Showing papers in "American Journal of Philology in 2008"

Pseudo-documentarism and the limits of ancient fiction

Abstract: Pseudo-documentarism is a strategy in which an author claims—with varying degrees of irony—to have discovered an authentic document which he transmits to his readers. This article explores three texts of pseudo-documentary fiction from the Imperial period (Dictys’ Journal of the Trojan War , Antonius Diogenes’ The Wonders Beyond Thule , and Lucian’s True Histories ). By suggesting ways in which the implied readers of these texts may be relatable to “real,” exodiegetic readers, the article illustrates how pseudo-documentarism reflects aspects of the contemporary literary and cultural Zeitgeist .

Octavian And Egyptian Cults: Redrawing The Boundaries Of Romanness

Abstract: Octavian's decision in 28 b.c.E. to ban Egyptian cults from within the pomerium was not a sign of hostility to foreign cults, especially since the emperor himself arranged for the restoration of those shrines outside the city's religious boundary. Rather, his action served to reassert the Roman openness to foreign religions while at the same time underlining the distinctions between Roman and foreign religious practices. Using the pomerium to demarcate a clear boundary between Roman and non-Roman helped to reconstruct the sense of Roman identity that had been shattered by the civil wars of the previous fifty years. in 28 b.c.E., thE yEar in which Octavian bEgan rEstOring the famous eighty-two temples mentioned in his Res Gestae, Dio Cassius reports that he took two further actions regarding religious activity in the city of Rome (53.2.4): He did not admit Egyptian rites inside the pomerium, but made provi- sions for the shrines; those which had been built by private individuals he ordered their sons and descendants, if any survived, to repair, and the rest he restored himself. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἱeρὰ τὰ Aἰγύπτια οὐκ ἐσeδέξατο eἴσω τοῦ πωμηρίου, τῶν δὲ δὴ ναῶν πρόνοιαν ἐποιήσατο· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ὑπ' ἰδιωτῶν τινων γeγeνήμeνους τοῖς τe παισὶν αὐτῶν καὶ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις, ἔιγe τινὲς πeριῆσαν, ἐπισκeυάσαι ἑκέλeυσe, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς αὐτὸς ἀνeκτήσατο. 1

Mapping the entrails: the practice of greek hepatoscopy

Abstract: This article reconstructs the practice of Greek hepatoscopy in the classical period and thereafter. Based on historical, literary, and comparative anthropological material, it argues that hepatoscopy was a binary system involving both fixed and fluid points of reference on animal livers. Attention is given to the most relevant features of the liver as they pertain to divination, in both Greek and later Roman sources, as well as to the seers who specialized in this form of divination. Finally, I contrast Greek liver divination with a contemporary African example of entrails-reading in an effort to illustrate how Greek hepatoscopy might have proceeded.

Reinterpreting the Homeric Simile of Iliad 16.7–11: The Girl and Her Mother In Ancient Greek Warfare

Abstract: Though long regarded as a scene of mother-daughter domesticity during peacetime, Iliad 16.7-11 reveals the destruction of normal life for a daughter and her mother on the verge of being captured by ancient Greek warriors. As such it provides exemplary insight into this fundamental aspect of ancient warfare. Further, as reinterpreted here, the simile gains great dramatic and emotive power, strengthens the Homeric characterization of Achilles as a forthright speaker given to poetic realism, and heightens the tragedy of Patroclus by revealing how Achilles by his own admission fails to fulfill his protective role as Patroclus' warrior mother.

Symbolic Language and Indexical Cries: A Semiotic Reading of Lucretius 5.1028-90

Abstract: Lucretius distinguishes between animal vocalization ( uoces ciere ) and human language ( res uoce notare ) in ways that may be called "semiotic": animal vocalization is indexical or symptomatic, i.e., automatic or involuntary signification of things or emotions immediately present, while human language is fully symbolic, i.e., a voluntary signification using arbitrary signs. Lucretius is thus able to compare animals and humans (1030-40, 1056-81) in that the semiosis practiced by each group, although very different semiotically, is natural to that group. This reading also helps to clarify the complex relationship between Lucretius' and Epicurus' accounts of language origins.

