WordplayandPowerplayinLatinPoetry Trends in Classics – Supplementary Volumes Edited by Franco Montanari and Antonios Rengakos Scientific Committee Alberto Bernabé · Margarethe Billerbeck Claude Calame · Philip R. Hardie · Stephen J. Harrison Stephen Hinds · Richard Hunter · Christina Kraus Giuseppe Mastromarco · Gregory Nagy Theodore D. Papanghelis · Giusto Picone Kurt Raaflaub · Bernhard Zimmermann Volume 36 Wordplay and Powerplay in Latin Poetry Edited by Phillip Mitsis and Ioannis Ziogas ISBN978-3-11-047252-3 e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-047587-6 e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-047417-6 ISSN1868-4785 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData ACIPcatalogrecordforthisbookhasbeenappliedforattheLibraryofCongress. BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie; detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheInternetathttp://dnb.dn.de. ©2016WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston Logo:ChristopherSchneider,Laufen Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck ♾Printedonacid-freepaper PrintedinGermany www.degruyter.com Table of Contents Ioannis Ziogas Introduction: Power, Puns, and Politics From Horace to Silius Italicus 1 Rhiannon Ash Tacitus and the Poets: In Nemora et Lucos … Secedendum est (Dialogus 9.6)? 13 Alex Dressler Nominal Intelligence: Conspiracy, Prosopography, and the Secret of Horace, Odes 2.10 37 Joshua T. Katz Another Vergilian Signature in the Georgics? 69 Jay Reed Mora in the Aeneid 87 Emily Gowers Dido and the Owl 107 Michael Fontaine Freudian Bullseyes in Classical Perspective: The Psycholinguistics of Guilt in Virgil’s Aeneid 131 Michael C. J. Putnam Virgil and the Achilles of Catullus 151 Gregson Davis Violent Retribution and Pietas: The Closure of the Aeneid Revisited 169 Peter J. Davis Freedom of Speech in Virgil and Ovid 183 Mathias Hanses Love’s Letters: an Amor-Roma Telestich at Ovid, Ars Amatoria 3.507–10 199 VI TableofContents Ioannis Ziogas Love Elegy and Legal Language in Ovid 213 Matthew M. McGowan Pythagoras and Numa in Ovid: Exileand Immortality at Rome 241 Matthew Leigh Lucan’s Caesar and Laelius 259 Joy Connolly ATheory of Violence in Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile 273 Michael Paschalis From Pastoral to Panegyric in Calpurnius Siculus 299 John G. Fitch Speaking Names in Senecan Drama 313 Michèle Lowrie Civil War, the Soul, and the Cosmos at Seneca, Thyestes 547–622: ATropology 333 Erica Bexley Doubtful Certainties: The Politics of Reading in Seneca’s Oedipus 355 David Konstan Doubting Domitian’s Divinity: Statius Achilleid 1.1–2 377 Martha Malamud As if: Reflections on an Exemplary Wife 387 Arthur J. Pomeroy Silius Italicus and Greek Epic: Imperial Culture Wars 413 List of Contributors 437 Publications by Frederick Ahl 443 Index of passages discussed 445 General Index 449 Ioannis Ziogas Introduction: Power, Puns, and Politics From Horace to Silius Italicus Wordplayisintricatelyenmeshedwith powerplayin Latinlanguageandpoetry. The meaningof the Latin uis ranges frompolitical power and physicalviolence to the significance and etymology of words. Unpacking the latent potential of words is to activate the entire scope of their semantic force.Take, for instance, Ovid’swordplayonuisinthestoryofSalmacisandHermaphroditus.Inintroduc- inghertale,Alcithoe,Ovid’sinternalnarrator,promisestoexplaintheoriginsof Salmacis,thespringwhosewatershadanemasculatingforce:causalatet,uisest notissima fontis, Metamorphoses 4.287 (‘the cause is hidden, the power of the fountainiswell-known’).