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The collection of synonymous plant names added to Dioscorides’ De materia medica between the 2nd and the 5th centuries CE contains many glosses in different languages. Among them are seven plant names attributed to the Syrians. The main aim of the paper is to re-examine whether they are of Aramaic origin. Consideration is also given to the possible occurrence of these plant names in other Greek sources and to the botanical identification of individual names. As a result, the paper shows that five plant names can be treated as Aramaic: ἁρμαλά ‘rue (Ruta graveolens L.)’ (Jewish Aramaic ḥrmltʾ ‘wild rue’, Mandaic harmal ‘rue’, Arabic ḥarmal ‘wild rue’), βησσασά ‘rue (Ruta graveolens L.)’ (Jewish Aramaic baššāš, baššāšā ‘wild rue’; Syriac baššāšā, bšwšʾ ‘id.’), λαλλαβιάρια ‘white bryony (Bryonia dioica Jacq.)’ (Syriac ʾālepšrā ‘white bryony’), λοῦφαν ‘a kind of arum (especially Arum maculatum L. and Arum palaestinum Boiss.)’ (Aramaic *lûpā ‘Solomon’s lily’, reconstructed on the basis of the Mishnaic Hebrew lôp or lûp ‘id.’; cf. Syriac lāwpā [or lūpā?] ‘perh. pellitory, parietary; dragon arum; peeled barley’; Arabic lūf ‘sponge gourd; dragon arum’), and σασά ‘white lily (Lilium candidum L.)’ (Jewish Aramaic sôsaʾn, šwšnh ‘lily’, Syriac swsn ‘id.’). The etymology of the Syrian glosses ἀδοριού ‘sea carrot (Daucus carota var. drepanensis [Arcang.] Heywood) or sekakul (Malabaila secacul [Mill.] Boiss.)’ and μεούδα ‘sea beet (Beta vulgaris var. maritima [L.] Arcang.)’ is unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article falls within the field of studies of the aspect-tense system of Latin. It is a case study that deals specifically with the use and meanings of the pf. act. indicative and the impf. act. indicative of the verb amāre ‘to love’, which is seen as the prototypical verb for the category of stative (or non-dynamic) verbs. Using this verb as an example, this paper attempts to show that the lexical-semantic classification of verbs proposed by Vendler (1957) and still widely used today – albeit after various modifications – is not entirely suitable for Latin. The aim of this paper is thus not to report on how one particular verb (amāre) behaves, but rather to point out the methodological problems in the existing account of Latin aspect, which not only needs to be much more rigorously based on the description of the interrelations between grammatical devices and the lexical semantics of verbs, but also must work with a much more refined classification than that at the level of +/− dynamicity, +/− telicity, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the use of performative verbs meaning “I beg, I ask” and pragmatic markers meaning “please” in the 6th-century Liber vitae patrum by Gregory of Tours. It discusses the frequency of each verb and the possible factors that may have influenced its selection, such as imitation of previous authors, the social status of the communication agents, the requested things, and any difficulty in fulfilling the request. For example, the fact that the highest frequency was found for quaeso (which was perceived as an archaism already in Cicero’s time) suggests that Gregory followed the model of learned men from the 4th and 5th centuries CE who “resuscitated” this verb after its decline in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The paper also examines other additional devices, such as a formula with digneris, and forms of address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reconstruction of history and traditions linked to Aeolian identity in Asia Minor, concentrating on the archaiologiai and other mythical accounts about the Aeolian cities and with a primary focus on creating and reconstructing Kyme's history. The origins of these poleis are connected with the so-called "Aeolian migration", whose tradition is reported by Herodotus (1.149-151) and Strabo (13.1.3): this account is linked to the origins of Kyme too and it is based on the Aeolian founders who landed on the new territory, previously populated by an autochtonous ethnos (Pelasgians). The literary sources attest another account concerning the origins of this polis, which is based on the role of the Amazons (who represent the "otherness") as founders and eponymous of the city (Hecat., FGrHist 1 F226; Strabo 11.5.4; 12.3.21; 13.3.6; Mela 1.18.90; Steph. Byz., s.v. Κύμη). The identity of the Aeolians in Asia Minor alternatively is constructed on these traditions, which are interpreted by modern scholars as piece of "intentional and perceived history": such accounts would be a literary creation, composed of the memories and perceptions of the Aeolian ethnos, who needed to represent its origins at certain moment of its history. Following the current historiographical methodologies, this paper will examin the literary sources about the foundation stories and mythical accounts relating to the Aeolian city of Kyme and will try to give a reconstruction of its history and identity. Moreover, considering a wider perspective, the paper will focus on the creation of early historiographical representations of Aeolians' past and will investigate the mechanisms with which the Aeolian history and identity have been elaborated by the ancient authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly presents the few ancient testimonies connecting Livy to Thucydides, and the more numerous Thucydidean echoes found in Livy by modern scholars. It then explores the allusions to Thucydides in Livy’s account in Books 24 and 25 of the Roman siege of Syracuse in 213–212. There are several more or less secure echoes of Thucydides, but Livy chose to compose a less Thucydidean account than he could have. There may be some reversals of Thucydidean model situations, and if so, they consistently follow a pattern: Livy’s Syracusans continuously play the part of Thucydides’ Athenians and Livy’s Romans always perform better than Thucydides’ Greeks did. It is suggested that this was a means by which Livy intended to ensure his readers that this siege would