Song Exchange in Roman Pastoral (Trends in Classics) (Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes)

Agonistic or friendly song exchange in idyllic settings forms the very heart of Roman pastoral. It is also a key means of metapoetic stance-taking on the part of the long line of authors who have cultivated this “traditional” genre. The present book examines the motif of song exchange in Roman bucolic poetry under this double aspect: as a central theme with established or constantly forming sub-themes and paraphernalia (thus providing a comprehensive listing, description and analysis of such scenes in the totality of Roman literature), and as the locus where, thanks to its very traditionality, innovative generic tendencies are most easily expressed. Starting from Vergil, and continuing with Calpurnius Siculus, the Einsiedeln Eclogues and Nemesianus, the book focuses on how politics, panegyric, elegy, heroic and didactic poetry function as guest genres within the pastoral host genre, by tracing in detail the evolution of a wide variety of literary, linguistic, stylistic and metrical features. Song Exchange in Roman Pastoral......Page 4 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 Methodological Remarks: ‘Bucolic’ or ‘Pastoral’ Genre......Page 14 Theocritus and the Formation of a Bucolic Genre......Page 24 Post-Theocritean Bucolics: The Continuation of a Genre......Page 33 Vergil vs. Pre-Vergilian Pastoral: The Construction of the Roman Genre......Page 39 Post-Vergilian Pastoral: ‘Generic Expansion’......Page 48 Calpurnius Siculus......Page 49 Einsiedeln Eclogues......Page 57 Nemesianus......Page 59 Language and Style / the Term Callimachean – Neoteric: Methodological Remarks......Page 63 Aims of the Present Study: Defining Pastoral Song Exchange......Page 64 Corydon vs. Thyrsis in the Seventh Eclogue: Why Not a Draw?......Page 67 ‘Unpastoral Dispositions’ and Neoteric Defects......Page 70 Frigidity of Style and Character: Winter Imagery and τὸ ψυχρόν......Page 75 Gods, Goddesses and Daphnis the Referee......Page 79 Lucretius......Page 85 Neoteric Catchwords......Page 87 Trees, Plants and Roman Callimacheanism......Page 92 Lexical and Syntactic Options......Page 94 Conclusions......Page 98 Generic Issues in Vergilian Pastoral Again: The Third Eclogue......Page 100 The Cups and the Ecphrasis......Page 101 The Bickering Scene......Page 108 The Poetic Contest......Page 124 Eros......Page 125 The ‘Unfriendly Landscape’......Page 130 Eros ... Continued......Page 132 Last but not Least: the Puzzling Riddles......Page 133 The End of the Singing Match......Page 135 Conclusions......Page 137 The Poetics of Recusatio: The Eighth Eclogue......Page 138 The Dedication Part......Page 139 The Narrative Frame......Page 143 Damon’s Song......Page 146 Alphesiboeus’ Song......Page 157 Conclusion......Page 164 ‘An Epitome of Generic History’......Page 166 The Framing Narrative......Page 167 Mopsus’ Performance......Page 170 Menalcas’ Performance......Page 181 Closure......Page 192 Poetic Initiation Settings......Page 195 Conclusion......Page 196 Memory Destroyed: A Reading of the Ninth Eclogue......Page 197 The Preliminaries......Page 198 Song Exchange......Page 207 Linguistic Characterisation......Page 220 Conclusion......Page 224 Pastoral Hybridism: Poetics of Meta-language in Calpurnius Siculus’ Amoebaean Songs – Calp. 2......Page 226 The Prerequisites......Page 227 The Singing Match......Page 234 The draw......Page 248 Linguistic Realism......Page 250 Conclusion......Page 251 Pastoral Backgrounds – ‘Unpastoral’ Foregrounds: The Fourth Calpurnian Eclogue......Page 252 The Introductory Narrative......Page 253 The Song Exchange......Page 272 Diction and ‘Generic Novelty’......Page 288 Conclusion......Page 291 Epic Excellence in Pastoral: A Reading of the First Einsiedeln Eclogue......Page 293 The Introductory Setting......Page 294 Ladas’ Song......Page 301 Thamyras’ Song......Page 306 Conclusion......Page 308 Elegiac vs. Pastoral Again: Reading the Second Eclogue of Nemesianus’......Page 310 The Narrative Framing......Page 311 Idas’ Song......Page 316 Alcon’s Song......Page 326 Conclusion......Page 332 The Narrative Framing......Page 334 The Song Exchange......Page 339 Conclusion......Page 350 Bibliography......Page 352 General Index......Page 382

Agonistic or friendly song exchange in idyllic settings forms the very heart of Roman pastoral. It isalso a key means of metapoetic stance-taking on the part of the long line of authors who have cultivated this “traditional” genre. The present book examines the motif of song exchange in Roman bucolic poetry under this double aspect: as a central theme with established or constantly forming sub-themes and paraphernalia (thus providing a comprehensive listing, description and analysis of such scenes in the totality of Roman literature), and as the locus where, thanks to its very traditionality, innovative generic tendencies are most easily expressed. Starting from Vergil, and continuing with Calpurnius Siculus, the Einsiedeln Eclogues and Nemesianus, the book focuses on how politics, panegyric, elegy, heroic and didactic poetry function as guest genres within the pastoral host genre, by tracing in detail the evolution of a wide variety of literary, linguistic, stylistic and metrical features.

Annotation The term a ~pastorala (TM) designates a genre of European post-classical poetry which is strongly influenced by Vergila (TM)s Eclogues. In fact, the Eclogues function as the primary literary model for this post-classical poetic trend. The present study discusses a ~generic self-consciousnessa (TM) and a ~generic interactiona (TM) as motifs in the amoebaean eclogues of Roman pastorals. Yet this very objective presupposes the notion of a genre, a quite debated issue, especially in the case of pastorals Agonistic or friendly song exchange in idyllic settings forms the very heart of Roman pastoral. By examining in detail the evolution of a wide variety of literary, linguistic, stylistic, and metrical features, the present book focuses on how politics, panegyrics, elegy, heroic, and didactic poetry function as guest genres within the pastoral host genre, starting from Vergil and continuing with Calpurnius Siculus, the Einsiedeln Eclogues and Nemesianus.