T. Calpurnius Siculus: A Pastoral Poet in Neronian Rome (Trends in Classics) (Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes, 35)

__T. Calpurnius Siculus: A Pastoral Poet in Neronian Rome__ is the first ever detailed examination of the whole of Calpurnius' pastoral corpus in English. It aims to offer an overall picture of Calpurnius’ epigonal and generically transcending poetics and meta-poetics through a thorough comparative analysis of the generic interfaces between the bucolic host genre (as bequeathed to Siculus from Theocritus to Vergil) and various generic modes which operate in Calpurnius’ eclogues, such as epic, panegyric, elegiac, didactic/georgic. The analysis includes themes/motifs, intertexts and allusion, narrative sequences, diction and metre as well as meta-generic/meta-poetic signs, including Calpurnius' redirection and inversion of the Callimachean-neoteric poetological meta-language. The study’s interests also revolve around the ways in which Neronian ideology and imperial politics inform the pastoral narrative and often account for the formalistic change discerned as well as the manner in which Post-Classical diction functions as a targeted, self-conscious linguistic tell-tale of generic evolution. The book is intended for students or scholars working on or interested in Roman pastoral and its generic evolution as well as Neronian Literature. Contents 7 Introduction 11 The Poet (Dating and Origin) 11 The Poems 13 This is the Plot of the Calpurnian eclogues: 14 Aims / Objectives of the Present Study 15 Generic ‘Self–Consciousness’ / Generic ‘Tradition and Originality’ 17 Politics and Poetics 19 Part A: The Political Eclogues 1, 4, 7 23 Calpurnius 1 25 The Bucolic Frame 25 The Antrum as a Scene of Bucolic Narration 29 The Prophecy 32 Epic / Tragic Intertexts and Bucolic / Elegiac Models 34 Panegyric in the Years of the Quinquennium Neronis The Comet of 54 AD and its ‘Poetics’ 46 The Epilogue of the Pastoral Narrative 51 Linguistic Novelty and ‘Generic Transgression’ 53 Conclusion 55 Calpurnius 4 58 The Introductory Narrative 58 The Song–Exchange 77 Reception of the laudes principis–Closure 88 Diction and ‘Generic Novelty’ 93 Conclusion 95 Calpurnius 7 97 Framing Introduction 97 The Ecphrasis 107 The Reception of Corydon’s Account 118 Criticism of the Neronian Regime or not? 120 Inverting Scenes of Poetic Initiation? 123 The Language of the ‘Generic Evolution’ 125 Conclusion 127 Part B: Pastoral, Elegy, Comedy and the Georgics 131 Elegy and Comedy 131 Calpurnius 3 133 Methodological Remarks: Pastoral vs. Elegy 133 The Introductory Narrative 135 Lycidas’ Account of his Erotic Plight; Iollas’ Reaction 141 Lycidas’ Song 147 Werbung 149 Musical Excellence 150 Beauty 151 Wealth 152 Repentance 154 Gifts 155 Threats for Suicide 157 The Concluding Narrative 159 Menander’s Perikeiromene 160 Conclusions 162 Georgics 165 Calpurnius 5 167 Methodological Remarks and Caveats: the Notion of the Didactic Genre and Mode 168 ‘Didactic Intent’ – ‘Teacher–Student Constellation’ 171 ‘Didactic Intent’ – ‘Teacher–Student Constellation’ and Calp. 5 176 The Spring Manual 178 The Summer Manual 182 The Autumn and Winter Manual 187 Didactic Style and Arrangement–Patterns 189 ‘Poetic Self–Consciousness’ – ‘Poetic Simultaneity’ 192 ‘Poetic Self–Consciousness’ – ‘Poetic Simultaneity’ and Calp. 5 195 Pastoral Framings and Georgics Framed 196 A Dichterweihe–Setting? 199 Conclusion 201 Elegy and Georgics 203 Calpurnius 2 205 The Prerequisites 205 The Singing Match 212 The Draw 226 Linguistic Realism 227 Conclusion 229 Part C: Challenging the Very Structure of the Singing Match... 231 Calpurnius 6 233 A Singing Match off Stage 234 Past – ‘Generic Tradition’ vs. Present – ‘Generic Novelty’ 236 Bickering – Part One 237 The Stakes and their Ecphrases 245 The Location of the Singing Match 249 Bickering – Part Two 254 Closure Devices 258 Conclusion 259 General Conclusions 261 Bibliography 265 Index Locorum 283 General Index 317

T. Calpurnius Siculus:A Pastoral Poet in Neronian Rome is the first ever detailed examination of the whole of Calpurnius' pastoral corpus in English. It aims to offer an overall picture of Calpurnius’ epigonal and generically transcending poetics and meta-poetics through a thorough comparative analysis of the generic interfaces between the bucolic host genre (as bequeathed to Siculus from Theocritus to Vergil) and various generic modes which operate in Calpurnius’ eclogues, such as epic, panegyric, elegiac, didactic/georgic. The analysis includes themes/motifs, intertexts and allusion, narrative sequences, diction and metre as well as meta-generic/meta-poetic signs, including Calpurnius' redirection and inversion of the Callimachean-neoteric poetological meta-language. The study’s interests also revolve around the ways in which Neronian ideology and imperial politics inform the pastoral narrative and often account for the formalistic change discerned as well as the manner in which Post-Classical diction functions as a targeted, self-conscious linguistic tell-tale of generic evolution. The book is intended for students or scholars working on or interested in Roman pastoral and its generic evolution as well as Neronian Literature.

"This book, a comprehensive survey of T. Calpurnius Siculus' pastoral opus, focuses on the poet's seven eclogues, which are read primarily through the lens of generic evolution and interaction, in an attempt to establish his poetics and his epigonal generic profile. It also contextualizes the generic changes presented by his work into the socio-historical background within which he is operating, namely the political context of Neronian Rome."-- Provided by publisher