end in Roman victory and to suggest the superiority of his own account over that of the Peloponnesian War’s historian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Index scriptorum listed at the end of volume VII of the Grammatici Latini edited by Heinrich Keil (1855–1880) includes four quotations of Cassius Severus, a Roman rhetor who lived during Augustus’ and Tiberius’ reigns. Not all these four fragments (two of which are quoted two times, by two different authors) have a place in Cassius Severus’ modern editions. For this reason, in this paper, even if we cannot always conclude that we are actually dealing with Cassius Severus’ fragments, we will offer an analysis of these previously rather neglected quotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the outcomes of research on elementary Latin grammar textbooks called Donati – or Donatus-based grammars –, which were written/compiled or printed and also used in the upper part of the Kingdom of Hungary (roughly corresponding to present-day Slovakia) in the period between approximately the second half of the 17thcentury and the middle of the 19thcentury. The textbooks fall into two categories: 1) bilingual textbooks originally written by Johannes Rhenius, compiled and printed in Upper Hungary, as well as those that accurately reflected his bilingual concept; and 2) multilingual textbooks that only loosely followed Rhenius’ model and were compiled by Pavel Doležal (1700–1778) and modified again by Imre Dunay (1767–1838). The research aimed first at identifying all bi- and multilingual editions of the given type. In terms of methodology, this research balanced on the boundary between philology and retrospective bibliography. In addition to the primary focus, this research additionally explored areas that emerged in the context of the specific region of Upper Hungary: the changing social-historical, religious, and pedagogical environment in which these textbooks were created and to which they were adapted. In doing so, the article also clarifies the cross-linguistic contexts and selected intertextual relationships into which these texts entered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradox of hedonism is arguably one of the most powerful anti-hedonist arguments. This argument tells us that, because it is self-defeating and irrational to single-mindedly pursue pleasure, pleasure cannot represent the only thing that directly makes us better off. We intend to show in this paper that some of the main elements in Epicurus' ethical position enable him to avoid the negative conclusion of this paradox. We also argue that central claims of the Cyrenaics' hedonism - specifically that only the experience of present pleasure has intrinsic value, and that we should pursue whatever brings pleasure now - make their ethical position especially vulnerable to this paradox. In conclusion, we argue that the fact that Epicurus can, while the Cyrenaics cannot, cope with the paradox of hedonism clearly represents a favorable characteristic of his ethical position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to reveal the specifics of spatial perception among the Greeks of the 8th century BC in terms of the mental reconstruction of imaginary mythical space by way of an example of their representation of the spatial direction of the west. The first part of our research is devoted to a consideration of the problem of the perception of the extreme west as a source of danger to the world order and the analysis of mental spatial images performing the function of psychological defense. In the second part of the paper, the opposite qualitative characteristics of the west as mythical space in its interconnection with mythical time are considered. We have thus attempted to demonstrate ambivalence in the perception of the west inherent in people with mythological thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present a new perspective on the religious function of the Latin adjectives cretatus (whitened with chalk) and calidus (having a white spot on the forehead). The researchers of Roman religion have attributed to the former a specific role. Whitening chalk was used to cover any imperfections in the appearance of the sacrificial animal. According to them, cretatus could also have a pejorative meaning. The author of the article, however, disagrees with this view and suggests to examine more closely the context in which the adjective was used and references to the white colour of the victims. He argues for a different, positive interpretation, namely that the adjective cretatus was used to indicate the effect of a ceremonial act intended to emphasise Roman piety. In the case of the other adjective, calidus, the examination of the context in which the word appeared proves that it most likely did not serve as a technical religious term and animals with a white spot on their foreheads were not considered pars pro toto as white victims in Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversations can reveal the shifting nature of power relations between speaking characters. Especially in epic tradition, which includes a high proportion of speech and hence speech exchanges, the different characteristics of a character's speeches across similar scenes allow for different evaluations of their effect on the interlocutors. This paper focuses on the presentation of Athena's (and consequently her interlocutors') role in a number of divine councils (Iliad, Odyssey and Argonautica) by examining her words both in terms of the speech mode used and its particular style as well as the various types of power incorporated. Her repeated presence in councils shows her use of different speech elements in her talking through which she either foregrounds or challenges the type of power she possesses in her relations with others. These speech and power-related elements affect her characterisation and reveal her dynamic textual role across epics. Intertextual and intratextual links within epic tradition disclose more clearly the variability of relational speech and