Title: Obscenity or taboo? : remarks on profanities in Juvenal and Martial
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2017, vol. 22, iss. 2, pp. 155-164
Extent
155-164
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2017-2-8
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/137628
Type: Article
Language
English
License: Not specified license
Abstract(s)
When examining obscene expressions and taboos in the Latin language, one cannot rely on the modern concepts of profanities or taboos at all, since the limits of obscenity were drawn much further than in our times, as it is sufficiently demonstrated by certain elements of the Roman culture. It is enough to mention the custom of hanging a phallic charm on babies' necks, or the fascini used to ward the evil away from conquering generals. In my paper, I deal with the appearance of themes and expressions that can be considered as obscene in the poems of Martial and Juvenal. In doing this, I have examined the graffiti-corpus found in the cities destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, being the most important contemporary source of these expressions. The analysis of these literary texts can bring us closer to revealing where the aforementioned limits were drawn in the Latin language of the 1st and 2nd century AD.
Keywords
Note
- The research has been developed with the support of MTA-SZTE Antiquity and Renaissance: Sources and Reception Research Group (TK2016-126) and the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
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[3] Courtney, E. (1980). A Commentary on the Satires of Juvenal. London: Athlone Press.
[4] Devecseri, G. (Transl.). (1958). Catullus költeményei. Budapest: Európa Könyvkiadó.
[5] DiBiasie, J. F. (2015). The Writings on the Wall: the Spatial and Literary Context of Domestic Graffiti from Pompeii. Dissertation Austin.
[6] Fay, E. W. (1907). Greek and Latin word studies. The Classical Quarterly, 1, 13–30. | DOI 10.1017/S0009838800004912
[7] Hallett, J. P. (1989). Female Homoeroticism and the Denial of Roman Reality in Latin Literature. Yale Journal of Criticizm, 3, 209–227.
[8] Henderson, J. (1991). The Maculate Muse: Obscene Language in Attic Comedy. New York – Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9] Howell, P. (1980). A Commentary on Book One of the Epigrams of Martial. London: Athlone Press.
[10] Ker, W. C. A. (Transl.). (1919). Martial: Epigrams. London – New York: Heinemann – Putnam.
[11] McKeown, J. C. (2010). A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities. Oxford: University Press.
[12] Messing, G. M. (1956). The Etymology of Lat. Mentula. Classical Philology, 51, 247–249. | DOI 10.1086/364076
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[15] Varone, A. (2002). Erotica Pompeiana: Love Inscriptions on the Walls of Pompeii. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
[16] Wallace, R. E. (2005). An Introduction to Wall Inscriptions From Pompeii and Herculaneum. Wauconda: Bolchazy-Carducci.
[17] Watson, L. C. (2012). Yvan Nadeau: A Commentary on the Sixth Satire of Juvenal (Rev.). Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2012.09.19 (retrieved 30.10.2017 from http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2012/2012-09-19.html).
[18] Weeber, K.-W. (1996). Decius war hier… Das Beste aus der römischen Graffiti-Szene. Zürich – Düsseldorf: Artemis & Winkler.
[19] Zaicz G. (Ed.). (2006). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó.