DOCSLIB.ORG

Rhetorical and Dramatic Performance in Donatus' Commentary On

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Rhetorical and Dramatic Performance in Donatus' Commentary On chapter 10 From the Stage to the Court: Rhetorical and Dramatic Performance in Donatus’ Commentary on Terence Beatrice da Vela Aelius Donatus’ Commentary on Terence (4th cent. ad) is the most complete late antique exegesis of Terence’s plays, commenting on five of them (Andria, Eunuchus, Adelphoe, Hecyra, Phormio) in full.1 Scholars have often used this work to shed light on Terence’s words and lines which are not sufficiently clear, or to reconstruct extra-textual features (particularly concerning delivery and performance). Besides commenting on Terence’s language and explain- ing the meaning of obscure references in the text (in a way which is very similar to another great late-antique commentary, that of Servius on Vergil), Aelius Donatus is particularly interested in performative elements, especially the different uses of the voice and the gestures of different parts of the body (primarily hands and face).2 The grammarian is able to describe extra-textual features of Terence’s text in detail, showing awareness of and sensibility to the peculiarity of drama as a genre.3 What remains to be determined is the 1 From now on, texts from the Donatus’ Commentary on Terence will be indicated by the abbre- viation Don., followed by the abbreviation for the name of Terence’s play (e.g. Don. Ad. shall be interpreted as Donatus’ commentary on Terence’s Adelphoe). To avoid ambiguity, each time Terence’s text is quoted, the abbreviation of the play is preceded by the abbreviation of the author (e.g. Ter. Ad.). 2 An example of a note on delivery: Don. Ad. 35.2 Quae cogito quibus et hoc sic pronuntiandum est, ut horrere uideatur ipse cogitationem suam (“the things I imagine, the fears that I have. And this must be pronounced in a way so that Micio seems horrified by his own thought”); an example of note on gesture: Don. Ad. 127.5 [Et]] hoc gestu abeuntis uel abituri pronuntiatur (“And this is spoken with the gesture of someone who is leaving or is going to leave”). 3 It is highly problematic to know the sources of Donatus’ remarks on performance, if Donatus found some of these explanations already in the works of his predecessors (in the Com- mentary on Adelphoe Donatus names as his references three earlier scholars, Asper, Probus and Nigidius Figulus), if he took inspiration from contemporary productions of Terence or other authors (this is the hypothesis of Kragelund [2012]) or finally if some descriptions are Donatus’s own interpretation of the text. For the purpose of this chapter, however, it is not necessary to develop this point further. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/9789004341876_011 158 da vela purpose that such detailed descriptions of delivery and actions had in Dona- tus’ Commentary (for a general introduction to the question see Demetriou (2014)). This chapter aims to investigate thenotes on performance in the Commen- tary on Terence, with particular reference to the section dedicated to the Adel- phoe; I briefly survey the different extra-textual features explored by Donatus; I then intend to discuss the nature and use of these notes and to demonstrate that their aim was didactic, and must be linked to the rhetorical and didac- tic settings in which and for which the Commentary on Terence was created. In other words, this chapter intends to show how information about what should be a dramatic performance—especially notes concerning delivery and gestures—are more strictly linked to the oratorical performance and serve the didactic purpose of the Commentary. That is, these notes do not mean to clar- ify the meaning of Terence’s text as much as to provide basic training for the wannabe speakers; to offer them the opportunity to acquire some rudimentary skills through both analysis of Terence’s comedies and practice (reading aloud Terence’s passages). Terence’s text was particularly suitable for use in school because it was relatively readable and at the same time it provided a strong con- nection with oratory. The rhetorical nature of Terence’s prologues has received great attention, but recently Gesine Manuwald (2013) has explored the deeper interconnection between early Latin drama and oratory, showing that there are strong mutual influences (as far as arguing that early Latin drama should be used as a source for early Latin oratory). Moreover, the use of dramatic techniques in the training of the public speaker is not Donatus’ invention; Quintilian had already used dramatic tech- niques extensively in his Institutio Oratoria, as Nocchi (2013) has illustrated. In the Commentary on Terence, as I will show, Donatus seems to draw his interpre- tations of Terence’s performance from Quintilian’s theory. 