Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae
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Oedipus’ Freudian slips: language, kinship and tyranny
Full text linkThis paper deals with the linguistic aspect of tragic irony in the Oedipus Rex. It begins with the observation that several ambiguous expressions in the play telegraph their double meaning through various kinds of linguistic slips. It is argued that these slips occur on three distinct levels: semantics, syntax and pragmatics. There follows an analysis of several examples under each of these three headings. The paper concludes with the observation that when it comes to the question of Oedipus’ familial relationships and the legitimacy of his rule in Thebes, language itself fails the hero and defies his attempts at controlling it.This paper deals with the linguistic aspect of tragic irony in the Oedipus Rex. It begins with the observation that several ambiguous expressions in the play telegraph their double meaning through various kinds of linguistic slips. It is argued that these slips occur on three distinct levels: semantics, syntax and pragmatics. There follows an analysis of several examples under each of these three headings. The paper concludes with the observation that when it comes to the question of Oedipus’ familial relationships and the legitimacy of his rule in Thebes, language itself fails the hero and defies his attempts at controlling it
Thoughts on Plautine Style, with Special Reference to Archaism and Colloquialism
Full text linkThis article discusses style in Plautus. In order to do so objectively, we need to look at distribution patterns; a phenomenon can be considered poetic or colloquial if (a) it is restricted to poetry or comedy, (b) a parallel corpus of the same time period has an equivalent expression, and (c) this distribution is statistically significant. The main problem with applying such an approach to Plautus is that he makes up 60% of early Latin (with Terence giving us another 15%); other texts are not always suitable for comparison: inscriptions may be short, highly formal, or hard to date, Cato’s work on agriculture is extremely technical, and fragments of early drama are often quoted by grammarians who are more interested in what is possible than in what is normal. However, we can compare Plautus with Plautus, insofar as we can compare different stock characters, different metres, or different sub-genres within comedy.Loss of final –s and iambic shortening seem to more common in colloquial passages, with a preponderance in iambic lines, a smaller number in long verses, and the smallest number in polymetric song. Within morphology, subjunctives of the type siem and mediopassive infinitives ending in –ier are strongly preferred at line end, out of metrical convenience; they are already archaic in Plautus, but still employed so frequently that not every individual instance is stylistically significant. Pronominal accusative and ablative forms like med and ted are also already old-fashioned and used mostly for metrical reasons; they, too, occur so commonly that not every instance is significant. Other morphological features look archaic from a classical perspective, but are still normal in Plautus; this is the case for the second-person medio-passive ending –re and the fourth-conjugation imperfect in –ibam. Genitive plural forms of the second declension mostly end in –orum; the older –um is largely restricted to fixed collocations, which are presumably stylistically unmarked.On the other hand, disyllabic genitive endings of the first declension (type familiai) were already archaic in Plautus’ day; they are rare and thus always used for stylistic effect. Within syntax, not all features that have traditionally been described as colloquial really do form part of a lower register. The ellipsis of subject accusatives in the accusative-and infinitive construction is driven by pragmatic and morphosyntactic factors rather than by stylistic considerations. Sentence length and complexity is lower in Plautus than in classical prose, but this is a feature of spoken language rather than of lower register. And finally, outside some common collocations, the ablative absolute is restricted to specific high-register contexts, such as prayers or battle reports.When Plautus wants to be colloquial, he can use features from phonology to syntax, but when he wants to sound archaic, he limits himself to morphology (and lexical features). This should not come as a surprise: Plautus had access to colloquial language on a daily basis, but would encounter archaic texts mostly in written form; here, morphological and lexical features are the ones which are most noticeable and easiest to imitate.This article discusses style in Plautus. In order to do so objectively, we need to look at distribution patterns; a phenomenon can be considered poetic or colloquial if (a) it is restricted to poetry or comedy, (b) a parallel corpus of the same time period has an equivalent expression, and (c) this distribution is statistically significant. The main problem with applying such an approach to Plautus is that he makes up 60% of early Latin (with Terence giving us another 15%); other texts are not always suitable for comparison: inscriptions may be short, highly formal, or hard to date, Cato’s work on agriculture is extremely technical, and fragments of early drama are often quoted by grammarians who are more interested in what is possible than in what is normal. However, we can compare Plautus