The Exploitation of the Epic Realm by Roman Satirists by Stuart Curtis PhD University of Glasgow Department of Classics September 2002 The Exploitation of the Epic Realm by Roman Satirists between The main purpose of this thesis is to establish a level of connection the epic and by its satiric genres. The popularity of the epic genre was not always matched authors' talents. and the exclusively Roman satiric genre seems to have been one of a handful of genres that rose up as an alternative to the perhaps trite and conventional epic format. It will be shown that one of the techniques by which the satirists sought to replace the pre- eminent literary genre on the populace's reading lists with their own allegedly 'lesser' satiric poetry, involved the exploitation of various aspects familiar from the epic genre, but in an original and often unexpected way. This exploitation of epic material by the satirists can be seen in several different ways, and indeed many of these methods have been briefly pointed out by earlier commentators at specific points in the text, or have even been discussed in their totality with regard to certain individual satirists. The innovation of this thesis will be to show that these different techniques, gathered together under the umbrella heading of `exploitation of the epic realm', actually existed, to a greater or lesser extent, in each of the satirists' works, and should therefore be understood as a recurring motif within the satiric genre. The various elements of the epic realm that are exploited by the satirists will be systematically beginning explored: with simple opinions regarding the epic genre; building up through the satirists' utilisation of various stylistic and linguistic devices, recurring themes and motifs. and historical and mythological characters, that were usually associated with epic: then covering the satirists' frequent references to specific moments in earlier epic works, either through quotation or scenic parody: before climaxing with those satires that seem to have a wider epic framework and a 'heroic' central figure. The different levels of exploitation will also be discussed in each case: this can range from a serious and sincere appeal to the past that the epic genre represents, through a comical presentation of a stock satiric subject in ironically exaggerated epic terms, to a totally subversive parody of the epic genre itself. In conclusion. a handful of different suggestions will be posited as to the exact reason why this motif of epic exploitation was so apparent within the satiric genre (although not. of course. to the extent that it was actually the primarv' satiric motif). and how this then relates to their satiric intentions. The Exploitation of the Epic Realm by Roman Satirists Contents Chapter 1- Introduction and Definitions Page 1 Satire and the Satirists 1 Epic and the Epicists 6 Exploitation 9 Exploitation of other genres 12 Chapter 2- Epic Opinion 14 Apologia and Recusalio 14 Satire Versus Epic 19 'Epic-bashing' 21 Good Epic Required 24 Name-dropping 26 Chapter 3- Epic Style and Language 31 "The Grand Style" -) 1 Catalogues 37 Epic Periphrases 40 Similes and Metaphors 50 Inappropriate Military Language 56 Menippean Verse Passages 65 Chapter 4- Epic Motifs 70 The Golden Age 70 Council of the Gods 73 The Underworld 75 The Trojan Morse 79 Prophecies 1: Dreams 80 Prophecies II: Oracles 82 The Muses 83 The Epic Storm' 86 Chapter 5- `Epic' Characters Page 89 `History's Heroes' (and Villains) 89 The Emperor 97 The Gods 104 Epic Heroines 11I Epic Creatures and Monsters 117 Mythological Miscellany 122 Chapter 6- Epic (Mis)Quotations 135 Homer's Iliad and Odyssey 135 Ennius' Annales 139 Virgil's Aeneid 141 Ovid's Metamorphoses 148 Lucan's Bellum Chile 150 Lucretius' De Rerum Natura 151 Non-Epic Quotations 152 Chapter 7- Epic Scenes 154 The Iliad 154 156 The Odvs,s. e)' The Aeneid 161 The Metamorphoses 169 Chapter 8- `Heroes' 171 The `Heroic Satirist' 171 The `Satiric Hero' 174 Chapter 9- Conclusions 187 Bibliography 191 Chapter 1- Introduction and Definitions in It seems appropriate to begin this thesis with a brief definition of each of the terms my title, along with an overall explanation, since the specific words in this title are open to numerous interpretations. Hence, in this opening chapter, I will cover in turn exactly what I take to be the meaning of the words 'satirists' (including the satiric works that these authors wrote), 'epic' (including the various authors who wrote it), and finally `exploitation' (including the various exploitative techniques that are used), which will therefore hopefully show what the bulk of my thesis is attempting to explain. Satire and the Satirists The Oxford English Dictionary defines a satire as "a poem, or in modern use ridicule" sometimes a prose composition, in which prevailing vices or follies are held up to format likely be film, - while the satiric