Tί γàρ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν λόγον; Plutarch's Gryllus and the So-Called Grylloi

Abstract: Plutarch’s Gryllus is a parodic take on contemporary intellectual culture, offering a humorous portrait of elite perspectives regarding language and sophistic learning. The parodic effect stems from the figure of the talking pig, the dialogue’s protagonist, whose name, Gryllus (“Grunter”), signifies ineptness in speech and characterizes him as a mocking figure through puns with the names of an Egyptian dance form and a parodic painting style—connections not observed in definitive interpretations of the dialogue. Ultimately, in its engagement with rhetorical performance and popular philosophical themes, the dialogue parodies reliance upon paideia as a form of empowerment.

The comparative spectrum in homer

Abstract: This article posits three categories of Homeric figures-similes, comparisons, and likenesses-in exploring the various implications of and goals behind saying "A (is) like B" in the Homeric poems. Attention to modern research in the field of psycholinguistics on the differences between simile and metaphor, as well as to Aristotle's discussions of metaphor, brings into focus the spectrum of degree of likeness between tenor and vehicle in the epics. The Odyssey poet in particular exploits the existence and nature of this comparative spectrum for thematic and rhetorical effects. The spectrum emerges most clearly when one focuses on the words that introduce Homeric figures.

A Trickster's Oaths in The Homeric Hymn to Hermes

Abstract: Hermes' maturation into a god of commerce and diplomacy is punctuated by a series of oaths. At first he uses tricky or unsworn oaths in the investigation of his theft of Apollo's cattle, but eventually he and Apollo exchange oaths that evoke the protocols of ritualized friendship. Although the ceremony suggests that Hermes has achieved adulthood, a narrative sleight of hand leaves some ambiguity about the completion of the ritual.

Reining in the Passions: The Allegorical Interpretation of Parmenides B Fragment 1

Abstract: This article attempts to determine whether Parmenides intended the chariot imagery of his poem to be construed allegorically, as argued by Sextus Empiricus. Modern interpreters have rejected the allegorical reading, arguing that Sextus was biased by Plato, the allegory's true author. There are, however, reasons to believe that a tradition (either native or imported) of employing the chariot image allegorically preexisted Plato and Parmenides. This article argues that Parmenides was drawing upon such a tradition and did portray mind as a charioteer upon a path of knowledge, and impulse as the horses, requiring guidance in order to reach the destination.

Libertas reverentiam remisit: politics and metaphor in statius silvae 1.6

Abstract: This article argues that Statius Siluae 1.6 may be understood as an en- actment of the politics of freedom in Flavian Rome. In describing Saturnalia and praising the emperor simultaneously, the poem engages with two different types of rhetoric and employs figurative language in an attempt to reconcile the two. Nevertheless, the literal meanings of these figures of speech come into play in the poem. In several instances analyzed here, the various ways of understanding libertas come into conflict. This literary conflict of figurative language reenacts the political contestation over the meaning of libertas at Rome. in this artiCle i suggest that statius silvae 1.6 reproduces the idea of libertas in Flavian Rome by enacting an encounter between the rhetoric of imperial praise and the literary topos of Saturnalia. I will argue that the poem's deployment of figurative language, especially metaphor, can be understood as an attempt to reconcile apparently exclusive con- ceptions of freedom that arise within these rhetorical contexts: freedom as Saturnalian license and freedom as civic responsibility. Siluae 1.6 ostensibly describes a lavish Saturnalia celebration spon- sored by Domitian and at the same time, it praises the emperor lavishly. 1 The combination of a description of the free-wheeling Saturnalia celebra- tion with praise of the emperor may seem at first glance a bit strange since, as Carole Newlands has articulated it, "(t)he poem is . . . constructed out of two competing, contradictory occasions: the emperor's entertainment in the amphitheater, site of imperial control, and the Saturnalia, festival of popular liberty." 2 We might also put the problem this way: the poem

Aeschylus, Euripides, and Tragic Painting: Two Scenes from Agamemnon and Hecuba

Abstract: Aeschylus' famous simile comparing Iphigeneia to a painting just before her sacrifice ( Ag . 239–42) rests not just on the girl's silence and unbroken gaze at her killers but also on the strikingly pitiable nature of her expression. The Euripidean Hecuba's plea to Agamemnon to pity her by gazing on her "like a painter" ( Hec . 807–8) develops this idea and comprises a parallel to aspects of ancient literary criticism that prescribe an emotive identity between poets and their works. The incorporation of painting into these highly charged moments focuses on its ability to arouse pity, a preeminent emotion of tragedy overall.

