Lucian and the Atticists: A Barbarian at the Gates by David William Frierson Stifler Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ William A. Johnson, Supervisor ___________________________ Janet Downie ___________________________ Joshua D. Sosin ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 ABSTRACT Lucian and the Atticists: A Barbarian at the Gates by David William Frierson Stifler Department of Classical Studies Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ William A. Johnson, Supervisor ___________________________ Janet Downie ___________________________ Joshua D. Sosin ___________________________ Jed W. Atkins An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Classical Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 Copyright by David William Frierson Stifler 2019 Abstract This dissertation investigates ancient language ideologies constructed by Greek and Latin writers of the second and third centuries CE, a loosely-connected movement now generally referred to the Second Sophistic. It focuses on Lucian of Samosata, a Syrian “barbarian” writer of satire and parody in Greek, and especially on his works that engage with language-oriented topics of contemporary relevance to his era. The term “language ideologies”, as it is used in studies of sociolinguistics, refers to beliefs and practices about language as they function within the social context of a particular culture or set of cultures; prescriptive grammar, for example, is a broad and rather common example. The surge in Greek (and some Latin) literary output in the Second Sophistic led many writers, with Lucian an especially noteworthy example, to express a variety of ideologies regarding the form and use of language. A number of authors, including Lucian, practiced Atticism, the belief that the best literature would be created by reviving the Attic dialect of Classical Athens, language of Plato and Aristophanes. Others, however, disagree with the narrow and perhaps pretentious version of Greek this ideology produced; intriguingly Lucian was a member of this group as well. This study examines Lucian’s complex and contradictory attitudes towards linguistic practices, focusing the works of his that address Atticism and other linguistic topics—such as the degree to which mastery of a language and its culture will allow one to identify with that culture. Here, too, Lucian portrays the relationship between linguistic practice and cultural identity in several different ways. Investigations into the linguistic views of other authors of the period help answer the question of which contemporary ideologies Lucian may be drawing on for his satire. This investigation concludes that Lucian’s idiosyncratic and frequently self-contradictory treatment of language, especially as a social signifier, is an essential tool in creating a distinctive authorial position aggregated from his different personae. Through iv ironic juxtaposition of contrasting linguistic models, Lucian destabilizes the relationships between language, learning, and cultural identity to create a self-representation that uniquely exists inside and outside—perhaps even beyond—the Greek intellectual culture of his time. v Dedication I dedicate this study to my parents, for all of their careful explanations, gentle corrections, and entertaining dinnertime debates about usage and grammar that showed me what delight there is to be had in stepping back and thinking about the real meaning of our words. vi Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... xi 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 12 1.1 Scope and Aims ................................................................................................................. 13 1.2 Sources and Scholarly Approaches ................................................................................... 15 1.2.1 Lucian ........................................................................................................................... 15 1.2.2 Other Authors ............................................................................................................... 19 1.2.3 Greek Culture and Cultural Identity ............................................................................. 22 1.3 Methodology and Approach .............................................................................................. 27 1.3.1 Language Ideologies..................................................................................................... 27 1.3.2 Atticism and Other Ideologies ...................................................................................... 29 1.3.3 Communities of Practice .............................................................................................. 38 1.4 Outline of Chapters ........................................................................................................... 40 1.5 Conclusions: A Barbarian at the Gates .............................................................................. 47 2. Expertise and Usage in the Second Sophistic ............................................................................ 48 2.1 Phrynichus and Atticism ................................................................................................... 48 2.1.2 The Community of Phrynichus .................................................................................... 72 2.1.3 Atticism Beyond Prescriptivism ................................................................................... 80 2.2 Sextus Empiricus: Radical Descriptivism ......................................................................... 86 2.2.1 Sextus Against the Grammarians and the Hellenists .................................................... 87 2.2.2 Hellenist Grammarians and Prescriptivism .................................................................. 95 vii 2.3 Latinity as an Ideology .................................................................................................. 100 2.4 Analogy and Anomaly ..................................................................................................... 109 2.4.1 Anomaly: Sextus and Phrynichus Aligned ................................................................. 112 2.5 Conclusions: Multiple Ideological Axes ......................................................................... 118 3. Lucian and the Challenge of Atticism...................................................................................... 121 3.1 The Solecist ..................................................................................................................... 122 3.2 Lexiphanes....................................................................................................................... 130 3.3 The Professor of Rhetoric ................................................................................................ 142 3.4 Old Comedy and Language Play in Lucian ..................................................................... 155 3.5 Conclusions: Humorous Rigor ........................................................................................ 172 4. Language, Culture, and Identity in the Ancient Sociolinguistic Imagination .......................... 175 4.1 Athenaeus, Ulpian, and the Folly of Purism .................................................................... 177 4.1.1 Anti-Atticism, or, Anti-Ulpianism ............................................................................. 180 4.1.2 Loanwords and Latinisms .......................................................................................... 184 4.2 Fronto and the Edges of Romanness ............................................................................... 188 4.2.1 Fronto and Greek, Crossing the Boundary ................................................................. 191 4.2.2 Latinity as Identity ..................................................................................................... 202 4.3 Bilingual Romanness in Gellius ...................................................................................... 205 4.3.1 Grammar versus Learnedness .................................................................................... 209 4.3.2 Interlinguistic and Intercultural Connections ............................................................. 219 4.3.3 Greek Learning for Roman Culture ............................................................................ 228 4.4 Conclusions: Cultural Signaling and Imperial Sociolinguistic Imaginaries .................... 230 5. Lucian’s Satire of Language in Society ................................................................................... 235 5.1 Linguistic