is more nowadays to television or a radio programme, the initial definition here will suffice for the purposes of this thesis, and so a form'. practitioner of satire (`satirist') will mean `an author of poetic verse in satiric Moreover, the nature of a satire is further defined as "the employment, in speaking or writing, of sarcasm, irony, ridicule, etc. in exposing, denouncing, deriding, or ridiculing folly, indecorum, ideas vice, abuses, or evils of any kind" - this emphasises the of criticism 1. and vice that can be readily found in our featured satirists' works A final clue as to what we should expect in a classical work of satire can be provided by the four alternative ancient etymologies of the word `satire': a derivation from sahvr (mythological hybrids of man and goat) hints at the debauched behaviour appropriate to these creatures that the satirists attack in contemporary society; whereas one of the three possible derivations from satura ("full"), referring either to a stuffed sausage (satura), a mixed dish (lanx satura), or 2, a collection of miscellaneous legislation on one bill (lex satura) would suggest the wide variety of topics and themes that are covered in a collection of satiric works-. My clarification of the authors whose works are covered in this thesis as "Roman satirists" should also be briefly explained. Although my scope is indeed purely limited to satiric works written in Latin, there is a further implication here regarding Greek literature. The grammarian Quintilian opines that "satire is entirely ours"-` (sums a toto nrostra est, Highet (1962) 18 further clarifies these "typical weapons of satire" as "irony, paradox, antithesis. parody. colloquialism, anticlimax, topicality, obscenity, violence, vividness, [and] exaggeration". 2 These etymologies are discussed in much greater detail by Van Roov (1996) 1-18 and Petersrnan (1999) 289-90, as well as in the Oxford Classical Dictionary ( 1996) and the Ox)ord English Dictionary (19: 3). Classen 114 he (1988) even considers arietas to the key characteristic of satire. 4 in based All translations this thesis are my own, on both my reading of the texts and translations by others. 1 far to X. 1.93), a statement which could feasibly mean that Roman satire was superior being Greek satire, but, since we possess no evidence of an exact equivalent genre written is likely by Greek authors (a remarkably unique occurrence in classical literature), more to discount influence suggest that satire was a wholly Roman invention'. While we cannot the diatribe, on satire by other Greek literary forms (elements of old comedy, and philosophy, know it to name but a few, are all evident in the satires)6, the genre as we now was essentially created by two Roman authors, namely Ennius and Lucilius. first 'satires', Although it was Ennius (239BC - 169BC) who wrote a collection of he is better in the form of a series of verses in differing metres and on differing themes. known as an epicist, as the writer of the :Anales; moreover, there are also a series of tragedies and other unclassified poems attributed to Ennius, making him one of the more Scipio, diverse Roman authors. Although these various unclassified poems (including the been the He(4vphagetica, the Sota, and the Euhernerus, among others) have sometimes taken as part of Ennius' satires7, due to both the variety inherent in the satiric genre and the Coffey's apparent influence of these works on later satiristsS, I am inclined to follow view that an individually named satiric poem would not then have just been cited as part of the satires as a whole9. Discounting these works, then, means that we are left with between twenty and thirty fragments that can definitely be considered as part of Ennius' satires. Ennius had Lucilius (I 8OBC - 103BC) took the `variety' aspect of satire that employed, and increased the elements of irony and abuse in order to create something that a modern audience could recognise as `satiric' from our earlier definition; his main hexameter innovation, however, was to eventually settle on just one poetic meter - the - rather than the several which had appeared in Ennius' work, a choice that would then be followed by all of the later satirists10. Like Ennius' works, Lucilius' satires are nowadays found only in fragments, although fortunately to a much larger extent (around 1300 lines have been attributed to Lucilius). Within these fragments, we find a handful of words referring to the work itself, which perhaps hints at what Lucilius considered himself to be writing. The most common word is sernio ("discussion"), with three appearances (1039W 1039M, 1085W / 1015M, and 1086W / 1016M): the fact that the latter two of these The detailed discussion by Van Rooy ( 1966) 1 17-12_2 makes this latter conclusion appear indisputable. Both \Vitke (1970) 1-20 and Coffey (1976) 11-23 discuss the probable influences on the satiric genre.