power patterns across a character's words and their consequences for the shaping of the speaking character's role in a given scene and across similar scenes within the epic genre, which retrospectively have an impact on the ultimate narrative end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imagery still plays a crucial role in a world of various languages and dialects. However, during the Middle Ages, when the masses were illiterate and the outside world often unknown and incomprehensible, images and visuality created a safe and coherent support for those who witnessed it. Iconography as a mode of non-verbal communication was often used by the Church, but people communicated among themselves through images, too. One of the popular modes of visual communication in the Middle Ages were badges - small objects, usually made to be worn pinned to the front of clothing or hats, or suspended. The badges existed in both the religious and secular spheres of human life and were meant to communicate an individual's personal or business affiliations, religious beliefs or even jokes. The following paper will focus on the religious badges using the example of the pilgrim badges of Wilsnack. It will analyse the levels on which these badges communicated not only visually, but also as indirect mediators of information, agents of private conversations with God and saints, and as tools of surprising unification of pilgrims during the times of Wilsnack controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a letter to his friend Burgundio (Sidon. epist. 9.14), who was about to write a laus Caesaris, Sidonius Apollinaris drew up a short list of the works written on Caesar that Burgundio had to face: scripta Patavinis, opera Svetonii, ephemeris Balbi, and finally a Iuventii Martialis historia. If the mention of Livy, Suetonius, and Balbus is not surprising, the name Iuventius Martialis (or Vivencius in the Parisinus Latinus 9551) raises some problems: first the identification and, subsequently, the nature of his work on Caesar. Following an ancient hypothesis of identification as Quintus Gargilius Martialis, this paper aims to discuss this suggestion by placing it in the political and cultural context of the end of the Severan age, during the reign of Severus Alexander. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a new interpretation of Ar. Nub. 554. The aim is to stress the dependence of the expression ἐκστρέψας ... κακὸς κακῶς on a principle of ancient literary criticism here called the "poetic identity principle", based on the overlap between the author's nature and the content of his work. This dependence has been neglected until now. Therefore, I shall prove the principle is present in the line by first analysing the structure of the sequence in which the line is found (518-559) and then comparing l. 554 to other of Aristophanes' loci. Moreover, I shall argue that Aristophanes usually recalls the principle to build negative and positive poetic paradigms: such a principle may also concern the author himself within his own work, which had not been noticed before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to reveal the specifics of a perception of calendar time among the Greeks of the 8th century B.C. Through an analysis of iconographic sources and original texts, we have made an attempt to determine the peculiarities in their perception of the flow of time, changing of the seasons, and annual circulation of time. By studying the imagery as it is shown in the pottery decoration of the Protogeometric and Geometric periods, we have come to the conclusion that the symbols depicted in it were reflected in the representations about calendar time as connected to the natural environment and alteration in the surrounding space in accordance with the annual changes in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maenads in pop culture are usually women with a strong eroticism, distinguished by sexual addiction and pure lust, malice, and murders. However, the maenads in Ancient Greek iconography and drama were completely different, not connected to the sexual sphere or to the manipulation of men. Ancient Greek maenads preserve their chastity, and their task is to honor Dionysus with dances and rites. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the common thread that has led to this contemporary sexual and gloomy distinctive characterization of maenads in modern media and to understand where this dark vision of maenadism comes from. The stages on this journey through times past are the Bacchanalia scandal (186 B.C.), the black legend of Messalina, some cases of Christian condemnations, and the conception of maenads during the Renaissance and Victorian Hellenism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine in Cicero's oratory speeches the criticisms of his opponents regarding either their lack of erudition or their poor intellectual abilities. From our viewpoint, this original locus of invective is closely linked to the consolidation of a new intellectual nobilitas at the end of the Roman Republic and is especially relevant in the context of Cicero's return from exile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the topic of Christian Goths in Constantinople, who, at the turn of the 4th to the 5th century, played an important role in the history of religious matters in the city. A significant part of these were of Arian confession, which was forbidden as heresy from the ascension of Theodosius I. Thanks to the Nicene Christian authors who actively fought Arianism, we are able to reconstruct the development of the Arian Gothic community in Constantinople and its most distinguished members. The topic of Nicene Goths in Constantinople will be presented in a follow-up paper, to be published in the next issue of Graeco-Latina Brunensia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among various reform impulses in the 15th century, the preaching of John of Capistrano, a famous Franciscan friar and an ardent preacher, played an important role in spreading strict observance