This essay discusses the ancient testimony claiming that the Athenians decreed a second performan... more This essay discusses the ancient testimony claiming that the Athenians decreed a second performance of Aristophanes’ Frogs shortly after its original performance in 405 BC. These testimonia have suggested that the Athenians granted Aristophanes this honor because they especially admired the political message of the play’s parabasis. Some scholars in the nineteenth century questioned this explanation, since the play as a whole itself is more focused on aesthetics than politics, though their skepticism was largely silenced in the twentieth century. This study revisits the question, arguing that skepticism about some details of the testimonia is justified, and suggesting other explanations for a second performance that rely more on contemporary performance culture and aesthetics than politics.
Galen surely numbers among the most insistently self-referential authors of classical antiquity. ... more Galen surely numbers among the most insistently self-referential authors of classical antiquity. Although one can think of many others who felt called upon at various points in their careers to explain or defend themselves in their writings, few were as systematic as Galen in creating an official persona for himself or attempting to direct the future reception of his writings. Most of Galen's works (and his voluminous output is always astounding to contemplate) contain at least some autobiographical touches, and several treatises are explicitly devoted to his own career and writings.
This book collects some of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones' [Ll.-J.] most important work on the subjects... more This book collects some of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones' [Ll.-J.] most important work on the subjects listed in its title, and forms, along with its companion volume on Greek epic, lyric and tragedy [reviewed in this issue by M. Halleran], an elegant and impressive tribute to the career of one of this century's most influential (if at times controversial) classical scholars. The book represents the full range of Lloyd-Jones' interests and expertise, including brief, incisive textual notes, full-blown "editions" of fragmentary texts, book reviews, and expansive, often polemical, treatises on various aspects of Greek culture and Classical scholarship.
Most of us tend to think of the fourth century BC as the time when a reasonably standardized voca... more Most of us tend to think of the fourth century BC as the time when a reasonably standardized vocabulary for rhetoric developed, and along with it an increasingly selfconscious and systematized notion of the TE/XNH of persuasion. There is certainly some truth in this; but it is also very likely that, if we simply had more evidence from the fifth century, particularly about the sophists, we would have to reformulate significantly our understanding not only of the development of rhetoric but of the entire contemporary intellectual landscape as well. O'Sullivan's monograph, a revision of a 1986 Cambridge PhD dissertation, cannot of course conjure up a new body of fifth-century evidence, but it does make us rethink many of the common presumptions about the early development of Greek rhetorical theory.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. This content downloaded from 130.91.236.243 on Wed, 02 Dec 2015 20:41:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE CLASSICAl REVIEW THE CLASSICAl REVIEW
Although Pindar's Homer began its life as the Mary Flexner Lectures in the Humanities at Bryn... more Although Pindar's Homer began its life as the Mary Flexner Lectures in the Humanities at Bryn Mawr College in 1982, it clearly represents far more than a revised transcript of that event. The book looks more like a lifetime's work: over five hundred pages, elegantly produced with expansive footnotes and copious bibliography, wrapped in a glossy black dustjacket that gives
This chapter explores Galen's attitude toward instruction and teaching, and in pa... more This chapter explores Galen's attitude toward instruction and teaching, and in particular the ways in which he conceptualized and articulated the didactic function of his writings. Galen's own rhetoric about why he wrote was often strident - his disparagement of contemporaries is famous, and his fondness for polemic is often regarded as a function of an eristic and arrogant personality. I suggest, however, that Galen's self-avowed role as a kind of public censor may derive as much from an amalgamation of rhetorical postures found in various literary and philosophical genres as it does from an inherently intemperate character. By examining various passages in Galen's protreptic and psychological works, I argue that his frequent stances of vituperative indignation and self-righteousness often resemble those found in satirical writings, from Cynic diatribe through Greek and Roman satirical poetry. Galen no doubt felt himself to be working in a serious tradition of Platonic and Stoic moralizing, but his particular form of didacticism was informed by various strategies assimilated from Greco-Roman serio-comic traditions.