1 The Didactic Nature of the Commentary on Adelphoe Before examining the performance-related notes in Donatus’ Commentary, it is important to better define the exact genre of the Commentary itself and place it in its context, as this consideration will be of great help in understanding the proper value of the notes. The didactic nature of commentaries and scholia in general and of those on dramatic texts in particular is an accepted assumption, although it is often generic: “the proper understanding of an utterance can depend on, or gain from, having a sense of the tone in which it is spoken. However, whereas a modern reader would usually be content with knowing.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Girls, Girls, Girls the Prostitute in Roman New Comedy and the Pro
    Xavier University Exhibit Honors Bachelor of Arts Undergraduate 2016-4 Girls, Girls, Girls The rP ostitute in Roman New Comedy and the Pro Caelio Nicholas R. Jannazo Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH Follow this and additional works at: http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, and the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Jannazo, Nicholas R., "Girls, Girls, Girls The rP ostitute in Roman New Comedy and the Pro Caelio" (2016). Honors Bachelor of Arts. Paper 16. http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab/16 This Capstone/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate at Exhibit. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Bachelor of Arts by an authorized administrator of Exhibit. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Xavier University Girls, Girls, Girls The Prostitute in Roman New Comedy and the Pro Caelio Nick Jannazo CLAS 399-01H Dr. Hogue Jannazo 0 Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................2 Chapter 1: The meretrix in Plautus ..................................................................................................7 Chapter 2: The meretrix in Terence ...............................................................................................15 Chapter 3: Context of Pro Caelio
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Mother in Law, ISSN 0953-7961, Terence, Aris & Phillips
    The Mother in Law, ISSN 0953-7961, Terence, Aris & Phillips % Humanities, 1990, 0856683744, 9780856683749, 170 pages. DOWNLOAD HERE The plays of Terence , Terence, 1927, Drama, 363 pages. Mother-in-law , Ann Toland Serb, 1978, Family & Relationships, 169 pages. The brothers (Adelphoe) , Terence, 1962, Drama, 59 pages. Heautontimorumenos or, The self-tormentor of Terence, Terence, Henry Thomas Riley, , , 62 pages. Andria the first comoedie of Terence, in English : a furtherance for the attainment vnto the right knowledge, & true proprietie, of the Latin tong ..., Terence, Maurice Kyffin, , , . The Mother-in-law , Eve Makis, 2006, Fiction, 345 pages. A cautionary tale вЂ― intelligent, accessible and darkly funny вЂ― about the dangers of living with your mother-in-law, from the author ofEat, Drink and Be Married. You can .... Adelphae , Terence, 1976, Drama, 259 pages. An edition of the Latin comedy, "The Brothers", with introduction and detailed commentary.. Terence's comedies: translated into English, together with the ..., Volume 2 translated into English, together with the original Latin, from the best editions, on the opposite pages : also critical and explanatory notes to which is prefixed a dissertation on the life and writings of Terence : containing an enquiry into the rise and progress of dramatic poetry in Greece and Rome, with remarks on the comic measure, Terence, Thomas Cooke, 1748, , . Heauton Timorumenos , Terence, John Carew Rolfe, 1891, Drama, 61 pages. Andria et Heauton timorumenos , Terence, 1888, , 265 pages. P. Terenti Afri Phormio , Terence, 1890, , 66 pages. De Hecyrae Terentianae origine, Volume 1, Issue 10 , Francis Hildebrandt, 1884, , 51 pages. Three of the comedies of Terence Andria, Adelphi and Phormio, Terence, , Drama, 183 pages.
