Figuring Genre in Roman SatireOxford University Press, USA, 12. jaan 2006 - 190 pages Satirists are social critics, but they are also products of society. Horace, Persius, and Juvenal, the verse satirists of ancient Rome, exploit this double identity to produce their colorful commentaries on social life and behavior. In a fresh comparative study that combines literary and cultural analysis, Catherine Keane reveals how the satirists create such a vivid and incisive portrayal of the Roman social world. Throughout the tradition, the narrating satirist figure does not observe human behavior from a distance, but adopts a range of charged social roles to gain access to his subject matter. In his mission to entertain and moralize, he poses alternately as a theatrical performer and a spectator, a perpetrator and victim of violence, a jurist and criminal, a teacher and student. In these roles the satirist conducts penetrating analyses of Rome's definitive social practices "from the inside." Satire's reputation as the quintessential Roman genre is thus even more justified than previously recognized.As literary artists and social commentators, the satirists rival the grandest authors of the classical canon. They teach their ancient and modern readers two important lessons. First, satire reveals the inherent fragilities and complications, as well as acknowledging the benefits, of Roman society's most treasured institutions. The satiric perspective deepens our understanding of Roman ideologies and their fault lines. As the poets show, no system of judgment, punishment, entertainment, or social organization is without its flaws and failures. At the same time, readers are encouraged to view the satiric genre itself as a composite of these systems, loaded with cultural meaning and highly imperfect. The satirist who functions as both subject and critic trains his readers to develop a critical perspective on every kind of authority, including his own. |
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Page 82
... means someone who lives without law " ( inlex et exlex est qui sine lege vivat , 10.10 ) . Lucilius ' pointed repetition of the root lex in the fragment seems to make a joke of the idea that one can be made " outside law " by means of a ...
... means someone who lives without law " ( inlex et exlex est qui sine lege vivat , 10.10 ) . Lucilius ' pointed repetition of the root lex in the fragment seems to make a joke of the idea that one can be made " outside law " by means of a ...
Page 92
... means of the Stoic paradox " all fools are slaves " -his allegedly fickle and lecherous master being the perfect example . This attempt to reconfigure moral authority appears to end without complete success . Persius enters the arena of ...
... means of the Stoic paradox " all fools are slaves " -his allegedly fickle and lecherous master being the perfect example . This attempt to reconfigure moral authority appears to end without complete success . Persius enters the arena of ...
Page 109
... means of teaching morality . The elder Horace's rather indiscreet method is the precursor to the scribbling that his son practices as an adult , with a view to his own self - improvement ( 103–139 ) .15 In 1.4 , then , the art of criti ...
... means of teaching morality . The elder Horace's rather indiscreet method is the precursor to the scribbling that his son practices as an adult , with a view to his own self - improvement ( 103–139 ) .15 In 1.4 , then , the art of criti ...
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Figuring Genre in Roman Satire Assistant Professor of Classics Catherine Keane,Catherine Keane Limited preview - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
agenda Alcibiades allusion alter ego ambiguous analogy ancient Ancient Rome apologia Aristophanes attack audience behavior Braund Calvinus Cambridge chapter characters claim comic construction context crime criticism Cucchiarelli Damasippus Davus Democritus dialogue diatribe dicere didactic discourse dramatic Eupolis exlex Freudenburg functions genre genre's Hooley Horace Horace plays Horace's Horatian Horatian satire human images imagines interlocutor Juvenal Juvenal's Juvenalian satire Knotted Thong lecture literary Lucilian Lucilius Maecenas metaphorical mime moral Muecke Naevolus narrative Old Comedy Oliensis passage performance Persius persona physical play poem poem's poet poet's poeta poetic poetry political practice Priapus punishment reader reading relationship Rhetoric of Authority role Roman Satire Satire 16 satire's Satires of Rome satiric violence satirist figure Saturnalia scenario scene sense Sermones 1.4 slave social society speaker spectacle spectators status Stertinius Stoic strategy targets teacher teaching Teiresias theater theatrical theme theory tion tradition Trebatius Trebius Umbricius University Press vice writing