The history of literature and art offers no shortage of works created to offend or shock an audie... more The history of literature and art offers no shortage of works created to offend or shock an audience, but few have been as incendiary as gangsta rap. Apologists cannot deny the problematic content of this form of rap-the misogynistic posturing, themes of intense violence, freewheeling and gratuitous obscenity-and some detractors hold that even the attempt to analyze the genre bestows undeserved legitimacy on its practitioners. The transgressive and counter-hegemonic stance of gangsta rap has become so threatening, in fact, that its origins as a complex poetic form with deep roots in a variety of literary and ritual traditions have, for the most part, been neglected or obscured. Indeed, it is difficult to think of any poetic form in the contemporary West in which politics, race and ideology have dictated so completely the terms of "acceptable" criticism. This is all the more remarkable for gangsta rap, insofar as so much foundational scholarship, some even decades old, already exists within fields such as folklore, psychology and anthropology which can articulate the nexus of literary and cultural forces that gave rise to it. As such approaches make clear, far from being an unprecedented art form that can only reflect the social pathologies idiosyncratic to American ghetto life, gangsta rap operates within a well-documented poetic tradition within African-American culture that ritualizes invective, satire, obscenity, and other verbal phenomena with transgressive aims.
Cahiers « Mondes anciens » 5 (2014) Maudire et mal dire : paroles menaçantes en Grèce ancienne, 2014
Satirical literary genres are continually faced with the question of efficacy: such littérature i... more Satirical literary genres are continually faced with the question of efficacy: such littérature is highly localized in place and time, and thrives on the pretense that their invective and ridicule will have an effect on the human targets and events they attack. These genres are supposed, in short, to do something. But such a pretense can really only be entertained at the time when the works were actually produced. For what kind of efficacy can exist for such literature in subsequent chronological eras when the targets of invective are barely known and certainly have no real significance for the lives of their readers? This paper discusses various works of the Greek iambus and Old Comedy in support of the argument first, that literary satire, more than any other genre or mode, relies on a continual tension between two perspectives—the synchronic (the work situated in its own time) and the diachronic (the work considered in posterity)—and next that understanding this tension is critical to an understanding of ‘meaning’ in satirical literature.
Les genres littéraires de la satire se trouvent continuellement confrontés à la question de l’efficacité : cette littérature est fortement ancrée dans ses lieux et temps propres : son succès repose sur l'effet qu'elle peut avoir sur les cibles ainsi ridiculisées et invectivées. Bref, ces genres sont censés faire quelque chose. Mais, en fait, on ne peut les lire sous cet angle qu’à l’époque à laquelle ces oeuvres ont été composées. Or quelle sorte d’efficacité peut exister pour cette littérature dans les époques ultérieures, quand les cibles de l’invective ne sont plus guère connues et n’ont certainement aucune importance réelle pour les lecteurs? Cet essai examine quelques oeuvres de l’iambe grec et de la comédie ancienne pour soutenir que, tout d’abord, la satire littéraire, plus que tous les autres genres et modes, dépend d’une tension continuelle entre deux perspectives – celle de la synchronie (c’est-à-dire, l’oeuvre dans son époque propre) et celle de la diachronie (l’oeuvre vue par la postérité) – et qu’ensuite, il faut bien comprendre cette tension pour comprendre la « signification » de la satire.
This essay discusses the ancient testimony claiming that the Athenians decreed a second performan... more This essay discusses the ancient testimony claiming that the Athenians decreed a second performance of Aristophanes’ Frogs shortly after its original performance in 405 BC. These testimonia have suggested that the Athenians granted Aristophanes this honor because they especially admired the political message of the play’s parabasis. Some scholars in the nineteenth century questioned this explanation, since the play as a whole itself is more focused on aesthetics than politics, though their skepticism was largely silenced in the twentieth century. This study revisits the question, arguing that skepticism about some details of the testimonia is justified, and suggesting other explanations for a second performance that rely more on contemporary performance culture and aesthetics than politics.
Galen surely numbers among the most insistently self-referential authors of classical antiquity. ... more Galen surely numbers among the most insistently self-referential authors of classical antiquity. Although one can think of many others who felt called upon at various points in their careers to explain or defend themselves in their writings, few were as systematic as Galen in creating an official persona for himself or attempting to direct the future reception of his writings. Most of Galen's works (and his voluminous output is always astounding to contemplate) contain at least some autobiographical touches, and several treatises are explicitly devoted to his own career and writings.
This book collects some of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones' [Ll.-J.] most important work on the subjects... more This book collects some of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones' [Ll.-J.] most important work on the subjects listed in its title, and forms, along with its companion volume on Greek epic, lyric and tragedy [reviewed in this issue by M. Halleran], an elegant and impressive tribute to the career of one of this century's most influential (if at times controversial) classical scholars. The book represents the full range of Lloyd-Jones' interests and expertise, including brief, incisive textual notes, full-blown "editions" of fragmentary texts, book reviews, and expansive, often polemical, treatises on various aspects of Greek culture and Classical scholarship.