    [Show full text]
  • Adulescensasvirgo a Note on Terence's Eunuch 908
    ADULESCENSASVIRGO A NOTE ON TERENCE'S EUNUCH 908 Z M Packman (University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg) Terence's Eunuchus has been the object of intensive study in a number of recent publications, among them: Stavros A Frangoulidis, "Performance and improvisation in Terence's Eunuchus" (1994); Louise Pearson Smith, "Audience response to rape: Chaerea in Terence's Eunuchus" (1994); Katerina Philippides, "Terence's Eunuchus: Elements of the marriage ritual in the rape scene" (1995); and Cynthia S Dessen, "The figure of the eunuch in Terence's Eunuchus" (1995). The purpose of this note is to call attention to the extraordinary case of the application of a female character designation, virgo, to a male character, an adulescens, in this drama, and to the context in which this application occurs; and to suggest that this linguistic event is relevant to arguments advanced in several of these recent publications. The line in question is Eunuchus 908, and the story context, briefly, is this: A young man, Chaerea, has followed a young girl who caught his notice, and found that she's entered the household of a courtesan, Thais, to whom she'd been given as a gift by an admirer. Chaerea has gained admission to the same household by impersonating a eunuch, a gift from another admirer. His rape of the young girl inside the house is reported by him to a friend, and discovered by Thais and her maid Pythias, after his departure from her house. Chaerea meets Thais and Pythias in the street, still in eunuch's clothes for want of a place to change out of them, and reveals his true identity to them while they reveal to him the true identity of the girl he has attacked, now proven to be a marriageable young woman of citizenship status.
    [Show full text]
  • Collection 13
    EARLY EUROPEAN BOOKS Explore the Record of European Life and Culture About Collection 13 Early European Books Collection 13 presents a selection themed around literature, poetry and drama. Items from London’s Wellcome Library, Florence’s Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Copenhagen’s Kongelige Bibliotek and The Hague’s Koninklijke Bibliotheek provide a rich assembly of content from across Europe. Supported by key classical and medieval texts, at the heart of Collection 13 is a body of works which document the remarkable flowering of vernacular literatures witnessed during the early modern period. Among the thousands of titles featured are acknowledged literary landmarks, but also less familiar items. Brought together, Collection 13 builds up a picture of the early modern literary scene that embraces ephemeral as well as timeless works, and that strongly accentuates its creative diversity. Collection 13 comes complete with USTC subject classifications to enable and enhance user experience. From Homer to Persius The early modern period was defined by its rediscovery of classical texts, and Collection 13 presents a choice of these ranging from literary giants like Homer and Ovid to more minor figures like Persius (34-62 CE) and Claudian (c.370-c.404 CE). Prose pieces include a 1624 Amsterdam edition of Apuleius (c.124-c.170 CE) which includes his Erasmus (1466-1536) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass, while a 1700 edition of Other Erasmus items include a 1524 edition of Euripides Petronius’ notorious Satyricon is another bawdy inclusion. in Greek and Latin, and a 1507 Aldine printing of the same Classical literature’s rediscovery inevitably involved its Latin translation bound with his own classical imitation, reconstruction, and items featured reflect both advances Ode de laudibus Britanniæ.
