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Hidden in Plain Sight: Martial and the Greek Epigrammatic Tradition

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Hidden in Plain Sight: Martial and the Greek Epigrammatic Tradition University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2015 Hidden in Plain Sight: Martial and the Greek Epigrammatic Tradition Joseph M. Lucci University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons Recommended Citation Lucci, Joseph M., "Hidden in Plain Sight: Martial and the Greek Epigrammatic Tradition" (2015). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1864. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1864 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1864 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hidden in Plain Sight: Martial and the Greek Epigrammatic Tradition Abstract Martial, perhaps the best-known author of Latin epigram, has enjoyed a resurgence of scholarly attention over the past two decades, and much has been made of his self-professed debt to earlier Latin epigrammatists, especially Catullus. Less prevalent, however, has been discussion of how he relates to authors of Greek epigram, which may not be surprising given that Martial passes over the Greek epigrammatic tradition in nearly total silence. This dissertation seeks to explain the silence. Through close readings of specific poems yb Martial, both in themselves and alongside epigrams by his Greek predecessors, I argue that he has fashioned an intentionally ambivalent attitude toward the Greek tradition. Martial contends with a fundamentally Roman literary condundrum – he must negotiate the inevitable and irreconcilable tension between acknowledging the importance of his Greek predecessors and asserting his own claim to superiority over them. But Martial, I suggest, relishes such tensions, depicting Greece and Greek epigram as inconsistent and even bipolar entities which he can then exploit as sources of humor or self-aggrandizement. I claim that Martial’s suppression of the Greeks is willful; it in part offers a playful challenge to his educated audience to hunt for allusions, and in part contributes to his invention of a purely Roman epigrammatic tradition over which he himself reigns. Martial’s engagement with the Greek tradition spans hundreds of years and several subgenres of Greek epigram, three of which I have examined more or less chronologically in this study. My four chapters offer an overview of Martial’s treatment of Greek language, art, and literature within the Epigrams, and discuss how he interacts with Greek inscribed, erotic, and skoptic epigram. I ultimately reveal how Martial imagines for his audience a bipolar Greek epigrammatic tradition, deftly balancing himself between the two poles: at times he respectfully embraces his participation in the rich and varied history of Greek epigram, and at times he irreverently attempts to invert, subvert, or erase this history altogether, all for the entertainment of his well-educated readers, for whom his engagement with the Greek tradition would no doubt have been hidden in plain sight. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Classical Studies First Advisor James Ker Keywords epigram, Greek epigram, Latin poetry, Martial Subject Categories Classical Literature and Philology | Classics This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1864 HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: MARTIAL AND THE GREEK EPIGRAMMATIC TRADITION Joseph M. Lucci A DISSERTATION in Classical Studies Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Supervisor of Dissertation _____________________________ James Ker Associate Professor of Classical Studies Graduate Group Chairperson __________________________ Emily Wilson Associate Professor of Classical Studies Dissertation Committee Joseph Farrell, Professor of Classical Studies Ralph Rosen, Professor of Classical Studies HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: MARTIAL AND THE GREEK EPIGRAMMATIC TRADITION © 2015 Joseph Michael Lucci This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ iii filiolae nondum natae “Adgredere o magnos (aderit iam tempus) honores, cara deum suboles, magnum Iovis incrementum!” iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes a village to write a dissertation, to coin a phrase, and mine is no exception. This study would never have been written if not for the help and support of many others, and the gratitude that I feel toward them should be in no way diminished by my inability to convey it adequately here. My foremost thanks belong to my dissertation committee, whose thoughtful guidance over the past years has been a constant source of inspiration and motivation for me. James Ker, my supervisor, was the driving force behind the completion of this dissertation, and without his careful feedback, enlivening conversation, and (perhaps most importantly) kind-hearted disposition, I would even now still be writing my first chapter. James helped me to develop my understanding of Martial and Greek epigram during an independent study in the Fall of 2012, when this work was still a glimmer in my eye, and he remained diligently with me through the entire process no matter where I was, intellectually or physically. The other two members of my committee, Joe Farrell and Ralph Rosen, were no less instrumental in the evolution of this project, and their many contributions from distinct perspectives undeniably enhanced the final product. Many thanks as well to Joe for (inadvertently, no doubt) hooking me on Martial in our Latin poetry seminar, and to Ralph, who taught me, among many other things, that sometimes a joke is just a joke. I am thankful also to the other faculty members of the Penn Classics department, especially Emily Wilson, who guided me unerringly through the formative stages of my study, and Cynthia Damon, whose passion for the Latin language was (and remains) an v important influence on my approach to literary analysis. Valuable feedback came also from my fellow graduate students in our dissertation workshop group, and I am ever grateful for the moral support of the two other members of my cohort, Lydia Spielberg and Jeff Ulrich, and the guidance of the cohort that preceded us, consisting of Heather Elomaa (a fellow epigram enthusiast), Anna Goddard, Joanna Kenty, and Kate Wilson. I would also like to express my gratitude to my family, whose love and encouragement, while persistent throughout my life, have been particularly welcome over the course of my graduate school career. Special thanks to my always supportive and unconditionally loving parents, Charlie and Donna Lucci, to my sister Kayleigh, who would be annoyed if she were not included in this section, and to my grandparents, Jeanne Bombredi and the late Dominic Bombredi, who is surely looking down with relief that I finally finished school. I owe perhaps the most of all to my wife Erica, without whom I would be lost. Her love, support, and commiseration, along with the occasional reminder that there is more to life than one’s scholarship, kept me sane as I wrote this dissertation. Although she did not make it into my dedication, I have done this all for her no less than for myself. Finally, I am grateful to my daughter Emma, who was kind enough to hold off on being born until after this project was complete. I can only hope that someday she will read these acknowledgements and be embarrassed that she holds so prominent a position within them. vi ABSTRACT HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT: MARTIAL AND THE GREEK EPIGRAMMATIC TRADITION Joseph M. Lucci James Ker Martial, perhaps the best-known author of Latin epigram, has enjoyed a resurgence of scholarly attention over the past two decades, and much has been made of his self- professed debt to earlier Latin epigrammatists, especially Catullus. Less prevalent, however, has been discussion of how he relates to authors of Greek epigram, which may not be surprising given that Martial passes over the Greek epigrammatic tradition in nearly total silence. This dissertation seeks to explain the silence. Through close readings of specific poems by Martial, both in themselves and alongside epigrams by his Greek predecessors, I argue that he has fashioned an intentionally ambivalent attitude toward the Greek tradition. Martial contends with a fundamentally Roman literary condundrum – he must negotiate the inevitable and irreconcilable tension between acknowledging the importance of his Greek predecessors and asserting his own claim to superiority over them. But Martial, I suggest, relishes such tensions, depicting Greece and Greek epigram as inconsistent and even bipolar entities which he can then exploit as sources of humor or self-aggrandizement. I claim that Martial’s suppression of the Greeks is willful; it in part offers a playful challenge to his educated audience to hunt for allusions, and in part contributes to his invention of a purely Roman epigrammatic tradition over which he himself reigns. Martial’s engagement with the Greek tradition vii spans hundreds of years and several subgenres of Greek epigram, three of which I have examined more or less chronologically in this study. My four chapters offer an overview of Martial’s treatment of Greek language, art, and literature within the Epigrams, and discuss how he interacts with Greek inscribed, erotic, and skoptic epigram. I ultimately
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