Gnaeus Matius

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Gnaeus Matius (also Gnaeus Mattius ) was a Roman republican poet who wrote at the beginning of the 1st century BC. Worked. Only 17 fragments of his works have survived .

The earliest mention of Gnaeus Matius comes from Varro , who wrote him between 47 and 43 BC. De lingua Latina , written in BC, cited twice. These quotations already bear witness to one of the works of Matius: the translation of Homer's Iliad into Latin. Thus the Corpora Graiorum maerebat mandier igni handed down by Varro corresponds to the Homeric verse 56 “ κήδετο γὰρ Δαναῶν, ὅτι ῥα θνήσκοντας ὁρᾶτο ” (“Because she cares for the Danaer people, the dying book of the Ilias looking to the first”) . In addition to the two fragments in Varro, six more, which can be found in Gellius and in the late antique grammarians Diomedes Grammaticus , Priscian and Flavius ​​Sosipater Charisius, can be assigned to the translation work or the Iliad arrangement. Since all of these quotations are cited by antiquarians and grammarians and were not reflected in the works of Cicero - who instead tried to translate them himself - this translation was probably not held in high esteem.

The greater number of the fragments obtained can be Matius Mimiamben assign, in the meter of the Jambus written pieces of the theater genus mime that Matius as Choliamben executed. The latter suggests that they were written not for a performance but for recitation . Terentianus Maurus names Hipponax , the inventor of the Choliambus, as his model. But above all he seems to have imitated Herodas . A direct translation of Herodas cannot be proven, but it is possible. The mimiambes have been handed down to Gellius, Macrobius , Priscian and possibly Nonius Marcellus .

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Remarks

  1. ↑ Varro, De lingua Latina 7,95.96.
  2. ^ Translation by Johann Heinrich Voß (1751–1826)
  3. ↑ Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 7,6,5; 9,14,14.15.
  4. ↑ Diomedes Grammaticus 1,345K.
  5. ↑ Priscian 1.334.
  6. ↑ Charisius, 150 B = 117 K.
  7. ↑ Werner Suerbaum : The mythological epic: overview. In: Werner Suerbaum (Ed.): The archaic literature. From the beginnings to Sulla's death (= Handbook of the Latin Literature of Antiquity. Volume 1). CH Beck, Munich 2002, p. 284.
  8. ↑ Terentianus 2416.
  9. ^ Jürgen Blänsdorf : Gnaeus Matius. In: Werner Suerbaum (Ed.): The archaic literature. From the beginnings to Sulla's death (= Handbook of the Latin Literature of Antiquity. Volume 1). CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-48134-5 , p. 176.
  10. ^ Edward Courtney: The Fragmentary Latin Poets. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003, p. 106.
  11. ↑ Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 10,24,10; 15,25,1.2; 20.9,2.3.
  12. ↑ Macrobius, Saturnalia 3,20,5.
  13. ↑ Priscian 1,274K
  14. ↑ Nonius 193M, the assignment is doubtful; compare Edward Courtney: The Fragmentary Latin Poets. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003, p. 106.
personal data
SURNAME Matius, Gnaeus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mattius, Gnaeus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION roman poet
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 1st century BC Chr.