Martial: The Unexpected Classic
Cambridge University Press, 12/12/1991
EAN 9780521264587, ISBN10: 0521264588
Hardcover, 420 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This is the first full-length study in English of the Roman poet Martial's life, poetry and politics, as well as of the survival of his fifteen books of epigrams and short poems from his death around AD 104 to the present. The subjects examined include his defence of epigram as an art form, his misogyny and obscenity, his style, wit and humour, and, not least, his imperial propaganda. The concluding part of the work examines his high reputation in the Renaissance and the later censorship and neglect of his work until comparatively recently. All the material is presented for a modern objective assessment of his achievement, without in any way disguising the unpleasant aspects of his genius, and the political and literary pressures on poets in Rome at that period.
Introduction
1. Martial's life and times
2. Martial's Apologia pro opere suo
3. The epigram tradition
Martial's Greek and Latin models
4. The coherence of Martial's themes
5. Martial's sexual attitudes
6. Humanity and humour
imagery and wit
7. Survival and revival
Appendix 1. Chronology
Appendix 2. Martial and the Greek epigram.