Ut sculptura poesis : statius, martial, and the hercules epitrapezios of novius vindex

Abstract: Statius' Silvae 4.6 and Martial's Epigrams 9.43 and 9.44 concern a Greek statue that, after a storied history, has ended up in the hands of Novius Vindex, an otherwise obscure Roman of the early imperial period. While Vindex manifestly fits into the pattern of Romans who use Greek art to enhance their position and status, the two poets also use the statue to demonstrate their inheritance and control of the work of generic predecessors in order to underscore their own poetic accomplishments in an imperial Roman world.

Daphnis and Aphrodite: A Love Affair in Theocritus Idyll 1

Abstract: In this article, we argue that the object of Daphnis' enamorment in Theocritus' first Idyll is Aphrodite. Our case is based on two distinct but converging lines of argument. First, we provide reasons for supposing that the character of Daphnis in Theocritus' poem is modelled on that of Adonis and related figures in near-eastern tradition, who serve as the young, dying consorts of a goddess associated with eroticism and love. Second, we argue that the evidence of Idyll 1 points clearly to Daphnis' passion for Aphrodite as the cause of his love-sickness.

Anacreon's "Self": An Alternative Role Model for the Archaic Elite Male?

Abstract: Anacreon's poetic persona embodies a value system that contrasts sharply with the one, often viewed as traditionally Greek, that is embodied by the persona of the Theognidean poets. While "Theognis" is moderate, loyal, almost exclusively pederastic, and focused on public affairs, "Anacreon" is immoderate, promiscuous, bisexual, and focused on private concerns. Paradoxically, like "Theognis," "Anacreon" serves as a role model for the male listener. The "self's" domination by Eros is a central problem for the two poets/traditions; in Anacreon, this is part of a broader theme of immoderation, but "Anacreon" also has strategies of metacontrol over his lack of control unknown to "Theognis."

The Imagery of "The Way" in the Proem to Sallust's Bellum Catilinae (1-4)

Abstract: In his proem to the Bellum Catilinae , Sallust elaborates the metaphorical theme of "the way," which is further supported by words that allow for the association of the same image. It is easily grasped by Roman readers because of the well-established parable of the choice between two paths of life, and particularly appropriate in the historian's case, as he justifies his turning away from the cursus honorum towards a new career. The particular imagery reflects the general theme.

The Forest and the Trees: Pattern and Meaning in Horace, Odes 1

Abstract: The first book of Horace's Odes features a pattern, similar to that of the Parade Odes, in which tree names are introduced without repetition. This pattern is not simply a formal feature but contributes to a motif, which begins in Book I of the Odes but continues into Books 2 and 3, in which the relationship between humans and trees is depicted as a symbol of poetic mastery. By demonstrating his ability to create and arrange a poetic grove, Horace thus announces his command of the lyric genre.

The Return of the Seven: Allusion to the Thebaid in Statius' Achilleid

Abstract: This article seeks to establish the Thebaid as an important intertext for the Achilleid. Many echoes of the Thebaid may be found, especially in the description of the mustering at Aulis and the portrayal of Achilles. The Thebaid is exploited to help construct the Achilleid's struggle between arma and amor: the episodes most heavily drawn on are those which thematise the tussle between love and war, with war prevailing. Such intertextual investigation may contribute to the debate over the Achilleid's epic identity.

The Legacy of Aphrodite: Anchises' Offspring in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Abstract: The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite has traditionally been understood to pay honour to a family of Aineiadai who once held power in the Troad, but in more recent years some scholars have rejected this view. This article first re- visits this controversial issue, suggesting that concentrated attention paid in the hymn to the birth of Aineias and his lineage supports the position that the poem was composed for a group that identified itself with Aineias. It then goes on to consider the view that the Hymn to Aphrodite narrates the end of Aphrodite's mixing gods and mortals in love. It is argued that this reading is not required by the text of the poem.