and orthodoxy. During his tour through Central and Eastern Europe, which he undertook between 1451 and 1456 in the last years of his life, John exchanged several hundred letters (ca. 400) with the people in the countries through which he travelled. These then constitute an unparalleled corpus illustrating the history of Europe in the late 15th century (Mixson 2018: p. 23). After the publication of letters related to Poland (Kras 2018b) and the upcoming volume illustrating Hungarian matters, an edition of the correspondence between John of Capistrano and various people from Bohemia and Moravia is currently under preparation. These letters (ca. 150) include - among others - a group of two dozen polemical letters that John of Capistrano exchanged with the Hussite "heretics". This paper analyses one of the sharpest polemics, written by John of Borotín to John of Capistrano on 20 August 1451, by presenting its critical edition together with an English translation of the Latin text, as well as by resolving the question of the authorship attribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Graeco-Latina Brunensia is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts 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.)

For modern readers and viewers, the theater of ancient Rome is like a puzzle with many missing pieces or pieces that are very difficult to fit together. Even so, against all odds, some crucial pieces have been preserved: the dramatic texts (only a few). These texts were the theatrical scripts for performances that people on holiday in Rome over 2,000 years ago watched at wood stages. And if, on the one hand, philology appears as the science that studies these "pieces" and tries to unravel how to solve the puzzle, on the other hand, translation studies may encourage us to draw a possible image that could fit into that puzzle screen. In this complicated game of creating a new picture, I propose an exercise to reimagine one of these texts. In this paper, I intend to present some outlines of my ongoing verse translation of the comedic play Poenulus by Plautus (c. 250-184 BCE) into Brazilian Portuguese. I will talk in particular about the translation of the iambic senarii into Alexandrine lines, arguing that we can follow the 19th-century Portuguese-speaking theatrical tradition of composing and translating comedies into Alexandrine lines. With respect to the trochaic septenarii, I will outline a proposal for translating it as a composed verse, which we can call bi-heptasyllable. To conclude, I will present a translation of Poen. 53-54 to address some issues and possibilities that a textual lacuna can bring regarding the title of the play and its translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents ancient Roman texts dealing with the topic of same-sex weddings with the purpose of examining the reliability of these sources and contributing to the understanding of this element of the ancient tradition. In order to do so, this paper takes literary and historiographical sources and legal aspects into consideration, making use of research by Craig Williams, Bruce Frier, and Michael Fontaine. Apart from a Late Imperial constitutio, our most important sources are historiographical works on two emperors of scandalous reign, namely Nero and Elagabalus; Juvenal's Satire 2; and two epigrams by Martial: 1, 24 and 12, 42. In the closing section of the paper, I suggest a new interpretation for the punchline of the latter poem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Graeco-Latina Brunensia is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts 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.)

Expressions such as 'misogyny' and 'anti-feminist' appear again and again in papers dealing with Juvenal's almost 700-line-long Satire 6, where they are used not only to describe the text itself, but also its narrator and, in some cases, the poet himself. Accordingly, the misogynistic disposition of Satire 6 is a well-discussed feature of the poem. To (re)examine this question, I approach the text by focusing on the targets of the invective - that is, the women listed as deterrent examples for the addressee Postumus - and by comparing the Juvenalian narrator's attitude towards women to the treatment of homosexuals and foreigners in the Satires in order to prove that while Satire 6 has strong misogynistic features, the Juvenalian narrator cannot and should not be considered as a misogynistic character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pella curse tablet contains the word ΔΑΓΙΝΑ. This paper proposes to treat it as an etymological cognate of the gloss θήγεια, which we owe to Hesychius. If this is true, we may interpret the Theocritean hapax δαγῦς as a Macedonian loan word. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the life and works of Ctesias of Cnidus, a Greek physician living at the Achaemenid court during the reign of Artaxerxes II. Ctesias was the author of the important work on Persian history, customs, and court life called Persica. He spent many years in the Achaemenid Empire and summarized his experience and studies in his seminal work. Persica was a very influential discourse on Persia in antiquity even though Ctesias had a notoriously poor reputation. The core of the problem is the veracity of Ctesias' account, his claims of the usage of Persian sources, and his life in the Achaemenid Empire in general. Our main goal is to find possible answers to the stories circulating about his life in the Achaemenid Empire. Later authors criticized Ctesias for telling lies and promoting himself in the books. We will discuss how legitimate their approach is and whether the reputation of Ctesias is deserved. The problem will be studied in three chapters. In the first part of the article, we will take a closer look at the life of Ctesias. We will study the possible reasons for his departure to Persia, how he later managed to work for the King, what occupation and position he held at the court, which places in the Achaemenid Empire he visited and why he left