with Plautus, insofar as we can compare different stock characters, different metres, or different sub-genres within comedy.Loss of final –s and iambic shortening seem to more common in colloquial passages, with a preponderance in iambic lines, a smaller number in long verses, and the smallest number in polymetric song. Within morphology, subjunctives of the type siem and mediopassive infinitives ending in –ier are strongly preferred at line end, out of metrical convenience; they are already archaic in Plautus, but still employed so frequently that not every individual instance is stylistically significant. Pronominal accusative and ablative forms like med and ted are also already old-fashioned and used mostly for metrical reasons; they, too, occur so commonly that not every instance is significant. Other morphological features look archaic from a classical perspective, but are still normal in Plautus; this is the case for the second-person medio-passive ending –re and the fourth-conjugation imperfect in –ibam. Genitive plural forms of the second declension mostly end in –orum; the older –um is largely restricted to fixed collocations, which are presumably stylistically unmarked.On the other hand, disyllabic genitive endings of the first declension (type familiai) were already archaic in Plautus’ day; they are rare and thus always used for stylistic effect. Within syntax, not all features that have traditionally been described as colloquial really do form part of a lower register. The ellipsis of subject accusatives in the accusative-and infinitive construction is driven by pragmatic and morphosyntactic factors rather than by stylistic considerations. Sentence length and complexity is lower in Plautus than in classical prose, but this is a feature of spoken language rather than of lower register. And finally, outside some common collocations, the ablative absolute is restricted to specific high-register contexts, such as prayers or battle reports.When Plautus wants to be colloquial, he can use features from phonology to syntax, but when he wants to sound archaic, he limits himself to morphology (and lexical features). This should not come as a surprise: Plautus had access to colloquial language on a daily basis, but would encounter archaic texts mostly in written form; here, morphological and lexical features are the ones which are most noticeable and easiest to imitate
Surveillance et transgression sur la scène plautinienne
Full text linkThis study investigates some of the ways in which surveillance turns into transgression in Plautus’s plays. Watching over someone (obseruatio, in the general sense) can take the form of close watch, spying, and voyeurism, and we try to identify where the transgression lies. As Plautus uses Roman social patterns to turn them into a comical game, the investigation shows how the playwright intertwines social aspects with comical poetics. Our starting point is indeed the situation of the slave Sceledrus in the Miles gloriosus, for which some critics have spoken of “transgression”, as “he saw what he should not see”. However, his position is ambiguous insofar as he did indeed receive a surveillance mission. As we examine Plautus’s plays, it appears that secrecy, with the ignorance that goes hand in hand, is the discriminating element between watch and spying. The speculator, the spy, observes the actions of another character unbeknownst to him. Yet it is this espionage that often highlights the transgression of the spied-on character, who commits a reprehensible or forbidden act. It is the case of some senes in particular, with their vice and decadence. When pleasure occurs in the process, we can speak to a certain extent of voyeurism. The ignorance, the limit and the intention of the beholder are therefore at the heart of the question of transgression. In this sense there is transgression in the case of the guardian of the Miles gloriosus only because the neighbour wants to defeat the guardian by accusing him of spying on his home. It is the trick employed by the neighbour and his sidekicks that transforms the legitimate «guardian» into a «transgressor». The real transgressor is the guarded figure, the courtesan, as are some senes in other Plautus’s plays.This study investigates some of the ways in which surveillance turns into transgression in Plautus’s plays. Watching over someone (obseruatio, in the general sense) can take the form of close watch, spying, and voyeurism, and we try to identify where the transgression lies. As Plautus uses Roman social patterns to turn them into a comical game, the investigation shows how the playwright intertwines social aspects with comical poetics. Our starting point is indeed the situation of the slave Sceledrus in the Miles gloriosus, for which some critics have spoken of “transgression”, as “he saw what he should not see”. However, his position is ambiguous insofar as he did indeed receive a surveillance mission. As we examine Plautus’s plays, it appears that secrecy, with the ignorance that goes hand in hand, is the discriminating element between watch and spying. The speculator, the spy, observes the actions of another character unbeknownst to him. Yet it is this espionage that often highlights the transgression of the spied-on character, who commits a reprehensible or forbidden act. It is the case of some senes in particular, with their vice and decadence. When pleasure occurs in the process, we can speak to a certain extent of voyeurism. The ignorance, the limit and the intention of the beholder are therefore at the heart of the question of transgression. In this sense there is transgression in the case of the guardian of the Miles gloriosus only because the neighbour wants to defeat the guardian by accusing him of spying on his home. It is the trick employed by the neighbour and his sidekicks that transforms the legitimate «guardian» into a «transgressor». The real transgressor is the guarded figure, the courtesan, as are some senes in other Plautus’s plays
