The relationship between an author and his audience has received much critical attention from scholars in non-classical disciplines in recent years, yet the nature of much ancient literature and of its * publication' meant that audiences in ancient times were more immediate to their authors than in the modern world. This book contains essays by distinguished scholars on the various means by which Latin authors communicated effectively with their audiences. The authors and works covered are Cicero (as both orator and letter-writer), Catullus, Lucretius, Propertius, Horace's Odes, Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Senecan tragedy, Persius, Pliny's letters, Tacitus' Annals and medieval love lyric. Contributors have provided detailed analyses of particular passages in order to throw light on the many different ways in which authors catered for their audiences by fulfilling, manipulating and thwarting their expectations; and in an epilogue the editors have drawn together the issues raised by these contributions and have attempted to place them in an appropriate critical context. Author and audience in Latin literature is a sequel to the influential series of essay-collections edited by Tony Woodman and David West and published by Cambridge University Press: Quality and pleasure in Latin poetry (1974), Creative imitation and Latin literature (1979) and Poetry and politics in the age of Augustus (1984). Author and audience in Latin literature Author and audience in Latin literature EDITED BY TONY WOODMAN UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM & JONATHAN POWELL UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE [CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Victoria 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1992 First published 1992 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data Author and audience in Latin literature / edited by Tony Woodman and Jonathan Powell, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN o 521 38307 2 (hardback) I. Latin literature — History and criticism. 2. Authors and readers — Rome - History. 3. Theater audiences - Rome - History. 4. Reader-response criticism. I. Woodman, A. J. (Anthony John). II. Powell, J. G. F. PA6OII.A8 1992 870.9'OQI—dc2o 91-27096 CIP ISBN o 521 38307 2 hardback Transferred to digital printing 2004 FOR DAVID WEST Vellem rediret carmine callido laudare amicum doctus Horatius, aut ille posset ueritatis insatiabilis explicator Carus renasci: tertius eloquens si iunctus hospes Vergilius foret, turn forte possemus decoris uersibus ingeminare laudem docti sodalis, nomine praediti regis lyristae. redditus otio linquis professoris cathedram: tempore saepe tamen futuro interpretandis uatibus et mero scite bibendo des operam, neque mensas amicorum recusans uisere, nee metuens uetustae cornicis aeuum, quod sapientiam constanter auget non leuibus uiris; non rura nee dulces Camenas nee minuit citharam senectus. J.G.F.P. CONTENTS List of contributors page xi Prologue xiii 1 THE ORATOR AND THE READER: Manipulation and response in Cicero's Fifth Verrine R. G. M. NISBET I 2 STRATAGEMS OF VANITY: Cicero, Ad familiares 5.12 and Pliny's letters NIALL RUDD 18 3 'SHALL I COMPARE THEE...?': Catullus 68B and the limits of analogy D. C. FEENEY 33 4 ATOMS AND ELEPHANTS: Lucretius 2.522—40 T. P. WISEMAN 45 5 IN MEMORIAM GALLI: Propertius 1.21 IAN M. LE M. DUQUESNAY 52 6 THE POWER OF IMPLICATION: Horace's invitation to Maecenas {Odes 1.20) FRANCIS CAIRNS 84 7 THE VOICE OF VIRGIL: The pageant of Rome in Aeneid 6 G. P. GOOLD no 8 FROM ORPHEUS TO ASS'S EARS: Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1—11.193 D. E. HILL I24