the court. In the second part, we will focus on the sources of his works. Their nature and content varied greatly and influenced his writings differently. In the last part, we will focus on Ctesias' possible knowledge of one or more of the languages spoken at the court. Foreign words also appear in his works and the list of them will be a part of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses strategies of negotiating Roman control over Athens in a contested political sphere during the first century BCE. It explores the language in Athenian political discourse, political reactions to Roman power, and the ideological grounds for decision-making in the pre- and post-Sulla periods, tracing continuity in practices and focusing on the iconographical choices of the New Style coinage of Mentor and Moschion. To that end, it examines the different articulations of power as manifested at a symbolic level; it traces reforms in Athenian civic narratives in a period of increasing Roman activity in the East; it highlights links between Athenian cultural memory and decision-making during this period; finally, it explains the ways the embedded, new narratives were disseminated. The evidence shows significant political fluidity in first-century Athens and mirrors the political elites' understanding of the role of the past and the need for constructing new political narratives depending on circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the poetic function of mousikē in Euripides' Cyclops. The plot unfolds through flashes of playful utterances that relate to Greek song culture. Each of these subversively pokes fun at the dichotomy between the civilised and the uncivilised. Forms of and references to choreia and mousikē, embedded in the performative context of the satyr-drama, function on two levels: on the level of plot (traditional myth put on stage), they constitute a weapon against the giant; on the level of community and emotions, they reveal that, by the end of the 5th century, protection offered by culture becomes vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-three manuscripts preserve the complete text of Plato's Laches. Three of them, Vindobonensis Suppl. gr. 7 (siglum W), Lobcovicianus (Roudnice VI Fa 1; siglum L) and Vaticanus graecus 1029 (R), belong to the same family, i.e. the third family. Despite previous discussion, today the date of the most ancient section of W is assigned to saec. XI. The independence of this manuscript in the first seven tetralogies was stated for the first time by Josef Král in 18921 and the other manuscripts of its family derive - directly or indirectly - from it. This paper will give an overview of the extant manuscripts of the third family and investigate the mutual relationships between them, as they result from the collation of all thirty-three manuscripts of the Laches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blepsidemus is associated with the comic figure of the bomolochos, as he serves as a ludicrous counterpoint for Chremylus in his debate with Poverty. But the moment in which Blepsidemus demonstrates all of his potential as a dramatic character occurs during the previous scene to the agon (vv. 332-414), when he takes part in a dialogue with his friend. This was highlighted as the only example of quiproquo ("misunderstanding") in Aristophanes' plays. The aim of this paper is to explore the aesthetic efficacy of its composition and its semantic impact on the comedy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the turn of the 4th and 5th century the Goths represented a significant minority in Constantinople. Many of them were Christians of several confessions and apart from the Arian Goths and Psathyrians, we recognize Nicene believers there as well. They actively cooperated with representatives of the Episcopal see, especially with John Chrysostom and his companions, who vigorously Christianized barbarians inside and outside of the Empire. At the same time, the Constantinopolitan agents of the Church tried to convert the heretical barbarians to Nicene Christianity. This paper deals with the topic of Nicene Christian Goths in Constantinople and their interaction with representatives of the Nicene church. The topic of Arian Goths in Constantinople was presented in the previous issue of Graeco-Latina Brunensia (Jurík 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we try to analyse the role played by Julia Domna in the governments of Septimius Severus and Caracalla. Women in Rome, regardless of their social status, could not participate in the government. However, in the case of the Lepcian princeps' wife, that historiography has considered her to have interfered in government affairs is justified by the material and literary testimonies that mention her. On the basis of the main references in Cassius Dio, Herodian and the Historia Augusta, we will research whether the Augusta participated directly in imperial decisions or whether, on the contrary, her role was representative, and she was just another instrument of the Severan dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The didactic epos Φαινόμενα καὶ Διοσεμεῖα by Aratus of Soloi was very popular among the Romans. Thus, it was translated into Latin by several Roman authors including Marcus Tullius Cicero and Germanicus Iulius Caesar. The aim of this paper is to find out whether these two authors only translated the information contained in Aratus' text or whether they also managed to imitate the didactic tone of the poem. Did both translators manage to play their roles as teachers? Did they try to make the lectures more interesting and perhaps to interact with the reader? Or did they minimize the didactic aspects of the epos and concentrated on other features of the text? The main goal of my paper is to analyse the ways in which Cicero and Germanicus applied the features of the didactic poetry genre in their translations. This includes a comparison of these with Aratus' text and with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A guide of an underworld tour