More than any other poetic device, similes define the genre of classical epic, since they are virtually absent from other literary genres;1 and the lively vignettes presented by similes are often among the most highly visible and memorable parts of a particular poem. In any poem, whether oral or written, the work an audience has to do in order to figure out the connections between a simile and the narrative makes that narrative more significant and emotionally engaging for the audience because they must actively participate in making its meaning (Tannen 1989: 17). As Fowler says about ekphrasis, which closely resembles simile in this regard, “precisely because ekphrasis represents a pause at the level of narration and cannot be read functionally, the reader is possessed by a strong need to interpret” (1991, 27). Fowler’s phrasing here – “is possessed by a strong need” – exactly captures the allure that similes bring to the audience of a narrative.2 The richly layered allusions to earlier poetry
{"title":"Expressive Narration in Apollonius’ Argonautica","authors":"D. Beck","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0001","url":null,"abstract":"More than any other poetic device, similes define the genre of classical epic, since they are virtually absent from other literary genres;1 and the lively vignettes presented by similes are often among the most highly visible and memorable parts of a particular poem. In any poem, whether oral or written, the work an audience has to do in order to figure out the connections between a simile and the narrative makes that narrative more significant and emotionally engaging for the audience because they must actively participate in making its meaning (Tannen 1989: 17). As Fowler says about ekphrasis, which closely resembles simile in this regard, “precisely because ekphrasis represents a pause at the level of narration and cannot be read functionally, the reader is possessed by a strong need to interpret” (1991, 27). Fowler’s phrasing here – “is possessed by a strong need” – exactly captures the allure that similes bring to the audience of a narrative.2 The richly layered allusions to earlier poetry","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127677091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Justin (13.1.12–13) famously admired the qualities of Alexander’s generals, observing “For never before that time did Macedonia, or indeed any other nation, produce so rich a crop of brilliant men, men who had been picked out with such care, first by Philip and then by Alexander, that they seemed chosen less as comrades in arms than as successors to the throne” (Yardley 1994, 123–24). Like Alexander, many of the officers who marched east with him demonstrated mental toughness, political ruthlessness, and military competence. Polyperchon, son of Simmias, proved a partial exception. Though Polyperchon also acted with ruthless violence on occasion, compared to many of the other Successors, he demonstrated modest (or worse) command skills. Perhaps more striking, at moments of military and political crisis, he appeared to second guess himself or perhaps suffer a failure of nerve; neither reaction was a common or forgivable failing, on the face of it, in the Macedonian elite. Waldemar Heckel memorably judged him “a jackal among lions” (1992, 188). Other scholars have described Polyperchon in similarly slighting terms.1 Yet first Alexander—the very man Justin claims chose his leaders with such care—and later Antipater—known for his judiciousness—chose this mediocrity for critical posts. Even late in Polyperchon’s career, despite his previous failures, both Antigonus and Cassander tried to employ him. At two points in his life, Polyperchon seemed poised for greatness, yet
{"title":"Successful Mediocrity: The Career of Polyperchon","authors":"E. Carney","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0000","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0000","url":null,"abstract":"Justin (13.1.12–13) famously admired the qualities of Alexander’s generals, observing “For never before that time did Macedonia, or indeed any other nation, produce so rich a crop of brilliant men, men who had been picked out with such care, first by Philip and then by Alexander, that they seemed chosen less as comrades in arms than as successors to the throne” (Yardley 1994, 123–24). Like Alexander, many of the officers who marched east with him demonstrated mental toughness, political ruthlessness, and military competence. Polyperchon, son of Simmias, proved a partial exception. Though Polyperchon also acted with ruthless violence on occasion, compared to many of the other Successors, he demonstrated modest (or worse) command skills. Perhaps more striking, at moments of military and political crisis, he appeared to second guess himself or perhaps suffer a failure of nerve; neither reaction was a common or forgivable failing, on the face of it, in the Macedonian elite. Waldemar Heckel memorably judged him “a jackal among lions” (1992, 188). Other scholars have described Polyperchon in similarly slighting terms.1 Yet first Alexander—the very man Justin claims