The Parasite Curculio
Full text linkAt first glance, Curculio is no different from other Plautine parasites. However, the uniqueness of this character lies not so much in his characteristics as in the way Plautus uses him on stage. Curculio disguises himself as the soldier, and by playing the role of servus currens, he takes on the role of a slave. Moreover, by reporting offstage conversations, he doubles as some of the other characters in the comedy. Curculio’s stage movement and its influence on the comings and goings of the other characters make one look at this character as the author of the structure of the entire comedy. Moreover, his rants about bankers and pimps make him the porte-parole of Plautus himself.At first glance, Curculio is no different from other Plautine parasites. However, the uniqueness of this character lies not so much in his characteristics as in the way Plautus uses him on stage. Curculio disguises himself as the soldier, and by playing the role of servus currens, he takes on the role of a slave. Moreover, by reporting offstage conversations, he doubles as some of the other characters in the comedy. Curculio’s stage movement and its influence on the comings and goings of the other characters make one look at this character as the author of the structure of the entire comedy. Moreover, his rants about bankers and pimps make him the porte-parole of Plautus himself
‘Etsi peccaui, sum tamen ipse tuus’. O elegii pokutnej Drakoncjusza (i słówko o pojęciu: barokowa ‘elegia’ pokutna)
Full text linkDracontius’s Satisfactio, though undoubtedly a prime example of a very complex literary work, is not really a work that cannot be properly described in generic terms. Upon consideration, the label ‘penitential elegy’ appears to be the most appropriate one, as it clearly indicates the major theme of the poem (the contrition of the sinner who acknowledges his sin above all before the God and, in the second place, before the Vandal king Gunthamund, to whom he pleads guilty to some not fully specified misdeed) as well as its metrical form. As for the latter, what is of particular relevance is not merely the fact that the piece is composed in elegiac couplets, but also that it is clearly written with an eye on Ovid the elegist. It is above all Ovid’s exilic motifs that Dracontius reuses throughout his poem, with special focus on Tristia II, imitated not so much through explicit verbal echoes, but rather through the general analogy of poetic situations in which the punished poet openly addresses his punisher, the princeps (Dracontius ostentatiously cites this ‘Ovidian’ word). At times, Dracontius happens to be no less provocative than Ovid was in apostrophizinghis powerful addressee, although adopting a protreptic tone (which naturally implies some sort of superiority to the literary ‘you’), he does not pose as an expert in poetry with blemish life, despite his musa iococa (as Ovid did), but as a ‘fellow-Christian’ (suppressing all doctrinal discrepancies between his own Catholicism and Gunthamund’s Arianism) and indeed: a ‘fellow-sinner’ who forgives his (royal) ‘brother’ and asks for forgiveness in return. Moreover, the penitential tone of the poem is also stressed by several references to the Psalms and in particular to the figure of King David doing penance, exactly as in the Polish Baroque penitential elegy. The generic label I have advocated throughout my article is, in fact, ‘borrowed from’ the students of Old-Polish poetry, who are virtually unanimous in recognizing Baroque penitential elegy as a separate literary subgenre. It is not my intention to argue against such conclusions, as the generic features indicated by those specialist are quite convincing (I myself have found them very helpful for my own research), yet what I do emphasize is the very fact that the term ‘elegy’ when referred to vernacular poetry is applied not strictly (it is not related to any specific meter) but rather metaphorically, as if merely pointing to a general ‘mood’ of a poem. In Latin poetry, however, ‘elegy’, meaning ‘automatically’ the elegiac distich, means also concrete intertextual associations, primarily with Ovid (precisely like in Dracontius’s Satisfactio). Hence, when used to describe Dracontius’s text, the label ‘penitential elegy’ reveals its full hermeneutic potential.Dracontius’s Satisfactio, though undoubtedly a prime example of a very complex literary work, is not really a work that cannot be properly described in generic terms. Upon consideration, the label ‘penitential elegy’ appears to be the most appropriate one, as it clearly indicates the major theme of the poem (the contrition of the sinner who acknowledges his sin above all before the God and, in the second place, before the Vandal king Gunthamund, to whom he pleads guilty to some not fully specified misdeed) as well as its metrical form. As for the latter, what is of particular relevance is not merely the fact that the piece is composed in elegiac couplets, but also that it is clearly written with an eye on Ovid the elegist. It