Longus' Daphnis and Chloe. Literary Transmission and Reception

This essay contains a brief history of Longus' reception in literature from the re-discovery of the text in the Renaissance to modern times. Western Europe began to read Longus mostly in the 'artistic' translations of Jacques Amyot, Lorenzo Gambara, Angel Day, Annibal Caro, who did not usually confine themselves to a literal version of the Greek original, but inserted into the text much of their own work, inviting imitation within the genre: an immense number of pastoral romances inspired by or imitating Longus appeared since the middle of the sixteenth century throughout western Europe. After a temporary eclipse, which chronologically corresponds, in scholarship, with the severe judgement given by Huet (1670), Longus' vogue regained favour in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in a period of revival of pastoral fashion in every art. Meanwhile, Villoison\u2019s masterful edition (1778) had the merit of conveying a new awareness of this novelist's significance also in classical scholarship. Among the authors mostly influenced by Longus there are: R\ue9my Belleau, Tasso, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Goethe, George Sand, Mishima

Reading the 'Implied Author' in the De rerum natura

Much has been written on the ‘implied reader’ in Lucretius’ DRN. From G. B. Conte’s textually constructed reader to recent work on Lucretian receptions, Lucretius’ readers or their textual condition have received substantial scholarly attention. What remains largely undiscussed – and what has left generation upon generation of the poem’s readers spellbound – is not so much other readers of the DRN, but the elusive ‘author’ himself. Jerome famously claimed that Lucretius wrote the DRN between intervals of insanity brought on by a love potion, and increasingly wild biographies of Lucretius crop up again and again in the reception traditions of the poem – from death-bed hallucinations brought on by his wicked wife to his beautiful but unresponsive male paramour. Taking some of these biographies as its point of inspiration, this chapter uses the concept of the ‘implied author’ to investigate what exactly it is about Lucretius’ text that inspired and inspires such imaginative, but arguably still textually grounded, portraits of its author

Lucretius and the Philosophical Use of Literary Persuasion

The first part of this paper looks into the question of Lucretius’ philosophical sources and whether he draws almost exclusively from Epicurus himself or also from later Epicurean texts. I argue that such debates are inconclusive and likely will remain so, even if additional Epicurean texts are discovered, and that even if we were able to ascertain Lucretius’ philosophical sources, doing so would add little to our understanding of the De Rerum Natura. The second part of the paper turns to a consideration of what Lucretius does with his philosophical sources. The arguments within the De Rerum Natura are not original. Nonetheless, the way Lucretius presents these arguments establishes him as a distinctive philosopher. Lucretius deploys non-argumentative methods of persuasion such as appealing to emotions, redeploying powerful cultural tropes, and ridicule. These methods of persuasion do not undercut or displace reasoned argumentation. Instead, they complement it. Lucretius’ use of these methods is rooted in his understanding of human psychology, that we have been culturally conditioned to have empty desires, false beliefs, and destructive emotions, ones that are often subconscious. Effective persuasion must take into account the biases, stereotypes, and other psychological factors that hinder people from accepting Epicurus’ healing gospel

Arguing over Text(s): Master-Texts vs. Intertexts in the Criticism of Lucretius

Summary. There is a long history in Lucretian scholarship of finding conflict in the DRN between its philosophical content and its poetic form. Recent criticism has emphasized rather how the poem’s poetic form complements its Epicurean message. This chapter argues for important differences between literary and philosophical approaches to the poem, in particular with regard to its relationship with other texts, in order to identify some important differences in common modes of reading the poem. The chapter examines a ‘master-text’ model of reading, in which the DRN is related in strong fashion to another text on which it is dependent. The precise nature and identity of this ‘master-text’ can vary, according to the purpose or use to which the DRN is put. The approach of such ‘master-text’ readings is strikingly different from the dominant intertextual mode. In the examples of intertextual reading examined, the relationship to the other text is not one of subordination, but a tool used by the DRN to serve a particular function within the poem itself. The modes of reading explored in this chapter can lead to real differences in interpretation: e.g., on the end of the DRN, or on how uncompromising or sympathetic we should view certain parts of the poem. One important consequence is the need to acknowledge the differences in our reading practices and theoretical assumptions