chose his leaders with such care—and later Antipater—known for his judiciousness—chose this mediocrity for critical posts. Even late in Polyperchon’s career, despite his previous failures, both Antigonus and Cassander tried to employ him. At two points in his life, Polyperchon seemed poised for greatness, yet","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126287160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the modern world, we like our elected politicians to be consistent on the major issues, because we want to believe that we can know what to expect from them. The late antique Roman Empire was, obviously, a wholly different world, and nobody expected to predict an emperor’s behavior. Yet, in spite of the complex interplay between older tradition, newer tradition, and experimentation that marks the period, we still find constancy valued and inconstancy criticized. This article focuses on Julian, the last pagan emperor, whose short but eventful rule allows for widely differing interpretations on many counts, one of them the question of his consistency of character. This article concentrates on two key issues, his relationship to Christianity, and his assumption of the throne. While Julian depicts himself as consistent almost to a fault, our pagan and Christian sources emphasize his variability, and see it as a flaw. After examining his “conversion” and “usurpation,” and showing how and why Julian might have preferred to portray himself as inconsistent in these circumstances by preference to other options, I then treat what our Julianic sources have to say about consistency in general, and about Julian’s in particular: surprisingly, they seem unconvinced by his self-portrait.
{"title":"Julian the (In)consistent: A Late Imperial Portrait","authors":"Laurel Fulkerson","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0003","url":null,"abstract":"In the modern world, we like our elected politicians to be consistent on the major issues, because we want to believe that we can know what to expect from them. The late antique Roman Empire was, obviously, a wholly different world, and nobody expected to predict an emperor’s behavior. Yet, in spite of the complex interplay between older tradition, newer tradition, and experimentation that marks the period, we still find constancy valued and inconstancy criticized. This article focuses on Julian, the last pagan emperor, whose short but eventful rule allows for widely differing interpretations on many counts, one of them the question of his consistency of character. This article concentrates on two key issues, his relationship to Christianity, and his assumption of the throne. While Julian depicts himself as consistent almost to a fault, our pagan and Christian sources emphasize his variability, and see it as a flaw. After examining his “conversion” and “usurpation,” and showing how and why Julian might have preferred to portray himself as inconsistent in these circumstances by preference to other options, I then treat what our Julianic sources have to say about consistency in general, and about Julian’s in particular: surprisingly, they seem unconvinced by his self-portrait.","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121127486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ovid enacts his own poetic biography in his letters from Tomis, with implications for his ostensibly fawning position towards the princeps. Ovidian seafaring language in Tristia 1 recreates the circumstances under which carmina led to relegatio, while his resurrection of the Hero and Leander myth (Tr. 3.10 from Heroides 18 and 19) reflects the impossibility of his pre-exilic themes being continued in Tomis. Such a focus on the intersection between poetry and reality necessitates a reconsideration of Ovid’s Augustus, and renders the poet’s encomium at P. 4.13 a condemnation of the emperor as little more than a malus interpres.
{"title":"Ovid in Augustan Tomis","authors":"George Hendren","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0002","url":null,"abstract":"Ovid enacts his own poetic biography in his letters from Tomis, with implications for his ostensibly fawning position towards the princeps. Ovidian seafaring language in Tristia 1 recreates the circumstances under which carmina led to relegatio, while his resurrection of the Hero and Leander myth (Tr. 3.10 from Heroides 18 and 19) reflects the impossibility of his pre-exilic themes being continued in Tomis. Such a focus on the intersection between poetry and reality necessitates a reconsideration of Ovid’s Augustus, and renders the poet’s encomium at P. 4.13 a condemnation of the emperor as little more than a malus interpres.","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"104 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124045814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Suda On-Line began in 1998 in the early days of the revolution of computer applications for research in the classical studies. The recent completion of the project provides an opportunity for a retrospective look at the history of that revolution and a glance at its possible future courses.
