Trajan. A further catalogue of dubious interpretations of Parthian wars from Verus to Macrinus cannot be pursued here. Most incredible is extending Caracalla’s 216 activities into Babylonia (170). In sum, Schlude rightly attributes (193-194) a role of Roman-Parthian wars 114-217 to the Arsacids’ demise, but he has no problem with the historicity of either Parthian claims to be Achaemenid Persian heirs (a hotly contested topic) or even Sallust’s epistula Mithridatis. The numbers of Parthian kings are often wrong (frequently Artabanus III for II and likewise for Vologaeses II-V). The microscopic maps (xv-xvi) add little; Fig. 3 lacks a caption; and the blurry Fig. 25 serves for show rather than illustration. Yet these flaws may lie with the publisher. Proofing errors are relatively few, but at least one is glaring: ΘΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ (3). I cannot recommend this book for undergraduate consumption, but it could be used for discussions in graduate seminars. One can only marvel at why editors of the OCD thought this work’s arguments worthy of canonization in a standard reference work.
{"title":"Law and Love in Ovid: Courting Justice in the Age of Augustus by Ioannis Ziogas (review)","authors":"Teresa R. Ramsby","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0015","url":null,"abstract":"Trajan. A further catalogue of dubious interpretations of Parthian wars from Verus to Macrinus cannot be pursued here. Most incredible is extending Caracalla’s 216 activities into Babylonia (170). In sum, Schlude rightly attributes (193-194) a role of Roman-Parthian wars 114-217 to the Arsacids’ demise, but he has no problem with the historicity of either Parthian claims to be Achaemenid Persian heirs (a hotly contested topic) or even Sallust’s epistula Mithridatis. The numbers of Parthian kings are often wrong (frequently Artabanus III for II and likewise for Vologaeses II-V). The microscopic maps (xv-xvi) add little; Fig. 3 lacks a caption; and the blurry Fig. 25 serves for show rather than illustration. Yet these flaws may lie with the publisher. Proofing errors are relatively few, but at least one is glaring: ΘΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ (3). I cannot recommend this book for undergraduate consumption, but it could be used for discussions in graduate seminars. One can only marvel at why editors of the OCD thought this work’s arguments worthy of canonization in a standard reference work.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73536587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The eating of the corpses of fellow crew members has been a survival strategy for shipwrecked sailors for centuries. In this paper I ask whether we can see any traces of this practice in the Odyssey. I find them in the structure of the episode of the cattle of the sun on Thrinacia, in the cannibalistic undertones and drawing of lots on Circe’s island, Aeaea, and in the trope of human sacrifice to obtain fair winds, suggested by Menelaus’s experiences on Pharos and the death of Elpenor. These traces reflect the anxieties of an early seafaring culture, illuminate the Odyssey’s most famous anthropophage, the Cyclops, and suggest an allusive relationship between the Odyssey text and ancestral narratives of survival cannibalism.
{"title":"Traces of Survival Cannibalism in Homer’s Odyssey","authors":"R. Mann","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The eating of the corpses of fellow crew members has been a survival strategy for shipwrecked sailors for centuries. In this paper I ask whether we can see any traces of this practice in the Odyssey. I find them in the structure of the episode of the cattle of the sun on Thrinacia, in the cannibalistic undertones and drawing of lots on Circe’s island, Aeaea, and in the trope of human sacrifice to obtain fair winds, suggested by Menelaus’s experiences on Pharos and the death of Elpenor. These traces reflect the anxieties of an early seafaring culture, illuminate the Odyssey’s most famous anthropophage, the Cyclops, and suggest an allusive relationship between the Odyssey text and ancestral narratives of survival cannibalism.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88725290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rome, Parthia, and the Politics of Peace: The Origins of War in the Ancient Middle East by Jason M. Schlude","authors":"Everett L. Wheeler","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75575951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:In this paper I reevaluate the relationship between the figures of the felix and the fortunatus at the end of Georgics Book 2. Rather than representing an opposition between Epicurean natural philosophy and traditional religion, the figures are complementary, embodying the physical and ethical teachings of Epicureanism respectively. I first discuss the implications of Vergil’s praise of the felix for his views on traditional religion and analyze allusions to Lucretius in his description of the fortunatus. Then I show that Vergil’s treatment of the divine both has parallels to Epicurean cult practice and follows Lucretius’ poetic model of divine symbolism, the divinities named at 2.494 being symbols for Epicurean ethical ideals. As a whole, my argument indicates a positive attitude towards Epicureanism in the Georgics.
{"title":"Vergil’s Epicurean Fortunatus","authors":"Leo Trotz-Liboff","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In this paper I reevaluate the relationship between the figures of the felix and the fortunatus at the end of Georgics Book 2. Rather than representing an opposition between Epicurean natural philosophy and traditional religion, the figures are complementary, embodying the physical and ethical teachings of Epicureanism respectively. I first discuss the implications of Vergil’s praise of the felix for his views on traditional religion and analyze allusions to Lucretius in his description of the fortunatus. Then I show that Vergil’s treatment of the divine both has parallels to Epicurean cult practice and follows Lucretius’ poetic model of divine symbolism, the divinities named at 2.494 being symbols for Epicurean ethical ideals. As a whole, my argument indicates a positive attitude towards Epicureanism in the Georgics.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73666098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:The setting for the greater part of the Protagoras is the notorious home of Callias. But that space is continuously re-imagined and refocalized by the various characters, Socrates included. The narrative thus passes from the comic stage and the Underworld to council-chamber, epideictic auditorium, panhellenic assembly, panhellenic prytaneum of the wise, symposium (devoted to literary culture and the testing of one's fellow-symposiast), an occult Sparta, the Delphic seat of the Seven Sages, and the agora. With this last the contest of narrative spaces comes full circle, clearing the way for a better use of Callias's home and hospitality (361d).
{"title":"Space War: Plato's Protagoras as a Narrative of Contested Space","authors":"James A. Andrews","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The setting for the greater part of the Protagoras is the notorious home of Callias. But that space is continuously re-imagined and refocalized by the various characters, Socrates included. The narrative thus passes from the comic stage and the Underworld to council-chamber, epideictic auditorium, panhellenic assembly, panhellenic prytaneum of the wise, symposium (devoted to literary culture and the testing of one's fellow-symposiast), an occult Sparta, the Delphic seat of the Seven Sages, and the agora. With this last the contest of narrative spaces comes full circle, clearing the way for a better use of Callias's home and hospitality (361d).","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74807734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:In this paper we challenge a staple of modern scholarship, which considers Hippias' Synagogé as the first instance of Greek doxographical work. In this article, I offer a fresh analysis of the relevant ancient texts and of the state of scholarship. The result of this investigation casts doubt on the real nature and scope of Hippias' Synagogé as a mere collection of passages. I argue that this usually taken for granted interpretation does not capture what the Synagogé may have been. By contrast, I suggest restoring the entertaining nature and rhetorical strategy that lie at the heart of Hippias' literary effort.
{"title":"Hippias' Synagogé: An Historiographical Misunderstanding?","authors":"Ilaria Andolfi","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:In this paper we challenge a staple of modern scholarship, which considers Hippias' Synagogé as the first instance of Greek doxographical work. In this article, I offer a fresh analysis of the relevant ancient texts and of the state of scholarship. The result of this investigation casts doubt on the real nature and scope of Hippias' Synagogé as a mere collection of passages. I argue that this usually taken for granted interpretation does not capture what the Synagogé may have been. By contrast, I suggest restoring the entertaining nature and rhetorical strategy that lie at the heart of Hippias' literary effort.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77257669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract:Erictho's reputation as a grotesque witch seeping with malevolent power has long captivated readers of Lucan's Bellum Civile. In this paper, I explore how the poem implicitly works against this reputation even while explicitly endorsing it. After first illustrating how her behavior in the narrative action contrasts with the original description of her character and abilities, I turn specifically to Erictho's considerate promise to lay the reanimated corpse in her necromancy to rest. By fulfilling this promise, Erictho spotlights unsettling conversations of agency and bodily autonomy in Lucan's poem: especially as her behavior contrasts with Lucan's own as he populates his epic with reanimated corpses of a different kind.
{"title":"Courtesy for Corpses: Erictho's Disturbing Decency in Lucan's Bellum Civile","authors":"Kathleen Cruz","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Erictho's reputation as a grotesque witch seeping with malevolent power has long captivated readers of Lucan's Bellum Civile. In this paper, I explore how the poem implicitly works against this reputation even while explicitly endorsing it. After first illustrating how her behavior in the narrative action contrasts with the original description of her character and abilities, I turn specifically to Erictho's considerate promise to lay the reanimated corpse in her necromancy to rest. By fulfilling this promise, Erictho spotlights unsettling conversations of agency and bodily autonomy in Lucan's poem: especially as her behavior contrasts with Lucan's own as he populates his epic with reanimated corpses of a different kind.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80306450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Latin in Modern Fiction: Who Says It's a Dead Language?: Aldous Huxley","authors":"Henryk Hoffmann","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76345040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Epic Echoes in The Wind in the Willows by Georgia L. Irby (review)","authors":"Daniel E. Harris-McCoy","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86032592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefano Acerbo, James A. Andrews, Kathleen Cruz, Henryk Hoffmann, Leanna Boychenko, Daniel E. Harris-McCoy, Phillip Zapkin, R. V. Wijk, Ilaria Andolfi
Abstract:The return voyage of the Argonauts described in the Library presents remarkable differences compared to the model provided by Apollonius of Rhodes. Here we focus specifically on two aspects of the trip in Apollodorus's version, with the aim of providing new insights on these elements of the story that deviate from Apollonius: the order of the stages in the Adriatic Sea and the absence of the Libyan episode. As a result, our analysis allows us to appreciate, beyond the canonical value acquired by Apollonius's text in the early imperial period, the important role played by other local myths, even glimpsing the influence of more ancient traditions about the journey of the Argonauts. Moreover, Apollodorus' authorial choices seem to reveal a general scepticism for the part of the mythographer regarding the possibility of adapting the landscape of the mythological traditions to the geographical knowledge of his time.
{"title":"The Return Journey of the Argonauts and Mythical Geography in Apollodorus's Library","authors":"Stefano Acerbo, James A. Andrews, Kathleen Cruz, Henryk Hoffmann, Leanna Boychenko, Daniel E. Harris-McCoy, Phillip Zapkin, R. V. Wijk, Ilaria Andolfi","doi":"10.1353/tcj.2023.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/tcj.2023.0000","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The return voyage of the Argonauts described in the Library presents remarkable differences compared to the model provided by Apollonius of Rhodes. Here we focus specifically on two aspects of the trip in Apollodorus's version, with the aim of providing new insights on these elements of the story that deviate from Apollonius: the order of the stages in the Adriatic Sea and the absence of the Libyan episode. As a result, our analysis allows us to appreciate, beyond the canonical value acquired by Apollonius's text in the early imperial period, the important role played by other local myths, even glimpsing the influence of more ancient traditions about the journey of the Argonauts. Moreover, Apollodorus' authorial choices seem to reveal a general scepticism for the part of the mythographer regarding the possibility of adapting the landscape of the mythological traditions to the geographical knowledge of his time.","PeriodicalId":35668,"journal":{"name":"CLASSICAL JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89386258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}