¹Theabilityofthespringtoincapacitatemenisnoto- riousandbehinditsdebilitatingpowerliesthesignificanceoftheinfamouslake Salmacis, a byword for weak and effeminate persons (see Cicero, de Officiis 1.61.9,quotingEnnius347Jocelyn).Wecantranslatethelineas‘thecauseishid- den,themeaningofthefountainiswell-known’.Asisoftenthecase,etiological narratives(causa)unfoldvis-à-vistheoriginsandsignificanceofwords.AndAl- cithoe,whose name is semantically relatedtoἀλκή (‘strength’ ‘force’) and θοός (‘quick’‘nimble’),isaparticularlyappropriatenarratorforexplainingtheverbal and physical force of Salmacis’ running waters.² FrederickAhl has analyzedthe tale of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus in his Metaformations,focusingonthewaysinwhichchangesintheshapeofwordsor syllablescoexistwithchangesinbodilyshape(Ahl1985:239–44).Thepowerof wordplay can shift from lexical to physical violence, depriving men of their vi- rility. One needs to be aware of the power of words when swimming in the murkywatersofLatinetymologizing.OneofAhl’smajorcontributionstoclassi- calscholarshipishisstudyofwordplaynotasmerepoeticornamentordisplay of Alexandrian learning but as fundamental to the politics of Latin poetry.³ In- steadofdemarcatingthelimitsofetymologizing,Ahlhasopenednewhorizons  SimilarlytoOvid’scausalatet,Strabo(..)notestheuncertaintyabouttheoriginsofthe spring’s reputation (ἡ Σαλμακὶς κρήνη, διαβεβλημένη οὐκ οἶδ’ ὁπόθεν ὡς μαλακίζουσα τοὺς πιόνταςἀπ’αὐτῆς‘thefountainSalmacis,slandered,Idon’tknowforwhatreason,becauseit supposedly makes effeminate those who drink from it’).While the geographer dismisses this superstitiousbelief,whateveritsorigin,Ovidisinterestedinrevealingthemythologicalaition.  Ahlisapioneerinarguingthatinternalnarratorsaresignificantforinterpretingembedded narratives.SeeAhl()–;().  SeeespeciallyAhl()–andpassim. 2 IoannisZiogas in examining how wordplay’s inherent power for ambiguity and polysemy can destabilize the advertised certainties of authoritarian regimes.The use of puns forpoliticalpurposesdoesnotproclaimitselffromthetopmostlevelsofthenar- rative.Itisrather,likesomuchoftheartofLatinpoetry,concealed.Notunlikea skilledsculptor,apoetversedinwordplayengraves(caelare)byconcealing(ce- lare) his art (cf. Ahl 1985: 64–9). Etymological wordplay is related to what Ahl callstheartofveiledspeechandsafecriticism(Ahl1984a),yetitisafascinating paradox that etymologizing is simultaneously associated with unveiling the truth. Etymology (from ἔτυμος ‘true’) lays a claim to disclosing the true power of words by tracing their original meaning; it is the art of authoritative deriva- tions and that is why etymological wordplay is a trope of authorial powerplay. The powerof wordplay toundermine proclaimed certaintiescan be seen in the following lines from Ovid’s Fasti: assidetindeIoui,Iouisestfidissimacustos, etpraestatsineuisceptratimendaIoui. Fasti5.45–6 She (Maiestas) sitsbyJove, isJove’s most loyalguardian,preserves Jove’s dread scepter withoutviolence. The Muse Polyhymnia is the speaker of these lines, in an episode in which the Muses contest the etymologyof May (Fasti 5.1–110). For Polyhymnia, Maius de- rivesfromMaiestas,Ovid’sdaringpersonificationofakeytermunderAugustus.⁴ As a Muse that gives a Romanized version of Hesiod’s Theogony, starting from chaosandendingwithRomulus,PolyhymniacanbeseenaspraisingAugustus’ Jovianregime.⁵Hernamesuggestshergenericaffiliationswithhymnsandbyex- toling Jupiter’s majesty she fulfils the role of her Hesiodic counterparts (Theo- gony 36–7).