{"title":"Digital Scholarship in Classical Studies: A View from the End of the Suda","authors":"W. Hutton","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0005","url":null,"abstract":"The Suda On-Line began in 1998 in the early days of the revolution of computer applications for research in the classical studies. The recent completion of the project provides an opportunity for a retrospective look at the history of that revolution and a glance at its possible future courses.","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132855259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Eduard Fraenkel was born in 1888 in Berlin and died by his own hand in Oxford in 1970. He was one of the outstanding classical scholars of the twentieth century, known for both the depth and the breadth of his scholarship. That his best-known book, a vast edition of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, was produced during Fraenkel’s tenure of a Latin chair at Oxford indicates both the range of his scholarship and the difficulty of pinning him down. Fraenkel was many things: a German, a Jew, a classical scholar; a spoiled only son; a devoted husband who killed himself when he heard of the death of his wife, who had herself fallen out of love with him long before; an impossibly demanding father to his five children; a brilliant teacher whose mind-expanding learning brought revelations to his pupils, including young women with whose clothing he fumbled as they conversed; a difficult author whose constant corrections and revisions were the despair of his publisher; a lover of Italy who was at his most relaxed and happy when in that country. This article explores these various facets of his life and career.
{"title":"Eduard Fraenkel: An Exploration","authors":"Christopher Stray","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2014.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2014.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Eduard Fraenkel was born in 1888 in Berlin and died by his own hand in Oxford in 1970. He was one of the outstanding classical scholars of the twentieth century, known for both the depth and the breadth of his scholarship. That his best-known book, a vast edition of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, was produced during Fraenkel’s tenure of a Latin chair at Oxford indicates both the range of his scholarship and the difficulty of pinning him down. Fraenkel was many things: a German, a Jew, a classical scholar; a spoiled only son; a devoted husband who killed himself when he heard of the death of his wife, who had herself fallen out of love with him long before; an impossibly demanding father to his five children; a brilliant teacher whose mind-expanding learning brought revelations to his pupils, including young women with whose clothing he fumbled as they conversed; a difficult author whose constant corrections and revisions were the despair of his publisher; a lover of Italy who was at his most relaxed and happy when in that country. This article explores these various facets of his life and career.","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125294804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This essay compares Aeschylus’ use of the myth of the House of Atreus in the Oresteia with Sartre’s use of it in The Flies. Aeschylus chose and changed details from among extant versions to make a drama which glorified Athenian achievements in its new democratic organization and its jury system. Sartre used Orestes’ murder of Clytemnestra as the defining act of the existentialist hero that made him a free man. Implicit in his version was a call for the French people to resist their Nazi occupiers. In post-war Germany, the play was performed with new interpretations by the Western and Soviet occupiers.
{"title":"The Myth of the House of Atreus: 5th Century B.C.E. and 20th Century C.E.","authors":"Ann Suter","doi":"10.1353/SYL.2008.0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.2008.0008","url":null,"abstract":"This essay compares Aeschylus’ use of the myth of the House of Atreus in the Oresteia with Sartre’s use of it in The Flies. Aeschylus chose and changed details from among extant versions to make a drama which glorified Athenian achievements in its new democratic organization and its jury system. Sartre used Orestes’ murder of Clytemnestra as the defining act of the existentialist hero that made him a free man. Implicit in his version was a call for the French people to resist their Nazi occupiers. In post-war Germany, the play was performed with new interpretations by the Western and Soviet occupiers.","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124832649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Twenty two years ago, when tiiat growtii in interest in Neoplatonism which is a s??a?t??? of this conference was only just getting under way, two large books appeared which will be famUiar to all who are interested in Iamblichus. I am referring, of course, to JM. Dillon's collection of die fragmentary remains of Iamblichus' commentaries