Recognizing Persius (ebook)

Argumento de Recognizing Persius (ebook)

Recognizing Persius is a passionate and in-depth exploration of the libellus--or little book--of six Latin satires left by the Roman satirical writer Persius when he died in AD 62 at the age of twenty-seven. In this comprehensive and reflectively personal book, Kenneth Reckford fleshes out the primary importance of this mysterious and idiosyncratic writer. Reckford emphasizes the dramatic power and excitement of Persius's satires--works that normally would have been recited before a reclining, feasting audience. In highlighting the satires' remarkable honesty, Reckford shows how Persius converted Roman satire into a vehicle of self-exploration and self-challenge that remains relevant to readers today.

The book explores the foundations of Roman satire as a performance genre: from the dinner-party recitals of Lucilius, the founder of the genre, through Horace, to Persius's more intense and inward dramatic monologues. Reckford argues that despite satire's significant public function, Persius wrote his pieces first and mainly for himself. Reckford also provides the context for Persius's life and work: his social responsibilities as a landowner; the interplay between his life, his Stoic philosophy, and his art; and finally, his incomplete struggle to become an honest and decent human being. Bringing the modern reader to a closer and more nuanced acquaintance with Persius's work, Recognizing Persius reinstates him to the ranks of the first-rate satirists, alongside Horace and Juvenal.

"The book retains the informal approach of the original lectures, a shrewd choice since Reckford excels at using the public speaker's panoply to bring his subject to life; by book's end, readers will fell that they not only know Persius better but also understand more deeply his struggle, as a person and as an author, against humanity's foibles and follies."--Choice

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010

"Reckford takes his reader through a well-structured overview of the genre, which I believe will be particularly helpful to students just encountering Roman Satire. Because of the scope of this book, therefore, I would strongly recommend it as an introduction not only to Persius but also to the entire genre, for it places Lucilius, Horace, and to some extent Juvenal, in a context that is often elusive, largely because of the very nature of satire."--Patricia A. Johnston, Bryn Mawr Classical Review0ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
PROLOGUE: In Search of Persius 1

CHAPTER ONE: Performing Privately 16
"Who'll read this stuff?" (Satire 1) 17
"In Different Voices" 21
Performing satire (1): Lucilius 25
Performing satire (2): Horace 32
Three Bad Performances 39
Persius's Return to the Colors 46
Appendix: The Choliambics 52

CHAPTER TWO: Seeking Integrity 56
Hypocrisy and Self-Deception (Satire 2) 57
Called to Virtue (Satire 3) 63
Where Horace Left Off 68
Division Problems 77
Autobiographical Fragments 82
Images of Dissolution 87
Recomposing a Life 91
Appendix: Epictetus, Diatribe, and Persius 96

CHAPTER THREE: Exploring Freedom 102
Shadows of Falsehood (Satire 4) 103
Modes of Disclosure (Satire 5) 108
"Every Fool a Slave" 118
Another Dissident Under Nero 124

CHAPTER FOUR: Life, Death, and Art 130
Between Volterra and Rome 131
The Land, the Sea, and the Heir (Satire 6) 136
Reading the libellus: Children and Grown-ups 144
Recognizing Persius 151

EPILOGUE: From Persius to Juvenal 161
NOTES 181
BIBLIOGRAPHY 219
GENERAL INDEX 233
INDEX LOCORUM 237