is one of the significant features in medieval visionary literature as well as in ancient catabases and Jewish-Christian apocalyptic. It represents an archetype and universal motif of many otherworld journeys through the centuries and cultures. This paper based on a huge collection of sources investigates this topos in medieval visionary accounts composed between the 6th and 13th century. Here the most frequent appearing guide figure is an angel, especially an archangel or a guardian angel. In many other visions a saint holds the role of an instructor and protector. It is almost always possible to find a closer relation between the saint and the visionary - a kind of patronage (personal or local patron). The third usual guide type represents a human connected to the visionary with a spiritual bond (confrère, superior) or a blood relationship (family member). This paper introduces a short characteristic of these three basic otherworld guides and offers a list of all visionary records from the mentioned period including this figure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares two fairy tales The Golden Trunk and The Padlock from the collection Pentamerone by G.B. Basile and the Tale of Cupid and Psyche from the Apuleius' Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass) according to a morphological analysis of functions (Propp 1968) and according to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther classification system (Uther & Disinlage 2004). My analysis is based on Canepa (2007: pp. 169, 199, 399, 404), translator of the English version of Basile's Pentamerone, who maintains that four of the fairy tales in this collection contain Cupid and Psyche motifs and elements as well as Zipes (2000: p. 54), who includes these four fairy tales in the family of "Beauty and the Beast" tales. Following preliminary research, it was found that the structure of Tale of Cupid and Psyche is most similar to the Basile's fairy tales called The Golden Trunk and The Padlock, which is also confirmed by the Jacob Grimm's statement (1846: p. xi) and by comparative reading of A. Maggi (2015: pp. 25-27). In this paper, their findings are supported by the detailed structural comparison based on Propp's morphological analysis with the emphasis on the function of the Difficult Task which mostly links together the three key figures (the Villain, the Hero, and the Sought-For-Person) and which is considered crucial for the dynamics and theatrical potential of the tales where the function is present. The further studies will focus on this function, the acting figures and the performativity of fairy tales in Baroque Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to Theopompus and the story of Argonauts, the idea of a double Danube estuary spread throughout Greece in the 4th century BC. According to this idea, the river flowed into the Adriatic as well as the Black Seas. This paper adds several notes to this topic based on a contextual analysis of both Theopompus' report and one passage of a text by Pseudo-Aristotle. Based on these two texts, the paper highlights several factors that may have played a role in creating the idea of a Danube bifurcation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image of primary antiquity which is opposed to the present as a friendly and not yet spoiled state of things or unfriendly and not yet improved one is an important part of the poetic world of Tibullus. In these oppositions, a particular role is given to the idea of boundary, destructive and disintegrating or constructive and integrating, respectively. Thus, in this paper the images of primary antiquities are described and classified in accordance with how the idea of boundary is manifested in them. Specific realizations of the image of the primary antiquities bear marks of different poetic, philosophic or political traditions and systems. In this paper, the author does not discuss the origin of images as well as possible traces of Tibullus' changing ideology in them. However, the correlation of the image with the type, general pathos, and genre model of every specific poem is traced instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyse the aspects of temporality in Greek magical papyri. The research presented in this paper is divided into two conceptual parts. In the first part, the paper focuses on the question, which time (i.e. of the day/month/year) is the most suitable to perform the spell-ritual according to papyri-texts. In the second part, the paper deals with the question of duration with regard to the performance of spell-rituals. These questions are evaluated quantitatively by the means of the statistical analysis, which offers a more systematic and detailed understanding of the temporal dynamics in practice of magic in antiquity. A key source for this study was the Betz's edition of the Greek magical papyri (1986), compared to the Preisendanz's Papyri Graecae magicae: die griechischen Zauberpapyri (2001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No general agreement has yet been reached about the meaning and purpose of Plato's Menexenus. Two mutually exclusive readings have generally been given: Socrates' funeral oration could be either a parody and a satire of Athens' funeral speeches or an example of better, idealistic, maybe even philosophically grounded rhetoric. However, the problem does not only come from the dichotomy present in most scholars' works. It lies, instead, in the ambiguity of the text itself. This paper aims to clarify the serious implications that parody can have. Exemplarity and parody, irony and seriousness should not be considered as mutually exclusive because an imitation that seriously demonstrates how easy it is to write a good epitaph can be understood as a form of parody. In fact, Plato's Menexenus seems to be a school manifesto: it recalls Callicles' charges against the educational value of philosophical practices (Grg. 484c-485d). Therefore, it may be directed against Isocrates' conception of rhetoric as related to education and politics. The mention