    [Show full text]
  • The Recollections of Encolpius
    The Recollections of Encolpius ANCIENT NARRATIVE Supplementum 2 Editorial Board Maaike Zimmerman, University of Groningen Gareth Schmeling, University of Florida, Gainesville Heinz Hofmann, Universität Tübingen Stephen Harrison, Corpus Christi College, Oxford Costas Panayotakis (review editor), University of Glasgow Advisory Board Jean Alvares, Montclair State University Alain Billault, Université Jean Moulin, Lyon III Ewen Bowie, Corpus Christi College, Oxford Jan Bremmer, University of Groningen Ken Dowden, University of Birmingham Ben Hijmans, Emeritus of Classics, University of Groningen Ronald Hock, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Niklas Holzberg, Universität München Irene de Jong, University of Amsterdam Bernhard Kytzler, University of Natal, Durban John Morgan, University of Wales, Swansea Ruurd Nauta, University of Groningen Rudi van der Paardt, University of Leiden Costas Panayotakis, University of Glasgow Stelios Panayotakis, University of Groningen Judith Perkins, Saint Joseph College, West Hartford Bryan Reardon, Professor Emeritus of Classics, University of California, Irvine James Tatum, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire Alfons Wouters, University of Leuven Subscriptions Barkhuis Publishing Zuurstukken 37 9761 KP Eelde the Netherlands Tel. +31 50 3080936 Fax +31 50 3080934 [email protected] www.ancientnarrative.com The Recollections of Encolpius The Satyrica of Petronius as Milesian Fiction Gottskálk Jensson BARKHUIS PUBLISHING & GRONINGEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GRONINGEN 2004 Bókin er tileinkuð
    [Show full text]
  • Terence's Plays
    chapter 2 Terence’s Plays: Commentary and Illustration from Manuscript to Print 2.1 Terence as an Educational Classic: Text and Commentary from Antiquity to Medieval and Renaissance Europe Publius Terentius Afer, or Terence, was the author of six plays which premiered in Rome between 166 and 160 bc— Andria, Heauton timorumenos, Eunuchus, Phormio, Hecyra, and Adelphoe. Some information on the circumstances of the production of each play can be obtained from the didascaliae,1 while the prologues reveal that they were produced in a vibrant and at times vitriolic literary environment. A biographical tradition concerning Terence only devel- oped much later; in the early second century ad Suetonius wrote a Life, which was subsequently supplemented and attached to the commentary of Aelius Donatus (for which see below), while in Late Antiquity it appears that another very brief Life, known as the Vita Ambrosiana, was composed, which provides a few facts independent of the Life found in Donatus.2 In these traditions, we are told that Terence came originally from Carthage in Northern Africa (hence his cognomen, Afer, or ‘the African’); that he was taken to Rome at a young age as a slave, and was adopted and freed there by a senator, Terentius Lucanus, from whom he took his name, and by whom he was educated; that he subsequently was befriended by some of the leading figures in Roman society associated with Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185/ 4– 129 bc); and that he died young on a trip to Greece, where he had gone in order to purchase more comedies to translate.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthographies in Grammar Books
    Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 30 July 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201807.0565.v1 Tomislav Stojanov, [email protected], [email protected] Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistic Republike Austrije 16, 10.000 Zagreb, Croatia Orthographies in Grammar Books – Antiquity and Humanism Summary This paper researches the as yet unstudied topic of orthographic content in antique, medieval, and Renaissance grammar books in European languages, as part of a wider research of the origin of orthographic standards in European languages. As a central place for teachings about language, grammar books contained orthographic instructions from the very beginning, and such practice continued also in later periods. Understanding the function, content, and orthographic forms in the past provides for a better description of the nature of the orthographic standard in the present. The evolution of grammatographic practice clearly shows the continuity of development of orthographic content from a constituent of grammar studies through the littera unit gradually to an independent unit, then into annexed orthographic sections, and later into separate orthographic manuals. 5 antique, 22 Latin, and 17 vernacular grammars were analyzed, describing 19 European languages. The research methodology is based on distinguishing orthographic content in the narrower sense (grapheme to meaning) from the broader sense (grapheme to phoneme). In this way, the function of orthographic description was established separately from the study of spelling. As for the traditional description of orthographic content in the broader sense in old grammar books, it is shown that orthographic content can also be studied within the grammatographic framework of a specific period, similar to the description of morphology or syntax.
