Volume 166, Issue 1

This article re-examines the identity and chronology of the lexicographer Boethus, by analyzing three pieces of evidence. It is argued that the lexicographer Boethus is a Middle Platonist flourishing in the late first or early second century, who believed in the transmigration of souls and was engaged in exegesis of Plato. In particular, this article draws attention to a testimony on Boethus from a newly discovered treatise preserved in Syriac, which is identified as Porphyry’s On Principles and Matter .

The article proposes a correction of a passage of Galen’s De indolentia , alternative to the one accepted so far. The correction ἐν ἓξ βιβλίοις (“in six books”) is proposed, as alternative to the text hitherto accepted, itself due to a conjectural intervention, ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις στίχοις (“in six thousand lines”): the manuscript Vlatadon 14 bears an impossible ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις βιβλίοις (“in six thousand books”). At issue is the length of the epitome made by Galen of the lexicographical works of Didymus on the terminology of ancient comedy. The paper argues that the error of the manuscript could be due to the habit of writing numerals as a single letter accompanied by an apex (here probably a digamma, or perhaps a stigma), and that, when referring to his own works, Galen normally uses the book as his unit of measurement. Finally, it is hypothesized that a length of six thousand stichoi might have been too short for an epitome of the work of Didymus.

De rerum natura displays a particular closeness to the Homeric epics on various levels: in language, in arguments, and in the selection of examples. This closeness clearly goes beyond similarities arising from the affinity as determined by genre. Further, a couple of passages are veritable translations from the Iliad resp. the Odyssey . There, the attitude towards the pretext becomes especially clear. It ranges from acknowledgement to rejection and in some instances is brought about through the use of allegory. This attitude of criticism and affinity at the same time can be observed in two passages of De rerum natura that are prominent due to their position: the beginning and the end allude to the plot of the Iliad . This should be read as an indication that Lucretius understood his didactic poem as an invitation to read the Homeric epics philosophically.

In the present article, proposed corrections to two passages of Cicero’s treatise De fato are examined. It is shown that, on the one hand, a widely accepted correction for §27 that replaces the well attested reading vera fuerunt instantia ... vera erunt instantia with vera fuerit instantia ... vera erit instantia is unnecessary, and that, on the other hand, my recently suggested correction for §48, which replaces the obviously false reading Nam si atomis ... , illud quoque ... with Aut num, si atomis ..., illud quoque ...? , is deficient and should be improved to Nam si atomis ..., num illud quoque ...?

The article treats the presence of stars in terrestrial landscapes, in opposition to the Underworld and in connection to the topos of katabasis , above all in order to pursue in more depth a textual problem in the fabula Orphei of Vergil’s Georgics (4,509 astris / antris ). The philological question is approached both on the basis of context and in relation to the descent into Hades of Aeneas, as well as in diachronic comparison with the earlier Homeric katabasis of Odysseus and the later otherworldly voyage of Dante in the Commedia . This internal and intertextual investigation reveals multiple functions of the celestial bodies in similar stories, as well as analogies between Homer, Vergil and Dante, linked by interests in nature and astronomy and by reciprocal influences. In fact, the Greek model and the Italian emulator seem to help clarify the contested passage in the Vergilian katabasis of Orpheus, while the Latin poet and Dante (who also share echoes of Apollonius Rhodius) rework a celestial detail already present in the νέκυια of Homer. Finally, both these classical authors, as well as Ovid, are subtly present at the ends of the three parts of the Commedia , each of which closes with the suggestive and symbolic image of “stars”, which evokes and renews an ancient tradition.

In response to Caesar, who intends to reach Antonius in Italy, the boatman Amyclas sets out the celestial and terrestrial signs that foretell a storm and advises against putting out to sea (Luc. 5.539‒560). In this speech Lucan draws on the treatment of such phenomena in the didactic poems of Aratus and Vergil, but the allusions are remodelled in epic language and adapted to the narrative context of the episode. Further, in the story of Amyclas Lucan develops dramatic ideas mentioned in the specific passages in which Aratus and Vergil reflect on the utility of their teachings. Thus the boatman’s meteorological doctrina is highlighted, though he is unable to gain any advantage from it. In fact, in contrast to Palinurus with Aeneas in Aen. 5 and to the rector ratis with Pompey in Luc. 8, Amyclas does not try to dissuade Caesar from the voyage and agrees to accompany him. His speech shows affinities with declamations on the theme of sailing and the presence of adverse omens; however, the speech of Amyclas sounds like a suasoria that has been interrupted. This aspect focuses the impossibility of communication between the two characters: Amyclas, powerlessly external to the civil wars, can only appeal to the force of nature, which Caesar impiously defies.

In this paper I propose an emendation for a long-standing textual problem in the Satyricon. In the Cena Trimalchionis one of the freedmen, Niceros, recounts a bizarre story, culminating in a frightening encounter between him and a werewolf. In a desperate attempt to escape peril, Niceros draws his sword to repel horrific shadows and utters a sequence of eleven letters which has puzzled scholars for more than a century: matavitatau (Petron. Sat. 62.2). I propose a correction which hypothesizes the presence of a verb and an interjection, namely gladium strinxi et matavi – tatae! – umbras cecidi. I support my proposal by analyzing the intersections between literary genres and poetic texts in the Satyricon. After analyzing the meanings and nuances of tatae, I argue that the presence of such an exclamation is perfectly suitable for the situation of fear and danger that Niceros is experiencing. I suggest that Homer’s Odyssey and Vergil’s Aeneid offer decisive indications to make the presence of an interjection plausible. Niceros’ dreadful encounter with the werewolf recalls epic models, namely the descent of Odysseus and Aeneas into the Underworld. Finally, I suggest that Petronius portrays Niceros as a mythomaniac narrator who fails to appropriate the conventions of Latin and Greek epic poetry.

The paper presented here treats a hitherto unnoticed intertextual allusion in Mart. 5,7,7 to Verg. Aen . 8,394. Both lines contain two jokes at the expense of the smith-god Vulcan, by recalling the affairs of his wife Venus. First, the epic/epigrammatic speaker points to the well-known passage in Hom. Od . 8,266–363 in which Demodocus recounts the unpleasant – and for the other gods highly amusing – situation when Hephaestus caught his wife Aphrodite and her lover Ares in adultery with the help of invisible fetters. The second ironic jab is presented by the epithet pater for Vulcan, who was – with his wife – childless; this term is often used of other male divinities, but not of Vulcan. The parallels to other authors, above all Homer and Ovid, have been widely discussed in research, but the intertextual play with Vergil has so far not been given the attention it deserves. The remarks offered here aim to show that Vergil intentionally constructed Aen . 8,394 to be comic. Martial correctly understood the comedy, picked it up and adopted it in his Epigram 5,7, thereby giving a parodic note to the panegyric of Domitian in the first half of the poem.

Until now, the short cult hymns to Liber, Mars and Juno in the Appendix Claudianea have mostly been seen as rhetorical school exercises. Yet a philological-historical analysis shows that they could be remains of occasional poetry from everyday life. The hymns are structured according to the Roman festival calendar and, on the basis of language and content, should probably be dated to the final phase of public non-Christian cult practice in the fourth century. The anonymous poet was familiar with classical Greek and Latin poetry, but reveals weaknesses in Latin prosody and metre. It can therefore be supposed that he should be identified as one of the many Graeco-Egyptian ‘wandering poets’, but probably not as Claudian himself.