of the Peace of Antalcidas (245c) will then prove the topical and thus political character of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new perspective on Silius Italicus' alleged stoicism through an analysis of three episodes in his poem which deal with exemplary deaths: the execution of the so-called "smiling slave" (a Hispanic slave who bears his torments heroically, mocking his torturers, Sil.1.169--181), the death of Marcus Atilius Regulus at Carthage (Sil. 2.340--344; 2.435--436; 6.535--544), and the death of Lucius Aemilius Paullus at Cannae (Sil. 10.260--288). My argument is that in Silius' poem both Regulus' and the slave's deaths are modelled on similar passages in Seneca's oeuvre, while the description of Paullus' death, despite being modelled on Livy's account (Liv. 22.49.6--11), includes several philosophical (and especially Senecan) motifs, so that the consul of Cannae becomes a sort of stoic sapiens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his De errore profanarum religionum, Firmicus Maternus fiercely attacks the traditional cults of the Roman Empire as well as the mysteries, which he considers to be the invention of the devil and a complete perversion of Christian sacraments. This paper analyses the motif of blood in his work. A close reading of the text reveals that Firmicus applies dichotomic functions to the use of blood in ritual contexts, such as poison and remedy, purity and pollution, and salvation and damnation. These dichotomies serve two purposes for him: First, they allow him to construct clear boundaries between the pagan religion (deliberately constructed as 'one' system and suppressing its diversity) and Christianity as two opposing religious systems. Second, by turning the tables, they allow him to undermine the traditional conceptions concerning ritually used blood. Thus, he presents 'pagan' blood as being venomous, polluting, and only leading on the road to perdition, whereas only the blood of Christ truly has the power to heal, to cleanse, to redeem, and to grant eternal salvation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces synchronic formal opacity as a factor motivating semantic change on a par with cultural changes and pragmatic factors. The role of formal opacity in semantic change is investigated within the broader framework of lexicogenesis, i.e. the sum of processes that introduce new pairs of words and meanings in a linguistic system. In contrast to derivation, which introduces new pairs initially marked by formal and semantic transparency, semantic change can affect existing words that are formally and semantically opaque for those who acquire them. Opaque lexemes are described as unmotivated signs lacking a cue structure that would otherwise point speakers to the concepts labelled by them. This semiotic arbitrariness contrasts with motivated signs, that is morphologically transparent words that contain a recognized base morpheme cueing the concept they refer to. While focusing on this dichotomy in the lexicon of Ancient Greek, we argue that every novel derived word was initially motivated and contained a direct reference to the appropriate extra-linguistic concept. If a word ceased to be formally transparent, the motivation was lost, and the cue structure was effaced. The absence of cues enabled the acquirers to abstract any meaning reconcilable with the pragmatic context that, in turn, provided more space for semantic reanalysis. Besides this, semantic innovation effected by the speakers using words creatively was also influenced by the dichotomy between motivated and unmotivated signs. Whereas motivated words allowed speakers to exploit their structural and lexical semantics alike, the meanings of opaque words could be actively extended based only on their lexical semantics, since their structural meaning was inaccessible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has its starting point in the search for the causes of the very frequent presence of a possible monovalent predicate (fio) in the Peregrinatio Egeriae. The use of fio to present the development of repeated actions, often rituals, justifies its frequency -- especially in the second part of the work -- and, more specifically, the almost exclusive use of its passive factivity meaning. This fact is intrinsically linked to the use of the lexical or morphological passive to carry out this presentation of facts that usually constitute an entirely new piece of information from a pragmatic perspective, something that implies a determined order of constituents and the activation of an inversion mechanism, so that the majority sequence turns out to be Verb- -S(ubject). This reality is corroborated by the study of the behaviour of predicates with similar characteristics and functionality. Among other related reasons, the selection of the passive -- which has a pragmatic motivation and which is triggered as a textual cohesion device -- to present the verbal process from the point of view of the event itself is revealed as one of the most explanatory causes of the concrete reality present in the text under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the occurrences of the nickname ... ("Scourge of Homer") in Greek and Latin literature. In the singular form, the term occurs exclusively in reference to Zoilus of Amphipolis, Homeric critic of the 4th century BC and author of Against Homer's Poetry (...). An apparent exception is the use of the nickname referring to Zenodotus of Ephesus, which seems to be due to a scholiast's misunderstanding of Luc. pro Im. 24. The term occurs in the plural form three times. Among these three occurrences, one (Eust. Od. 1.301.29--31 Stallbaum) can be perhaps compared to a fragment of Zoilus' Homeric exegesis (schol. Hdn. vel ex. Il. 1.129a A), and as a result, it is possible to suggest that when Eustathius mentioned the anonymous .... he had Zoilus in mind as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the use of ... in place of ... in Eurpides' Alcestis, Electra, and Medea and Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus and Philoctetes. As the data reveal, ... functions as a strategy to both reinforce the speaker's I and blur the identity of the person or group associated with the speaker. Contrary to the claim of some scholars, ... does not seem to be particularly connected with female speech. In the analysed tragedies, ... tends to co-occur with expressions of non-actuality and may be interpreted as a deactualising device. Furthermore, the use of ... is linked to a pragmatic meaning of self-dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Greek - Latin - Slavic. Aspects of Linguistics and Grammatography" is a book review of a volume edited by Barbora Machajdíková and Ľudmila Eliášová Buzássyová. The book brings together nine scholars from different subfields of historical linguistics and covers a wide range of topics, languages, and eras. While the contributions are valuable, the book lacks a unifying framework and the chapters are thematically incoherent. The book originated from a conference that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The individual chapters focus on various aspects of linguistics and grammatography, including Latin grammar, Slavic language categorization, and ancient Greek material. The book provides valuable insights and contributions to their respective fields. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the use of the language of the eternal damnation as applied by Gregory, bishop of Tours, writing in the 6th century in Merovingian Gaul. Instead of trying to elucidate the bishop's views of hell in the light of what late antique Christian authors prior to him had written on that subject, this paper takes the writings of Gregory as a point of departure. Various types of people (who are regrouped around their religious creeds) which Gregory explicitly sees as damned are examined and the possible causes behind the application of the language of hell are adduced. The instances where Gregory chooses to refrain from the use of the language of damnation are given equal attention and the political limits of the application of the threat of hell are explored through the example of the Merovingian king Chilperic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greek Enlightenment, within the sphere of language, saw the first efforts to create a comprehensive Greek dictionary. This paper deals with Adamantios Korais, one of the most significant Greek scholars of that time, and his endeavours and ideas regarding the renewed lexicon. It also describes and compares a different approach to working on Greek vocabulary in the heyday of the national revival, represented by another eminent intellectual, Anthimos Gazis. The paper notes their individual principal motives, important predecessors, and particular intentions in creating dictionary, and provides a few examples of specific entries viewed differently by these two representatives of the Enlightenment. The approaches of the two scholars differ in their depth and utility; and the more linguistic versus the rather technically specialized contribution to the lexicography task of each will be outlined and confronted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'Mirrors for Princes' occurs in commonly used handbooks of Byzantine literature (H. Hunger). It denotes highly elaborated advisory works addressed to noble young men or even future emperors to instruct them on certain aspects of human conduct and on how to reign. This term, mentioned for the first time by Godfrey of Viterbo in the 12th century and imported by modern scholars from the literature of the western Middle Ages into the Byzantine milieu, was never used by the Byzantines themselves. Not only the foreign origin of the term, but also significant differences among particular writings classified as 'Mirrors for Princes' with respect to their literary form, language register, style, content, or purpose have made recent scholars question the application of this genre to Byzantine literature. Three main attitudes or approaches have arisen: the complete rejection of the term (P. Odorico); a search for new criteria enabling a more reasonable genre taxonomy (M. Mullett, Ch. Roueché, S. Papaioannou); and the formation of sub-categories within this genre to create more homogenous groups of literary works (G. Prinzing, D. Angelov). The presented paper pursues two main aims. The first is to describe the development of the application of the genre 'Mirrors for Princes' to Byzantine literature in modern scientific works; the second, after defining recent general trends in scholarly approaches to Byzantine literature, is to judge the impact of these approaches on the criteria of genre taxonomy with respect to this particular genre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Etruscan control in Italy was not constrained distinctly by the well-known region of Etruscan culture (Tuscany and northern Lazio). The Etruscan power also extended toward the southwestern areas (Campania) as well as to the northern parts of Italy (Po valley). The impact of Etruscan culture spread over the entire land. The essential wellsprings of the paper are represented by the ancient sources in Latin and Greek from different periods treating Etruscan culture and society. The ancient authors portrayed the high class of society intentionally. They planned to define Etruscans as pleasure-seekers that participated in the spectacular banquets. The truth of the matter, from an archaeological perspective, is that it was not completely real. Archaeobotanical and anthropological investigation demonstrates that the way of life of the vast majority of the Etruscan population was standardly modest. Comparison of ancient written sources with archaeological data proves that the ancient writers were one-sided, sometimes without a critical approach to the sources, which could cause the misconception of certain components of Etruscan culture. There could be several reasons why it was so. The main focus of this paper is the examination of these reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]