    [Show full text]
  • The War of the Generations: When Adulescentes and Senes 1 Act Unexpectedly
    THE WAR OF THE GENERATIONS: WHEN ADULESCENTES AND SENES 1 ACT UNEXPECTEDLY FRANTZESKA KATSARI This paper follows the progress of the pattern of the generational conflict in Plautus and Terence and outlines each author’s different approaches. The research will focus on Plautus’ Bacchides and Asinaria and Terence’s Adelphoe and Hecyra. In Plautus’ Bacchides adulescentes and senes become rivals, though unintentionally. The Bacchides sisters act as catalysts in order to reverse the pattern of the generational conflict. In the Asinaria, Plautus plays with the pattern of the senex amator, which turns upside down palliata’s stereotypical pattern of generational conflict. In the Adelphoe, Terence juxtaposes the results of two rival methods of education: the strict and the lenient methods. Finally, in the Hecyra, the paterfamilias has no control over what is going on and is kept in the dark. Both poets use the same pattern but in an unexpected way, which undoubtedly affects the comic result. Meanwhile they try to define the ideal father – son relationship with respect to communication and education. I. Introduction Adulescentes and senes are stereotypical characters of the fabula palliata and as a result their interaction has some expected features. According to Duckworth2 “The adulescens of Roman Comedy is presented in a sympathetic light; he is not caricatured and ridiculed as are so many other characters, especially in the comedies of Plautus. Occasionally the adulescens is married (e.g. Pamphilus in the Hecyra), but usually he is a young man whose love for a courtesan motivates the action (e.g. Ctesipho in the Adelphoe)”. This courtesan may be a slave girl, or a girl of a good family whom he has raped at an earlier time, prior to the opening of the 1 I would like to express my sincere thanks to Professor Sophia Papaioannou who read earlier drafts of this paper and offered useful advice that helped me improve and strengthen my arguments.
    [Show full text]
  • 412 and Beneficial to Further Studies. in Contrast to This Precise Demar
    412 DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA and beneficial to further studies. In contrast to this precise demar- cation of Julian's literary output his military and political acts are treated with less exactness and somehow do not seem to have been fully integrated with the history of his time. This has something to do with A.'s handling of the historical sources. In this she seems not critical enough, not merely regarding details. There is e.g. preciously little analysis of the principles and viewpoints from which Ammianus Marcellinus portrayed Julian. Although the achievement of the historian is quite admirable and honourable, it definitely testifies to personal involvement. Moreover, it is cer- tainly not a Hellenist who emerges from the many pages he devoted to Julian. Such critical remarks are not new. A. has reacted to them in her introduction, explaining her own particular objectives on some enlightening pages, which command respect. On these she also admits to have overstated Julian's Mithraic devotion and its conse- quences. This had not been generally noticed by reviewers; K. Rosen (Gnomon 55, 245-9), however, was quite justified in expressing his doubts in some detail. Describing the life of a versatile and even enigmatic person like Julian is treading on a path full of pitfalls. One reviewer called this biography ` `the polar opposite of the invectives of Gregory". Even if such a remark were not an overstatement, Mrs. Athanassiadi's portrait of Julian has much to offer to those who take a deep interest in the history of the 4th century. 2353 BM LEIDERDORP, van Effendreef 15 J.
    [Show full text]
  • Further Commentary Notes
    Virgil Aeneid X Further Commentary Notes Servius, the author of a fourth-century CE commentary on Virgil is mentioned several times. Servius based his notes extensively on the lost commentary composed earlier in the century by Aelius Donatus. A version of Servius, amplified by material apparently taken straight from Donatus, was compiled later, probably in the seventh or eighth century. It was published in 1600 by Pierre Daniel and is variously referred to as Servius Auctus, Servius Danielis, or DServius. Cross-reference may be made to language notes – these are in the printed book. An asterisk against a word means that it is a term explained in ‘Introduction, Style’ in the printed book. A tilde means that the term is explained in ‘Introduction, Metre’ in the printed book. 215 – 6 In epic, descriptions of the time of day, particularly dawn, call forth sometimes surprising poetic flights. In Homer these are recycled as formulae; not so in Virgil (for the most part), although here he is adapting a passage from an earlier first- century epic poet Egnatius, from whose depiction of dawn seems to come the phrase curru noctivago (cited in Macrobius, Sat. 6.5.12). This is the middle of the night following Aeneas’s trip to Caere. The chronology of Books VIII – X is as follows: TWO DAYS AGO Aeneas sails up the Tiber to Evander (VIII). NIGHT BEFORE Aeneas with Evander. Venus and Vulcan (VIII). Nisus and Euryalus (IX). DAY BEFORE Evander sends Aeneas on to Caere; Aneneas receives his armour (VIII). Turnus attacks the Trojan camp (IX, X).
