Aulus Persius Flaccus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aulus Persius Flaccus (short Persius ; * December 4, 34 in Volterra ; † November 24, 62 ) was a Roman poet of Etruscan descent.

In his works, poems and satires , Persius taught the Stoic wisdom and criticized contemporary grievances. After his death, his works were published by the philosopher Lucius Annaeus Cornutus and were popular well into the Middle Ages . With his habitare secum motif, which he first mentioned in writing , Persius also shaped Christian spirituality.

Life

Persius was born on December 4, 34 AD in Volterra , Tuscany . Both parents were respected representatives of the equestrian order. He first attended elementary school in Volterra, and at the age of twelve he began studying grammar and rhetoric in Rome. At the age of 16, he joined Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, a stoic philosopher. Persius' way of life and poetry were greatly influenced by Cornutus. He learned in the circle of Cornutus a. a. Knowing Seneca , however, should not have had a good opinion of him. Persius is said to have an affable, reserved and affectionate character. He died at the age of 27 on November 24, '62 from complications from a stomach disease.

plant

Persius wrote six satires in hexameter . A praetexta (tragedy with national Roman content) and poems about Arria , the mother-in-law of Thrasea (a politician friend), were lost. An unfinished book of satires was edited by Cornutus; this shortened the end of the 6th satire and defused offensive political allusions. In addition, 14 choliambes (verses in the Hinkjambus ) are passed down partly at the end and partly at the beginning of the satires.

The satires

  1. Satire: Separation of one's own intentions, which are based on the old comedy, Lucilius and Horace , from the nullity of contemporary literary machinery
  2. Satire: is about right prayer
  3. Satire: deals with the dichotomy between knowledge and action
  4. Satire: is about self-knowledge
  5. Satire: praising philosophy as a source of true inner freedom (it is dedicated to the revered teacher Lucius Annaeus Cornutus)
  6. Satire: is addressed to the befriended poet Caesius Bassus and deals with the right use of wealth

Text editions and translations

  • Wendell Vernon Clausen (eds.): A. Persi Flacci et D. Ivni Ivvenalis Satvrae , Oxford 1959 (several reprints, most recently 1992)
  • Aulus Persius Flaccus: Satires . Edited, translated and commented by Walter Kißel , Heidelberg 1990, ISBN 3-533-04126-3
  • A. Persii Flacci saturae. Commentario atque indice rerum notabilium instruxit Helgus Nikitinski . Accedunt varia de Persio iudicia saec. XIV-XX. KG Saur, Munich, Leipzig 2002, (excerpts online) .
  • Walter Kißel (Ed.): A. Persius Flaccus, Saturarum liber. (Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum. Teubneriana). Berlin 2007.

Scholia

  • James EG Zetzel : Marginal Scholarship and Textual Deviance: The Commentum Cornuti and the early scholia on Persius (= Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, Supplement Vol. 84), London 2005.
  • James EG Zetzel, WV Clausen (Ed.): Commentum Cornuti in Persium. Recognoverunt et adnotatione critica instruxerunt. Saur Verlag, Leipzig 2004.

literature

Overview representations

Investigations

  • Susanna Braund (Ed.): A companion to Persius and Juvenal , Chichester u. a. 2012.
  • Maria Plaza (Ed.): Persius and Juvenal , Oxford 2009.
  • Kenneth J. Reckford : Recognizing Persius , Princeton (NJ) et al. a. 2009.

reception

  • Klaus Fetkenheuer: The reception of the Persius satires in Latin literature. Investigations into the history of their impact from Lucan to Boccaccio , Bern a. a. 2001.

Web links

Wikisource: Aulus Persius Flaccus  - Sources and full texts (Latin)
Wikisource: Aulus Persius Flaccus  - Sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ Persius, Saturarum liber 4,52 .
personal data
SURNAME Persius Flaccus, Aulus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flaccus, Aulus Persius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman poet of Etruscan descent
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 34th
PLACE OF BIRTH Volterra
DATE OF DEATH November 24, 62