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Presentation: Hellenism and Cultural Milieu in Terence

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Presentation: Hellenism and Cultural Milieu in Terence Presentation: Hellenism and Cultural Milieu in Terence • Rome’s Involvement with the Greek World: o 206: First Macedonian War. o 200-196: Second Macedonian War. § Philhellenism might have influenced the Senate’s decision to go to war, or at least helped sell it to the people. § Spring of 196, Flaminius announced ‘Freedom of the Greeks’ o 191-188: War with Antiochus of the Seleucids. § Treaty of Apamea Signed 188 • Power of Pergamum increased substantially at the expense of the Seleucid Empire. o 171-167 Third Macedonian War. o 146 Destruction of Corinth • Productions of Terence’s Plays: o Andria –166 o Hecyra -165 o Hauton timorumenos -163 o Eunuchus -161 o Phormio -161 o Hecyra (2nd time) -160 o Adelphoe -160 o Hecyra (3rd time) -160 • Scipionic Circle: o 19th century conception o Group of intellectuals around P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus (Scipio Africanus) o Advocates of philhellenism in Rome. o Supposedly contrasted the ‘Traditionalists’ around M. Porcius Cato (The Elder) o Terence was one of them. o Idea comes from two works of Cicero: § De Republica: Scipio’s friends gather to discuss government § De Amicitia: Scipio’s friends named. o Terence was purportedly part of this group. • Terence’s faithfulness to his Greek models: o Considered more faithful to the Greek setting than Plautus. • Use of distinctly Athenian concepts as plot points: o “lex est ut orbae, qui sint genere proxumi, is nubant, et illos ducere eadem haec lex iubet.” “the law is that widows/orphans must marry whoever their closest relation is, and this same law commands those men to marry her.” (Phormio 125-126) § Contrasts Plautus’ use of Roman concepts in Greek settings: • Use of ‘conceptis verbis’ in the Pseudolus. • Bilingual Humor o A level of humor only speakers of Greek would appreciate: § « color veru', corpu' solidum et suci plenum. » « She has a real color, a body that is solid and full of juice » Eunuchus 317 • Sucus, i (juice) sounds like Greek συκον, which means ‘fig’ but in Greek iambics and Old Comedy it was slang for vagina. § Gnatho the parasite in Eunuchus • γναθων means ‘jaw’ in Greek. • Robert Maltby’s Positivist Study of the Use of Greek Loan-Words in Terence’ o Maltby attempts to isolate the Greek loan words that are used to give a distinctly Hellenic flavoring to the language. o He excludes: § Words that were sufficiently naturalized into Latin: • Lacrimare • Gubernare § Monetary terms without a Latin equivalent: • Mina • Talentum § Theatrical terms restricted to the prologue: • Comoedia • Musicus • Poeta • Etc… § Words specifically linked to the plot of play: • Eunuchus in the play by the same name. o After removing these words there are 86 occurrences of 42 Greek loan words that are simple transliterations from the Greek § Apage § Bolus § Gynaeceum § Etc… o Low-status male characters use these words most frequently. o Female characters use these words less frequently than male characters. § Cicero claims in de Oratore that women’s speech is more conservative. § Among the female characters, ancillae use these words more often than other female characters o “Greek loan words in Terence occur more frequently in the mouths of those characters who, in reality, would be more likely to use them.” (Malthy, 119) • Conclusion: o The plays of Terence are marked by respect for the Greek originals and a desire to preserve the Greek setting rather than fully Romanizing it. o This is evidence for the increased pervasiveness of Hellenism within the cultural milieu of Rome at all levels as Rome became more politically and culturally engaged with the Hellenic world during the first half of the 2nd century BC. o Although references to Greek culture and language were frequent, they do not seem to be affectations. o Hellenism was pop culture rather than high culture in Rome during the 160s BC Bibliography Brown, P. 2013. "Terence and Greek New Comedy," pp. 17-32 in A. Augoustakis and Traill, eds. Blackwell's Companion to Terence. Oxford and Maldon, MA. Erskine, A.W. “Scipionic Circle.” In S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, eds., Oxford Classical Dictionary, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) Goldberg, S., ed., Terence: Hecyra. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 11. Goldberg, S. 2007. "Comedy and Society from Menander to Terence," pp. 124-38 in M. MacDonald and J.M. Walton, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Theatre. Cambridge Maltby, R. 1985. "The Distribution of Greek Loan-words in Terence." Classical Quarterly 35: 110-23 Scullard, H. H. 2003. History of the Roman World, 753 to 146 BC. London .
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