The collection of sententiae associated with the mimographer Publilius and its portrayal of laughter, tears, and silence

The purpose of this paper is two-fold: to provide an up-to-date overview of the main problems pertaining to the purpose and transmission of a collection of apophthegms (sententiae), associated with the mime-actor and mimographer Publilius, and to discuss the portrayal of laughter, tears, and silence in the collection. I explore the image that was projected through the sententiae with regard to the above manifestations of non-verbal behaviour, and show how this projection squared with the portrayal of laughter, tears, and silence in select literary writings, including the collection of one-line apophthegms associated with Menander. I finish by suggesting reasons for this portrayal

Slavery and beauty in Petronius

No abstract available

Theatrum Arbitri: Theatrical Elements in the "Satyrica" of Petronius

The title of this thesis is 'Theatrical elements in the Satyrica of Petronius". It is a literary study which deals with the possible influence that Roman comic drama (comedies of Plautus and Terence, theatre of the Greek and Roman mimes, (the fabula palliata, fabula togata, fabula Atellana) might have exerted on the surviving extant fragments of Petronius' novel. In the preface I summarise briefly the generally accepted view about the identity of the novel's author and the diverse nature of his work, and I explain the method and criteria which are to be used for the intended study of the novel. The introductory chapter has two purposes: first, to delineate in a lucid way the theatre of the mimes and its main features, since this theatrical genre is predominant in the world of entertainment in Petronius' time; second, to provide a brief account of both the ancient testimonia and modern scholarly works which make fundamental comments on this novel from a theatrical point of view. Chapters one to fifteen form the main part of the thesis: I follow the narrative thread of the Petronian novel in its episodic form and attempt to interpret the events in terms of visual role-playing and the stage. The conclusion draws together the main themes of the thesis, and attempts to explain the strong impact of theatre and its intended function in the Satyrica. The bibliographical material has been divided into three sections, due to its length, and for the convenience of the reader: a) editions and commentaries of texts referred to in the thesis, b) books and articles to which reference has been made in the footnotes, and c) other works consulted to form a more complete view of the problems concerning Petronius' text, the novel in general, and popular theatre, Greek and Roman. A detailed theatrical study of the Satyrica is more than a mere enumeration of passages from a genre which influenced Petronius. It can shed light on the dispute over the delivery of the text and gives a clearer picture of how Petronius may have viewed his literary creation. Finally, the farcical features which recur throughout the narrative support the interpretation of this composite text as an eccentric innovation in the area of literature which, through sophisticated means, aimed to amuse without preaching moral lessons

Economic Insecurity and Social Stability: An Exploration of One of Capitalism’s Vicious Cycles

This article analyzes how capitalism’s connection to economic insecurity can, rather than fomenting social unrest, facilitate its reproduction. Also responding to contrasts in the literature between rising insecurity in recent decades and the containment of insecurity in capitalism’s post-war ‘golden age,’ this article explains why growing insecurity is more consistent with capitalism’s normal operation. Underlining the difficulty of replicating post-war efforts to mitigate insecurity through social and welfare policies, this article also sketches how the vicious cycle between capitalism and economic insecurity contributes to other serious social problems, including racism, sexism, xenophobia, the hollowing out of political democracy and a deepening ecological crisis

Beyond the Capitalist Workplace: How the Production of Surplus Across the Economy Keeps Producers Divided

This article analyzes the public and household sectors of the economy as sites of surplus production within contemporary capitalist societies. It also shows how the coexistence of structurally distinct spheres of surplus production creates divisions among workers in the private, public, and household sectors of the economy, thus amplifying the racial, gender, and other divisions which have often in the past kept working people divided. Fueling these cross-sector divisions is the appearance that private-sector workers are paid for their labor rather than for their labor-power. Thus, this article also explores an implication of this appearance which Karl Marx, the thinker who did the most to expose it, did not himself explore

Stereotipizzazione ed equivoco nel mimo letterario romano: alcuni esempi

peer reviewe

The human characters in the Tale of Cupid and Psyche: Metamorphoses 4.28-6.24

No abstract available

Towards a comparative analysis of the presence, formal characteristics, and function of moralising maxims (sententiae) in Plautus and Menander

No abstract available

Producing More, Selling More, Consuming More: Capitalism's Third Contradiction

Although many scholars and social critics have in the past questioned whether growing levels of economic output and consumption lead to a richer and happier human life, very few have approached this question from the standpoint of the social and ecological contradictions that capitalist social structures tend to generate. This essay analyzes the futility of consumerism and the compulsive pursuit of economic growth under capitalism as a manifestation of a 'third contradiction' of capitalism