Most of us tend to think of the fourth century BC as the time when a reasonably standardized voca... more Most of us tend to think of the fourth century BC as the time when a reasonably standardized vocabulary for rhetoric developed, and along with it an increasingly selfconscious and systematized notion of the TE/XNH of persuasion. There is certainly some truth in this; but it is also very likely that, if we simply had more evidence from the fifth century, particularly about the sophists, we would have to reformulate significantly our understanding not only of the development of rhetoric but of the entire contemporary intellectual landscape as well. O'Sullivan's monograph, a revision of a 1986 Cambridge PhD dissertation, cannot of course conjure up a new body of fifth-century evidence, but it does make us rethink many of the common presumptions about the early development of Greek rhetorical theory.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. This content downloaded from 130.91.236.243 on Wed, 02 Dec 2015 20:41:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE CLASSICAl REVIEW THE CLASSICAl REVIEW
Although Pindar's Homer began its life as the Mary Flexner Lectures in the Humanities at Bryn... more Although Pindar's Homer began its life as the Mary Flexner Lectures in the Humanities at Bryn Mawr College in 1982, it clearly represents far more than a revised transcript of that event. The book looks more like a lifetime's work: over five hundred pages, elegantly produced with expansive footnotes and copious bibliography, wrapped in a glossy black dustjacket that gives
This chapter explores Galen's attitude toward instruction and teaching, and in pa... more This chapter explores Galen's attitude toward instruction and teaching, and in particular the ways in which he conceptualized and articulated the didactic function of his writings. Galen's own rhetoric about why he wrote was often strident - his disparagement of contemporaries is famous, and his fondness for polemic is often regarded as a function of an eristic and arrogant personality. I suggest, however, that Galen's self-avowed role as a kind of public censor may derive as much from an amalgamation of rhetorical postures found in various literary and philosophical genres as it does from an inherently intemperate character. By examining various passages in Galen's protreptic and psychological works, I argue that his frequent stances of vituperative indignation and self-righteousness often resemble those found in satirical writings, from Cynic diatribe through Greek and Roman satirical poetry. Galen no doubt felt himself to be working in a serious tradition of Platonic and Stoic moralizing, but his particular form of didacticism was informed by various strategies assimilated from Greco-Roman serio-comic traditions.
The history of literature and art offers no shortage of works created to offend or shock an audie... more The history of literature and art offers no shortage of works created to offend or shock an audience, but few have been as incendiary as gangsta rap. Apologists cannot deny the problematic content of this form of rap-the misogynistic posturing, themes of intense violence, freewheeling and gratuitous obscenity-and some detractors hold that even the attempt to analyze the genre bestows undeserved legitimacy on its practitioners. The transgressive and counter-hegemonic stance of gangsta rap has become so threatening, in fact, that its origins as a complex poetic form with deep roots in a variety of literary and ritual traditions have, for the most part, been neglected or obscured. Indeed, it is difficult to think of any poetic form in the contemporary West in which politics, race and ideology have dictated so completely the terms of "acceptable" criticism. This is all the more remarkable for gangsta rap, insofar as so much foundational scholarship, some even decades old, already exists within fields such as folklore, psychology and anthropology which can articulate the nexus of literary and cultural forces that gave rise to it. As such approaches make clear, far from being an unprecedented art form that can only reflect the social pathologies idiosyncratic to American ghetto life, gangsta rap operates within a well-documented poetic tradition within African-American culture that ritualizes invective, satire, obscenity, and other verbal phenomena with transgressive aims.
Cahiers « Mondes anciens » 5 (2014) Maudire et mal dire : paroles menaçantes en Grèce ancienne, 2014
Satirical literary genres are continually faced with the question of efficacy: such littérature i... more Satirical literary genres are continually faced with the question of efficacy: such littérature is highly localized in place and time, and thrives on the pretense that their invective and ridicule will have an effect on the human targets and events they attack. These genres are supposed, in short, to do something. But such a pretense can really only be entertained at the time when the works were actually produced. For what kind of efficacy can exist for such literature in subsequent chronological eras when the targets of invective are barely known and certainly have no real significance for the lives of their readers? This paper discusses various works of the Greek iambus and Old Comedy in support of the argument first, that literary satire, more than any other genre or mode, relies on a continual tension between two perspectives—the synchronic (the work situated in its own time) and the diachronic (the work considered in posterity)—and next that understanding this tension is critical to an understanding of ‘meaning’ in satirical literature.
