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Copyright of Philologus -- Zeitschrift für Antike Literatur und Ihre Rezeption is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Scholarship has drawn a contrast between modern uses of metalepsis (illogical transgressions of narrative levels), which are frequently assigned comic effects, and their ancient counterparts, which are deemed more serious. This article argues that in the case of authorial metalepsis, a way of expression presenting the narrator as bringing about the effects he describes, the comic potential was already discovered in antiquity. Case studies from Aristophanes, Plato, Horace, Juvenal, Ovid, and Lucian demonstrate how ancient authors use authorial metalepsis to evoke paradoxical scenes of interaction across different levels of representation that support a mocking presentation of other authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Poetica (0303-4178) is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Lucian's work De historia conscribenda not only presents reflections on how one should or should not write history, but also illustrates possible ways to represent the authorial activity of a historian (i. e. how one writes 'metahistory'). In this, two basic forms can be distinguished, both of which can be understood from a narratological perspective as metalepses. In the first case, the historian is represented as the direct originator of the action; in the second he acts as a mere observer, but one who moves spatially in and with his action. Both forms of statement stand within traditions of motifs that can be traced from antiquity through to the modern era; yet Lucian nonetheless makes an innovative contribution by inscribing value judgements into the motifs. The result is the suggestion that the historian fulfils the role of observer, while the role of originator turns out to be more apt for the poet than for the historian. This permits far-reaching conclusions to be drawn about the conception of poetry and historiography as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a fresh perspective on the representation of the Muse(s) in Pindar. Two recent studies addressing this issue have argued for a clear distinction between the epinikia and the cult songs. This paper aims to reassess this approach and to offer a different perspective on the problem, focusing on the metaphors applied to the relationship with the Muse(s). While the image as drawn by Kantzios and Maslov emerges as simplistic, some of the metaphors can be linked to the given genre because they are based on analogies to the context of performance, which also enhance the cognitive effect of the poems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gregory of Nazianzus is an important case study for the development of autobiography, not only because he is one of the first Christians to write extended autobiographical texts, but also because he does so in verse. This paper addresses two interwoven questions: which strategies does Gregory employ in his autobiographical poems in order to create credibility for his literary self, and which of the motifs that he uses are innovative or specific to his autobiographical poetry? I suggest that Gregory constructs credibility mainly through his relationships with different entities (persons, objects, ideas ...) represented in the poems. In some of the relationships (e.g., with his opponents) one can find clear parallels with pagan poets while in others, specifically Christian elements come into play (sometimes blended with pagan traditions). Gregory's most original idea appears in his relationship with his medium of communication, where one can find a justification for poetic autobiography as a genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mnemosyne is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although using Homeric verses, the narrator of the Homeric Centos shows a markedly higher degree of inner involvement than the narrators of the Iliad and Odyssey. With this tendency, the Centos follow the development of the epic genre, in which overt narrating becomes more and more common after Homer. More specifically, the intrusions of the narrator into the narrative establish a link to Latin biblical epic, where similar phenomena can be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]