πόθοϛ Εὐριπίδου: Reading Andromeda in Aristophanes' Frogs

Abstract: Why is it Andromeda that inspires Dionysus’ pothos for Euripides in Frogs ? This article argues for an intratextual allusion to Aristophanes’ own use of this tragedy in Thesmophoriazusae , where Mnesilochus impersonates Andromeda and expects Euripides to become Perseus and rescue him. It is through Mnesilochus’ longing for his rescuer Euripides that Dionysus’ heart is struck with longing for Euripides as the savior of both tragedy and Athens. By assimilating Dionysus to Andromeda via Mnesilochus, this reading of the allusion to Andromeda reverses the accepted tragic prototypes and symbolic gender of the comic characters in Frogs ; it also offers a new angle for viewing the thematic coherence of Frogs and clarifies the nature of Aristophanes’ reliance on tragic discourse by ultimately highlighting the autonomy of the comic genre.

Augustus and i : horace and horatian identity in odes 3.14

Abstract: Horace does not distinguish neatly between the public "Augustan" voice he adopts in stanzas 1-3 of Odes 3.14 and the private "Horatian" voice he adopts in stanzas 5-7. In the latter, Horace both differentiates himself from and assimilates himself to Augustus, as portrayed earlier in the poem, and thus offers a portrait of himself that is best understood as a Horatio-Augustan composite. As both voices coexist in his self-representation, the similarities and differences between them cannot be interpreted as expressions of acceptance or rejection of Augustus as many have done. Instead, Horace is engaged in a form of identity negotiation.

The Stagecraft and Performance of Roman Comedy (review)

Abstract: structures of Ptolemy’s lists of localities immediately clear to the eye. The geometrical diagrams in the text, which include some of the most complex constructions of the entire Greek mathematical literature, are excellently drafted. Most useful, as well as beautiful, are the full set of reconstructed Ptolemaic maps, which follow Ptolemy’s technical instructions closely and incorporate all the geographical data in Ptolemy’s catalogue of localities. Lastly, an accompanying CD-roM contains searchable databases (as self-standing fileMaker documents openable on a current Macintosh or windows PC), which contain essentially the entire body of geographical citations in the text, coordinated with the reconstructed maps.

Theocritus and the Invention of Fiction (review)

Abstract: whether one accepts his initial argument or not—that there is no real, true fiction until Theocritus’ Idylls—Mark Payne’s Theocritus and the Invention of Fiction admirably demonstrates that the idyllic “world” of Theocritus is fiction on a level theretofore unknown in Greek literature. Payne prefers to describe this new, fictional world as “realms of the unreal” (introduction). Distinct from earlier fictional worlds, such as that of the Iliad and Odyssey or of old Comedy, the “realms of the unreal” in Theocritean bucolic neither attach themselves to myth nor do they utilize old Comedy’s surreal and fantastic engagement of the real world of fifth-century Athens. There are, of course, Idylls that do, as, for example, Idyll 15, where New Comedy conventions issue forth with a mimiambic aspect. but Payne’s focus is on those Idylls where the disjunct between mythical world and real world is so jarring as to create a “realm of the unreal,” specifically Idylls 1, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13. in chapter 1, “The Pleasures of the imaginary,” Payne addresses himself to Idyll 1. Here, the gap between the fictional world of the idyll and reality is so great that Theocritus takes no pains at all, either through the poet’s voice or through the words of the bucolic characters, Thyrsis and the unnamed syrinx player, to establish any sort of referentiality from reality to the “realm of the unreal.” The poetic function of the completeness of this fiction is to create a sort of poetic involture, to “invite us to go further with the game of world-building that [the characters] initiate. if the poem does not tell us how to arrange the shepherd’s seat and the oaks in relation to the elm, Priapus, and the springs, we may nonetheless work out these details for ourselves.” in short, “while the herdsmen may not know they are in a landscape, the audience surely does” (28). The ecphrasis of Idyll 1 is also, so Payne, a constituent element in completing the fiction of the poem. its poetic function is to “offer the reader . . . a concentrated experience of fictional involvement and a paradigm of the way in which this involvement can further fictionalize fictional facts by providing them with all kind of imaginary motivations and contexts” (38); in short, the ecphrasis provides an example of how the reader of fiction can participate in the fiction of a work of art. A final marker of fiction in Idyll 1 is the song itself. The very non-performativity of the text “becomes another marker of its fully fictional character” (48). Chapter 2, “The Presence of the Fictional world,” examines Idylls 3, 11, and 13. Idyll 3 establishes its full fictionality right off the bat: “the speaker reveals, by his opening words, that he is alone. He is not speaking to anyone, and so, by the