Volume 165, Issue 2

This paper proposes a new conjecture for Solon fr. 12 G.-P. 2 (= 9 W. 2 ). In this, as in other poems, Solon shows a clear desire to present himself as an expert in the political milieu and to serve as a guide for the community of Athens. The politician’s penetrating gaze, his far-sighted νόος, is able to grasp in nuce the development of political dynamics which, if they prevail, could mean the ruin of the city as a whole. Solon frames his νόος as an indispensable tool for the analysis of the city and its optimal and timely planning. To a secular conception of the νόος, which is the essential characteristic of the excellent politician, is added a traditional one that considers the νόος as a gift of Apollo. In this way, Solon appears as a politically engaged poet of the πόλις who mediates between the fighting factions and tries to work for the good of the community.

This paper provides a statistical survey of the incidence of elision at the penthemimeral caesura in the iambic trimeters of Greek tragedy. It updates and builds on the work of Descroix (1931) by considering the rates of elision of different types of words: lexicals, nonlexical polysyllables, and nonlexical monosyllables. While all tragedians elide less at the caesura than throughout the line, in Aeschylus the rate of this reduction is far greater for lexicals and polysyllabic nonlexicals than it is for monosyllabic nonlexicals. On this evidence, and the evidence of interlinear elision, it is tentatively suggested that lexicals and nonlexical polysyllables should together be considered as the more constrained elisions. When the rates of constrained elision are examined, the difference between Aeschylus and later Euripides is revealed to be twice that obtained when bulk figures are used. This difference is attributed to a combination of Euripides’ adoption of more fluent phrasing towards the end of his career and the tragedians’ different approaches to compositional constraints.

In the introductory scene of Plato’s Cratylus a power game takes place that is based on an asymmetrical distribution of knowledge and which determines the dynamics of the communication. Since Cratylus claims to have greater knowledge than Hermogenes, he puts his discussion partner in an inferior position. Hermogenes strives to balance out this power differential by different strategies. One such strategy is that of including Socrates in the discussion. Socrates reacts to the power differential that Cratylus has built up in a different way from Hermogenes: by the fact that he claims no knowledge for himself but even rejects any knowledge, he succeeds in gaining a position superior to Cratylus and Hermogenes.

In Theriaca 343–358, Nicander recounts a rather unusual myth. After Prometheus had stolen fire, Zeus was seeking the thief and, when men delivered Prometheus over to him, he gave them the gift of youth. Humans entrusted the ass to carry this load, but the ass was seized by thirst and sought the help of the snake, who demanded in return the thing he was carrying on his back. This is how the gift of youth given to men fell to the serpent’s lot. Ever since, inevitable old age has weighed upon them, while the snakes cast off their old skin and gain a new one. Like any digression in Hellenistic epic poetry, this parable certainly is intended to entertain the reader, yet it must have a more serious function: by showing that it was only out of stupidity that men gave away their invaluable gift to the ass, Nicander asserts the great value of knowledge for life. Remarkably, it is precisely in this passage that the poet has inserted the acrostic of his name. The idea that his poetic work will ensure the survival of his name for future generations, directly expressed in the closing lines, is here conveyed with the greatest refinement.

This paper comments on the tension between constant imitatio and refused aemulatio gloriae in Tiberius’ attitude towards Augustus in Velleius Paterculus’ History . I argue that Tiberius is equalling and eventually even surpassing Augustus precisely because he refuses to compete with him, let alone surpass him. In order to do so, I focus on two hitherto neglected Augustan intertexts, which are referenced at very distinct moments of Velleius’ portrayal of Tiberius. The first is the moment when Tiberius appears on the political stage at the age of 19 (2.94.1); the second is the last mentioned event of his life before he succeeds Augustus, namely his third triumph in ad 12 (2.122.1).

This study aims to define the ways in which the work of Fronto circulated and was used in the intellectual circles of the fourth century A.D. through the testimony offered by the letters of Symmachus. In addressing illustrious members of the senatorial aristocracy of his time, Symmachus echoes Fronto’s work several times. The examination of Symm. Ep . 3.11 to Naucellius, with special reference to the expression spectator tibi veteris monetae solus supersum in Symm. Ep . 3.11.2, allows us to evaluate how Symmachus approaches the work of Fronto. The ways in which the short treatise ad M. Aurelium de orationibus is reprised lead us, further, to conclude that the lexical choices of the fourth-century letter-writer were determined by a textual variant in the text of Fronto available to him.

This article proposes an interpretation of Claudian’s preface to his Panegyric for Mallius Theodorus that places the poem in the communicative context of its recitation and in the literary frame of the panegyric. An analysis of the political messages in both poems, the panegyric and its brief ‘paratext’, reveals that the preface consistently uses the myth of the two eagles of Jupiter to indicate symbolically that the new consul is still upholding ‘genuine’ Hellenic culture in the West. This interpretation illustrates how Claudian’s poems for the new consul of 399 assume the Greek cultural heritage to be a part of the Roman identity and that they play a significant role in the poet’s agenda between 397–400, by progressively unveiling the anti-Byzantinism of the Western court.

By analysing three paradigmatic passages, this paper explores how Prudentius uses classical love motifs and imagery not only to lambast paganism, but also as a powerful rhetorical tool to convey his Christian message. The ‘fire of love’ imagery is conspicuous in Psychomachia 53–57, which wittily blends Christian and erotic language. In an entirely different context ( C. Symm. 2.1071–1085), the flamma amoris is also fully exploited to depict lustful young Vestal Virgins, in combination with other classical metaphors of passion, such as the ‘wound of love’ and the signa amoris . Additionally, the contrast between heat and cold is a central element in the description of the Vestals’ tardy nuptials, redolent of classical satirical portraits of vetulae libidinosae . Finally, in Hamartigenia 628–636 the relationship between the soul and God draws from a Christian tradition of bridal (and coital) representation, but the lapse into sin is portrayed as the love triangle, typical of the Latin love elegy. These examples illustrate how Prudentius creatively and consciously frames love and sex imagery in new contexts, exploring their potential and infusing clichés with new meanings and forms.