Recognizing Persius / Kenneth J. Reckford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reckford, Kenneth J., 1933-2021.

Series:

Martin classical lectures (Unnumbered). New series.

Martin classical lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Persius--Criticism and interpretation.

Persius.

Satire, Latin--History and criticism.

Satire, Latin.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Prologue : in search of Persius

Performing privately

Seeking integrity

Exploring freedom

Life, death, and art

Epilogue : from Persius to Juvenal.

Notes:

"A Princeton University Press e-book"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786613163646

9781283163644

1283163640

9781400830756

1400830753

OCLC:

741691338