    [Show full text]
  • Catullum Numquam Antea Lectum […] Lego »: a Short Analysis of Catullus’ Fortune in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
    chapter 15 « Catullum Numquam Antea Lectum […] Lego »: A Short Analysis of Catullus’ Fortune in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Alina Laura de Luca The Liber Catulli Veronensis has a mysterious history full of twists and turns, chance discoveries and sudden disappearances, avid attempts at correction and of convictions for obscenity. We know that it had an enormous and imme- diate popularity among poets of the ‘Golden Age’ and was read and discussed from the second to the fourth century.1 However, the study and discussion of Catullus in the Middle Ages have left only a few traces. He is mentioned two or three times and he is not listed in the manuscript catalogues of monastic libraries during the Carolingian age; whereas in the same period we witness a multiplication of copies of Horace, Virgil, Ovid, and Juvenal. Nevertheless, there is evidence that Catullus was being read in France and northern Italy: in the late ninth century poem 62 was included in a florilegium;2 in 966 Raterio, Bishop of Verona, was reading Catullus, as he says in one of his sermons: “I read Catullus that has never been accessed before”.3 However, the Liber soon disap- peared, or more probably it lay undisturbed in the Chapter Library of Verona throughout most of the Middle Ages.4 1 The modern study of Kenneth Quinn, The Catullan revolution (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1959), describes the impact that Catullus had on Roman poetry. Individual Catullan poems were admired and imitated by the Augustan poets, above all by elegists, and his popularity continued later with Martial, Pliny the Younger, Aulus Gellius and Pomponius.
    [Show full text]
  • Judicial Rhetoric and Theatrical Program in the Prologues of Terence
    JUDICIAL RHETORIC AND THEATRICAL PROGRAM IN THE PROLOGUES OF TERENCE Patrick James Dombrowski A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Classics. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Sharon L. James, advisor Cecil W. Wooten, reader Robert G. Babcock, reader © 2010 Patrick James Dombrowski ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Patrick James Dombrowski JUDICIAL RHETORIC AND THEATRICAL PROGRAM IN THE PROLOGUES OF TERENCE (Under the direction of Sharon L. James) This thesis offers a close examination of the language, form, and content of Terence’s prologues and reveals how the playwright conceived of and constructed his art. Terence replaces the conventional expository prologue with one that uses judicial rhetoric and Roman legal procedure. He creates a courtroom atmosphere to construct his audience as a jury, whose critical detachment constitutes a unique form of Terentian metatheater. Terence exploits the audience’s heightened state of awareness to relate his theories about the adaptation of plays for the Roman stage. Ultimately, the form and content of the prologues reveal Terence’s theatrical program: that comic theater is a serious art and should be accessible to all. Chapter 1 places Terence in his generic and rhetorical context. Chapter 2 details the presence of judicial rhetoric in the prologues. Chapter 3 explores the effect of and intent behind Terence’s innovations. Chapter 4 deals with the peculiarities of Hecyra. iii For mom iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful first of all to Sharon James, my advisor for this project, for her continuous support and encouragement as well as for introducing me to the study of New Comedy.
    [Show full text]