is above all Ovid’s exilic motifs that Dracontius reuses throughout his poem, with special focus on Tristia II, imitated not so much through explicit verbal echoes, but rather through the general analogy of poetic situations in which the punished poet openly addresses his punisher, the princeps (Dracontius ostentatiously cites this ‘Ovidian’ word). At times, Dracontius happens to be no less provocative than Ovid was in apostrophizing his powerful addressee, although adopting a protreptic tone (which naturally implies some sort of superiority to the literary ‘you’), he does not pose as an expert in poetry with blemish life, despite his musa iococa (as Ovid did), but as a ‘fellow-Christian’ (suppressing all doctrinal discrepancies between his own Catholicism and Gunthamund’s Arianism) and indeed: a ‘fellow-sinner’ who forgives his (royal) ‘brother’ and asks for forgiveness in return. Moreover, the penitential tone of the poem is also stressed by several references to the Psalms and in particular to the figure of King David doing penance, exactly as in the Polish Baroque penitential elegy. The generic label I have advocated throughout my article is, in fact, ‘borrowed from’ the students of Old-Polish poetry, who are virtually unanimous in recognizing Baroque penitential elegy as a separate literary subgenre. It is not my intention to argue against such conclusions, as the generic features indicated by those specialist are quite convincing (I myself have found them very helpful for my own research), yet what I do emphasize is the very fact that the term ‘elegy’ when referred to vernacular poetry is applied not strictly (it is not related to any specific meter) but rather metaphorically, as if merely pointing to a general ‘mood’ of a poem. In Latin poetry, however, ‘elegy’, meaning ‘automatically’ the elegiac distich, means also concrete intertextual associations, primarily with Ovid (precisely like in Dracontius’s Satisfactio). Hence, when used to describe Dracontius’s text, the label ‘penitential elegy’ reveals its full hermeneutic potential
Modalidades de recepción plautina en los productos dramáticos audiovisuales: recepción directa, mediada y subterránea
Full text linkThis article offers a typology of modalities of reception based on the criteria of activity, (in) mediatedness and awareness, which aims to explain the presence of scenes and motifs with Plautinian parallels in the audiovisual dramatic products of the popular culture of our time: sitcoms, soap operas, quality drama… In some cases, a conscious reception, either direct or mediated, can be recognised. In many others, however, we are faced with possible cases of unconscious mediated reception, in which Plautinian materials, detached from their context and deprived of their authorial pedigree, seem to have become independent ingredients in the melting pot of the Western comic tradition, giving rise, so to speak, to an unconscious and subterranean Plautinian reception.This article offers a typology of modalities of reception based on the criteria of activity, (in) mediatedness and awareness, which aims to explain the presence of scenes and motifs with Plautinian parallels in the audiovisual dramatic products of the popular culture of our time: sitcoms, soap operas, quality drama… In some cases, a conscious reception, either direct or mediated, can be recognised. In many others, however, we are faced with possible cases of unconscious mediated reception, in which Plautinian materials, detached from their context and deprived of their authorial pedigree, seem to have become independent ingredients in the melting pot of the Western comic tradition, giving rise, so to speak, to an unconscious and subterranean Plautinian reception
Sfinga vortit barbare. Over Twenty-fiveYears of Student Theatre in Poznań
Full text linkStudents’ Classical Theatre Sfinga debuted with comedy Miles Gloriosus in 1997. Over the years they staged various plays of Plautus in order to prove themselves and their audience that certain themes and Plautine humour were not only still alive but also deeply emerged into the temporary culture. The main purpose of Sfinga has always been to familiarize their audience with Plautus and pay special attention to the care of ancient taste. The article discusses the following plays by Plautus: Miles Gloriosus, Amphitruo, Asinaria, Casina and Curculio. The authors present how, thanks to the available theatrical elements (costumes, music or scenography), Sfinga managed to make some performances take on new, fresh meanings, and others turned into musicals, burlesque or operetta.Students’ Classical Theatre Sfinga debuted with comedy Miles Gloriosus in 1997. Over the years they staged various plays of Plautus in order to prove themselves and their audience that certain themes and Plautine humour were not only still alive but also deeply emerged into the temporary culture. The main purpose of Sfinga has always been to familiarize their audience with Plautus and pay special attention to the care of ancient taste. The article discusses the following plays by Plautus: Miles Gloriosus, Amphitruo, Asinaria, Casina and Curculio. The authors present how, thanks to the available theatrical elements (costumes, music or scenography), Sfinga managed to make some performances take on new, fresh meanings, and others turned into musicals, burlesque or operetta
„Praworządność na wygnaniu”, czyli o nieprzemijającej aktualności pewnego Homerowego porównania
