantages of writing come to the fore. A brief treatment of Catullus 50 outlines some of the semiotic issues of ...
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This is the first in a series of chapters on the Augustan literary epistle, where the advantages of writing come to the fore. A brief treatment of Catullus 50 outlines some of the semiotic issues of communication in absence as an introduction to the heroine epistles of Propertius and Ovid. Although separation is a source of frustration for all the literal or metaphorical lovers in these poems, their situations provide an occasion for their respective poets to explore the gap between the insufficiency of writing as a medium of communication between lovers and its great advantages for reaching a more general reader. The power of representation, of imagination, as well as concerns that anticipate modern speech act theory are addressed.Less
This is the first in a series of chapters on the Augustan literary epistle, where the advantages of writing come to the fore. A brief treatment of Catullus 50 outlines some of the semiotic issues of communication in absence as an introduction to the heroine epistles of Propertius and Ovid. Although separation is a source of frustration for all the literal or metaphorical lovers in these poems, their situations provide an occasion for their respective poets to explore the gap between the insufficiency of writing as a medium of communication between lovers and its great advantages for reaching a more general reader. The power of representation, of imagination, as well as concerns that anticipate modern speech act theory are addressed.
Anthony Corbeill
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163222
- eISBN:
- 9781400852468
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163222.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines selected instances of grammatical gender-bending that occur in extant poetic texts, for most of which instances scholars both ancient and modern have largely chosen not to offer ...
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This chapter examines selected instances of grammatical gender-bending that occur in extant poetic texts, for most of which instances scholars both ancient and modern have largely chosen not to offer explanations. The passages chosen are meant to demonstrate the potential range of approaches that the poets could apply to the manipulation of grammatical gender. The chapter begins with a survey of visual evidence from antiquity to demonstrate that, with only apparent exceptions, personifications in ancient Rome are depicted with the sex that corresponds to the grammatical gender of the noun that describes them. It then considers poetic texts that provide various examples in which a poet plays with the notion of personification through the exploitation of a noun's gender. It concludes with an analysis of Catullus 6, where sensitivity to grammatical gender contributes to the riddling nature of the poem.Less
This chapter examines selected instances of grammatical gender-bending that occur in extant poetic texts, for most of which instances scholars both ancient and modern have largely chosen not to offer explanations. The passages chosen are meant to demonstrate the potential range of approaches that the poets could apply to the manipulation of grammatical gender. The chapter begins with a survey of visual evidence from antiquity to demonstrate that, with only apparent exceptions, personifications in ancient Rome are depicted with the sex that corresponds to the grammatical gender of the noun that describes them. It then considers poetic texts that provide various examples in which a poet plays with the notion of personification through the exploitation of a noun's gender. It concludes with an analysis of Catullus 6, where sensitivity to grammatical gender contributes to the riddling nature of the poem.