Les genres littéraires de la satire se trouvent continuellement confrontés à la question de l’efficacité : cette littérature est fortement ancrée dans ses lieux et temps propres : son succès repose sur l'effet qu'elle peut avoir sur les cibles ainsi ridiculisées et invectivées. Bref, ces genres sont censés faire quelque chose. Mais, en fait, on ne peut les lire sous cet angle qu’à l’époque à laquelle ces oeuvres ont été composées. Or quelle sorte d’efficacité peut exister pour cette littérature dans les époques ultérieures, quand les cibles de l’invective ne sont plus guère connues et n’ont certainement aucune importance réelle pour les lecteurs? Cet essai examine quelques oeuvres de l’iambe grec et de la comédie ancienne pour soutenir que, tout d’abord, la satire littéraire, plus que tous les autres genres et modes, dépend d’une tension continuelle entre deux perspectives – celle de la synchronie (c’est-à-dire, l’oeuvre dans son époque propre) et celle de la diachronie (l’oeuvre vue par la postérité) – et qu’ensuite, il faut bien comprendre cette tension pour comprendre la « signification » de la satire.
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of the play’s parabasis. Some scholars in the nineteenth century questioned this explanation, since the play as a whole itself is more focused on aesthetics than politics, though their skepticism was largely silenced in the twentieth century. This study revisits the question, arguing that skepticism about some details of the testimonia is justified, and suggesting other explanations for a second performance that rely more on contemporary performance culture and aesthetics than politics.
Les genres littéraires de la satire se trouvent continuellement confrontés à la question de l’efficacité : cette littérature est fortement ancrée dans ses lieux et temps propres : son succès repose sur l'effet qu'elle peut avoir sur les cibles ainsi ridiculisées et invectivées. Bref, ces genres sont censés faire quelque chose. Mais, en fait, on ne peut les lire sous cet angle qu’à l’époque à laquelle ces oeuvres ont été composées. Or quelle sorte d’efficacité peut exister pour cette littérature dans les époques ultérieures, quand les cibles de l’invective ne sont plus guère connues et n’ont certainement aucune importance réelle pour les lecteurs? Cet essai examine quelques oeuvres de l’iambe grec et de la comédie ancienne pour soutenir que, tout d’abord, la satire littéraire, plus que tous les autres genres et modes, dépend d’une tension continuelle entre deux perspectives – celle de la synchronie (c’est-à-dire, l’oeuvre dans son époque propre) et celle de la diachronie (l’oeuvre vue par la postérité) – et qu’ensuite, il faut bien comprendre cette tension pour comprendre la « signification » de la satire.
of the play’s parabasis. Some scholars in the nineteenth century questioned this explanation, since the play as a whole itself is more focused on aesthetics than politics, though their skepticism was largely silenced in the twentieth century. This study revisits the question, arguing that skepticism about some details of the testimonia is justified, and suggesting other explanations for a second performance that rely more on contemporary performance culture and aesthetics than politics.
Les genres littéraires de la satire se trouvent continuellement confrontés à la question de l’efficacité : cette littérature est fortement ancrée dans ses lieux et temps propres : son succès repose sur l'effet qu'elle peut avoir sur les cibles ainsi ridiculisées et invectivées. Bref, ces genres sont censés faire quelque chose. Mais, en fait, on ne peut les lire sous cet angle qu’à l’époque à laquelle ces oeuvres ont été composées. Or quelle sorte d’efficacité peut exister pour cette littérature dans les époques ultérieures, quand les cibles de l’invective ne sont plus guère connues et n’ont certainement aucune importance réelle pour les lecteurs? Cet essai examine quelques oeuvres de l’iambe grec et de la comédie ancienne pour soutenir que, tout d’abord, la satire littéraire, plus que tous les autres genres et modes, dépend d’une tension continuelle entre deux perspectives – celle de la synchronie (c’est-à-dire, l’oeuvre dans son époque propre) et celle de la diachronie (l’oeuvre vue par la postérité) – et qu’ensuite, il faut bien comprendre cette tension pour comprendre la « signification » de la satire.