Full text linkIn one of his similes (Π 384–393), Homer noticed that Zeus is angry with people for breaking the law with unjust judgments (σκολιὰς κρίνωσι θέμιστας) and that was how they were driving justice away (ἐκ δὲ δίκην ἐλάσωσι). The author of the article compares this statement with observations made by Hesiod (Op. 224 sqq.), who devoted relatively great space to the issues of law and justice (Δίκη). Hesiod’s statements turn out to be timeless and are reflected even in the diagnosis of our contemporary political life. The author ends his considerations with a reminder of the myth of Dike in Aratus’ poem.In one of his similes (Π 384–393), Homer noticed that Zeus is angry with people for breaking the law with unjust judgments (σκολιὰς κρίνωσι θέμιστας) and that was how they were driving justice away (ἐκ δὲ δίκην ἐλάσωσι). The author of the article compares this statement with observations made by Hesiod (Op. 224 sqq.), who devoted relatively great space to the issues of law and justice (Δίκη). Hesiod’s statements turn out to be timeless and are reflected even in the diagnosis of our contemporary political life. The author ends his considerations with a reminder of the myth of Dike in Aratus’ poem
Duch Remusa, Romulus i Lemuria. Publiusz Owidiusz Nazo, „Kalendarz poetycki” 5, 419–492
Full text linkIn the Remus’ story, Ovid presents to us the origin of the Lemuria festival and the version of early Rome history in which Romulus is not guilty of his brother’s death. The poet stresses Romulus’ pietas in his brother and creates a pattern of Augustus’ worship of his father Caesar and Mars, the ancestor of the entire Roman people.In the Remus’ story, Ovid presents to us the origin of the Lemuria festival and the version of early Rome history in which Romulus is not guilty of his brother’s death. The poet stresses Romulus’ pietas in his brother and creates a pattern of Augustus’ worship of his father Caesar and Mars, the ancestor of the entire Roman people
Akustyka, mimetyka, estetyka, artykulacja: Grecy o głoskach języka
Full text linkThe paper contains a thorough examination of the criteria used by the ancient Greeks for defining, describing and classifying the phones of the language. References are made to works by Plato and Aristotle, as well as to the text of the Techne grammatike attributed to Dionysius Thrax. In the dialogues of Plato, and especially in the Cratylus, one can find the first categorical characteristics of different groups of phones, formulated in acoustic terms, as well as individual descriptions of the mimetic qualities of particular phones, based on either sound effects or articulatory features. In Poetics, Aristotle defined the phone as such, connecting it with the notion of voice characterized by indivisibility, ability to create a complex voice (i.e. a word) and exclusively human origin. In setting out three main classes of phones, he based their definitional criteria on their articulatory features (the contact of speech organs or lack of it) on the one hand, and on their phonetic and acoustic properties (audible voice), i.e. on sound distinctness manifesting itself in acoustic autonomy on the other. In the Techne grammatike, in turn, particular classes of phones were identified and defined by formulating the conditions in which they produce voice characterized by a definite – high or law – aesthetic value. Despite the absence of an articulatory criterion, Greek grammarians succeeded in distinguishing all basic classes of phones, although they constantly looked at phones through the prism of letters, which led to them confusing the phonetic level with the graphic one, and thus made it impossible to create a conceptual and terminological apparatus which would be the means appropriate for identifying and describing correctly the whole stock of Greek phones.The paper contains a thorough examination of the criteria used by the ancient Greeks for defining, describing and classifying the phones of the language. References are made to works by Plato and Aristotle, as well as to the text of the Techne grammatike attributed to Dionysius Thrax. In the dialogues of Plato, and especially in the Cratylus, one can find the first categorical characteristics of different groups of phones, formulated in acoustic terms, as well as individual descriptions of the mimetic qualities of particular phones, based on either sound effects or articulatory features. In Poetics, Aristotle defined the phone as such, connecting it with the notion of voice characterized by indivisibility, ability to create a complex voice (i.e. a word) and exclusively human origin. In setting out three main classes of phones, he based their definitional criteria on their articulatory features (the contact of speech organs or lack of it) on the one hand, and on their phonetic and acoustic properties (audible voice), i.e. on sound distinctness manifesting itself in acoustic autonomy on the other. In the Techne grammatike, in turn, particular classes of phones were identified and defined by formulating the conditions in which they produce voice characterized by a definite – high or law – aesthetic value. Despite the absence of an articulatory criterion, Greek grammarians succeeded in distinguishing all basic classes of phones, although they constantly looked at phones through the prism of letters, which led to them confusing the phonetic level with the graphic one, and thus made it impossible to create a conceptual and terminological apparatus which would be the means appropriate for identifying and describing correctly the whole stock of Greek phones