Juvenal
10/24/24 • 14 min
In this episode, we tackle Juvenal, whose sixteen satires influenced libertines, neoclassicists and early Christian moralists alike. Conservative to a fault, Juvenal’s Satires rails against the rapid expansion and transformation of Roman society in the early principate. But where his contemporary Tacitus handled the same material with restraint, Juvenal’s work explodes with vivid and vicious depictions of urban life, including immigration, sexual mores and eating habits. Emily and Tom explore the idiosyncrasies of Juvenal’s verse and its handling in Peter Green’s translation, and how best to parse his over-the-top hostility to everyone and everything.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Remembering Peter Green
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/september/peter-green-1924-2024
Claude Rawson: Blistering Attacks
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n21/claude-rawson/blistering-attacks
Clare Bucknell & Colin Burrow: What is satire?
https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/on-satire-what-is-satire
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, we tackle Juvenal, whose sixteen satires influenced libertines, neoclassicists and early Christian moralists alike. Conservative to a fault, Juvenal’s Satires rails against the rapid expansion and transformation of Roman society in the early principate. But where his contemporary Tacitus handled the same material with restraint, Juvenal’s work explodes with vivid and vicious depictions of urban life, including immigration, sexual mores and eating habits. Emily and Tom explore the idiosyncrasies of Juvenal’s verse and its handling in Peter Green’s translation, and how best to parse his over-the-top hostility to everyone and everything.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Remembering Peter Green
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/september/peter-green-1924-2024
Claude Rawson: Blistering Attacks
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v02/n21/claude-rawson/blistering-attacks
Clare Bucknell & Colin Burrow: What is satire?
https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/on-satire-what-is-satire
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Tacitus
The Annals, Tacitus’ study of the emperors from Tiberius to Nero, covers some of the most vivid and ruthless episodes in Roman history. A masterclass in political intrigue (and how not to do it), the Annals features mutiny, senatorial backstabbing, wars on the imperial frontiers, political purges and enormous egos. Emily and Tom explore the many ambiguities that make the Annals rewarding, as well as difficult, reading and discuss Tacitus’ knotty style and approach to history.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Mary Beard: Four-Day Caesar
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v26/n02/mary-beard/four-day-caesar
Anthony Grafton: Those Limbs We Admire
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n14/anthony-grafton/those-limbs-we-admire
Shadi Bartsch: Fratricide, Matricide and the Philosopher
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n12/shadi-bartsch/fratricide-matricide-and-the-philosopher
Mark Ford: The Death of Petronius
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v30/n24/mark-ford/the-death-of-petronius
Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Apuleius
Apuleius’ ‘Metamorphoses’, better known as ‘The Golden Ass’, is the only ancient Roman novel to have survived in its entirety. Following the story of Lucius, forced to suffer as a donkey until the goddess Isis intervenes, the novel includes frenetic wordplay, filthy humour and the earliest known version of the Psyche and Cupid myth. In this episode, Tom and Emily discuss Apuleius’ anarchic mix of the high and low brow, and his incisive depiction of the lives of impoverished and enslaved people.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Peter Parsons: Ancient Greek Romances
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v03/n15/peter-parsons/ancient-greek-romances
Leofranc Holford-Strevens: God’s Will
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v25/n10/leofranc-holford-strevens/god-s-will
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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