on Plato's dialogues, supplied with an ample commentary to boot,1 and B. Dalsgaard Larsen's Jamblique de Chalets. Exégète et Philosophe, of which some 240 pages are devoted to his role as exégète: a collection of exegetical fragments appeared as a 130 page appendix.2 Larsen's book covered the interpretation of both Plato and Aristode, and pre-empted a second volume of Dillon's which was to deal with Aristode. I mention these books because we are, inter alia, taking stock, and it is remarkable that not much attention has been paid since dien to Iamblichus' role as a commentator. Perhaps tiiey have had die same effect on die study of this aspect of Iamblichus as Proclus' work had on the interpretation of Plato at Alexandria. Be that as it may, I intend to look, not very originally, at Iamblichus' activities as a commentator on philosophical works—and so I shall say notiring about die twenty-eight books or more of his lost commentary on die Chaldaean Oracles*—and also to say sometiring, in die manner of core samples, about how his expositions compare with those of the later commentators. Though the process can be traced
{"title":"Iamblichus as a Commentator","authors":"H. Blumenthal","doi":"10.1353/SYL.1997.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.1997.0001","url":null,"abstract":"Twenty two years ago, when tiiat growtii in interest in Neoplatonism which is a s??a?t??? of this conference was only just getting under way, two large books appeared which will be famUiar to all who are interested in Iamblichus. I am referring, of course, to JM. Dillon's collection of die fragmentary remains of Iamblichus' commentaries on Plato's dialogues, supplied with an ample commentary to boot,1 and B. Dalsgaard Larsen's Jamblique de Chalets. Exégète et Philosophe, of which some 240 pages are devoted to his role as exégète: a collection of exegetical fragments appeared as a 130 page appendix.2 Larsen's book covered the interpretation of both Plato and Aristode, and pre-empted a second volume of Dillon's which was to deal with Aristode. I mention these books because we are, inter alia, taking stock, and it is remarkable that not much attention has been paid since dien to Iamblichus' role as a commentator. Perhaps tiiey have had die same effect on die study of this aspect of Iamblichus as Proclus' work had on the interpretation of Plato at Alexandria. Be that as it may, I intend to look, not very originally, at Iamblichus' activities as a commentator on philosophical works—and so I shall say notiring about die twenty-eight books or more of his lost commentary on die Chaldaean Oracles*—and also to say sometiring, in die manner of core samples, about how his expositions compare with those of the later commentators. Though the process can be traced","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114552337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The communis opinio is that opulentissime at Catullus 29.23 is corrupt.1 The superlative adjective is problematical for two reasons. First, the third syllable violates the pure iambic trimeter in which the poem appears to be written.2 Second, the vocative urbis opulentissime, which must refer to Crassus, introduces a third person at the end of the poem;3 such an intrusion disturbs the obvious symmetry in which the recipients of vv. 1-10 (Pompey) and of w. 11-20 (Caesar) are addressed jointly in the final four verses.4 Most attempts to repair opulentissime involve reading an interjection o and a masculine plural superlative adjective to agree with socer generque in verse 24. A recent critic, however, appears to be driven to despair over healing the passage; he proposes that "the MS reading opulentissime reflects a gloss [which] makes restoration of the line a fruitless endeavor."5 This paper will suggest that the
{"title":"A Fresh Approach to Catullus 29.23","authors":"H. Dettmer","doi":"10.1353/SYL.1990.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/SYL.1990.0009","url":null,"abstract":"The communis opinio is that opulentissime at Catullus 29.23 is corrupt.1 The superlative adjective is problematical for two reasons. First, the third syllable violates the pure iambic trimeter in which the poem appears to be written.2 Second, the vocative urbis opulentissime, which must refer to Crassus, introduces a third person at the end of the poem;3 such an intrusion disturbs the obvious symmetry in which the recipients of vv. 1-10 (Pompey) and of w. 11-20 (Caesar) are addressed jointly in the final four verses.4 Most attempts to repair opulentissime involve reading an interjection o and a masculine plural superlative adjective to agree with socer generque in verse 24. A recent critic, however, appears to be driven to despair over healing the passage; he proposes that \"the MS reading opulentissime reflects a gloss [which] makes restoration of the line a fruitless endeavor.\"5 This paper will suggest that the","PeriodicalId":402432,"journal":{"name":"Syllecta Classica","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128473006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：