⁶ At the same time, her Roman universe is an improved version of Hesiod’sTheogony.Polyhymnia’sstatementthatMaiestasisseatednexttoJupi- ter sine ui is a revision of Hesiod,who had Bie (‘Power’) and Kratos(‘Strength’) sit by Zeus (πὰρ Ζηνὶ βαρυκτύπῳ ἑδριόωντα, Theogony 388‘Bie and Kratos sit beside loud-thundering Zeus’). Maiestas is enough for Jupiter/Augustus, who does not have to rely on force or violence once he prevailed upon his enemies  OnJuliusCaesar’sandAugustus’redefinitionsoftherepublicanvalueofmaiestaspopuliRo- maniasintegraltothisepisodeoftheFasti,seeMackie().OnMaiestasinthisepisode,see alsoPasco-Pranger()–.  OnPolyhymniaandHesiod,seeFantham()–;Boyd()–;Labate() –.  OnPolyhymnia’saffiliationwithhymn,seeBarchiesi(). Introduction:Power,Puns,andPoliticsFromHoracetoSiliusItalicus 3 and restoredorder.The hymnic polyptoton (Ioui,Iouis…Ioui) further adds tothe solemnityof Polyhymnia’s panegyric. Yetinthislaudatorypassage,wordplaycreepsinlikeavirusinfectingimpe- rialpropaganda.TheveryaugustrepetitionofIoui,Iouis,Iouisuggeststhatthere isactuallyuisinIouis;thatitisparadoxical,almostabsurd,todepriveJoveofhis violence.⁷While Polyhymnia declares that her Joveruleswithout violentguard- ians,wordplaytellsanentirelydifferentstory.⁸The gerundivetimenda,tellingly yetunconvincinglyemendedbysometotenenda,furthersuggeststhatascepter tobefearedisbarelyascepterwieldedwithoutviolence.Infact,theissueoffear andfreedomofspeechissuggestedbytheverypresenceofMaiestas.UnderAu- gustus, the law of maiestas extended to include libel and slander against the emperor.⁹ And the punishment and consequences for verbally injuring the princeps’ majesty were powerful and violent.¹⁰ The hymn to Maiestas can be read as a covert comment on imperial censorship since it raises the question of how sincere a hymn to the divine incarnation of repression could be. ¹¹ A poet whose freedom of speech is legally constrained can resort to wordplay, to the inherent powerof words todefy imperial definitions,their playful potential forendlessdeferral.BypunningonIouis-uis,Ovidplayswiththemeaningofuis as physicalviolence and semantic force. In other words, uis as the basis of the wordplaydrawsattention to itself,tothe semantic relation of uiswith etymolo- gizing. A Jove with guardians sine ui is an insignificant Jove, a Jove without meaning. Ovid’s ingeniously self-reflexive pun highlights the paradox of his Muse’s imperial declaration and undermines her authority. Wordplay exposes Polyhymnia’s laudatory meaning to a causality that remains external to the speaking voice and thus destabilizes it. As Paul Allen Miller (2004: 161) puts it, every pun in Ovid reveals not a hidden truth but another series of double meanings that reflects back on itself to create a depthless mise-en-abyme.  MyreadinghereisinspiredbyAhl()–,whoarguesthatthewordplaybetweenuis andIouisiskeytointerpretingthestoryofIointheMetamorphoses,thenymphwhosuffersfrom Jupiter’sviolenceinatalethatforcesustointerpretIouisasacombinationofIoanduis;Jove’s namesignifiestheviolencedonetoIo.Cf.Hinds()–ontheetymologicalwordplayon Venusanduis.  AsHinds()putsit,“etymologicalword-playscanunfixpoeticmeaningjustaseffec- tivelyastheycanfixit.”  Under Augustus’ lex Iulia maiestatis (Digest .; Suetonius,Augustus;Tacitus, Annales ..–)allegedlysubversiveworksbecameanactoftreason.  TheworksofOvid,TitusLabienus,andCassiusSeveruswerebannedunderAugustus.Ovid andCassiusSeveruswerebanished,whileLabienuscommittedsuicide.  OntheissueoffreespeechundertheprincipateascentraltotheFasti,seeFeeney().