Ancient Epic Exam 2 Vocab

Ataraxia

“tranquility” or “imperturbability”, a state of peace and freedom from anxiety

Livius Androniicus (c. 284 – c. 204 BC)

Freedman (former Greek slave), author of Odusia, first Latin epic, Saturnian verse; also instrumental in adapting Greek drama. Only fragments survive.

Naevius (c. 270 – c. 201 BC)

Likely Roman citizen, author of Bellum Punicum, an epic on the first Punic war, in Saturnian verse; also instrumental in adapting Greek drama. Only fragments survive.

Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BC)

Vita obscure; author of Annales, a historical epic covering the fall of Troy, thought to be in 1184 BC, through the censorship of Cato the Elder in 184 BC (note the millenial arc); first poet to adapt the dactylic hexameter; also played role in adapting Greek drama. The title Annales refers to a year-by-year narrative structure. Legend that he claimed to be the reincarnation of Homer; claim of three hearts (Greek, Oscan, Latin),

Vates

Vates, ‘prophet', ‘seer’, used by Ennius as an insulting term for his predecessors. Became by the Augustan period a central term for the inspired poet with an assumed social role as ‘master of truth’ and generated a constant interplay between the roles of the poet and the prophet"

Neoterici

“neoterics” < “new” or “modern style” — applied to the avante garde young Roman poets of the 1st century BC

Epyllion

diminuitive of “epic”, an epic in miniature; cp Callimachus’ Hecale

in media res

The narrative technique of beginning “in the middle of things”

proles

“that which grows forth”, i.e. “children”, “progeny”, “descendants”

proletarius (pl. proletarii)

lowest of the classes attributed to Servius Tullius; “breeder”, people whose only state service was reproducing

populus

“the people”, by FAR the more common term (this or vulgus)

gloria

“glory”, “fame”, “renown”, “praise”, “honor” (Roman version of kleos I believe)

honor

“honor”, “repute”, “esteem”

dignitas

“worth”, “worthiness”, “merit”, “desert”; “dignity”, “greatness”, “grandeur”, “authority”, “rank” (adj. dignus)

gravitas

“weight”, “heaviness”, “dignity”, “importance”, “seriousness”

virtus

“manliness”, “manhood”, “strength”, “vigor”, “bravery”, “courate”, “excellence” (Roman arete I believe)

pietas

“piety”; “duty”, “dutifulness”, “affection”, “love”, “loyalty”, “patriotism”, “gratitude” (adj. pius)

pax deorum

“peace with the gods”, the explicit association of material prosperity and victory in war with divine favor. It serves as a sort of social contract with the gods.

res publica

“public affair”, one way to describe the Roman policy

SPQR

Senatus populusque romanus, one of the most common ways of expressing the political ideal of the Roman Republic

mos maiorum

“ancestral custom”, the phrase that marked the unwritten procedures and customs discussed in Du Blois et al., along with family and religious obligations

hubris

“wanton violence”, “insolence”, “lewdness”, an “outrage” in word or deed—in the Odyssey, the suitors are frequently ubrizontes, “the ones committing acts of hubris”

atashalie

“recklessness”—In the Odyssey, esp. associated with willful violation despite divine warning(s). The suitors frequently receive the adjective atasthaloi

dike

“custom”, “usage”, “way”, “order”, “right”, “judgement”, “penalty”—cp. adj. dikaios, for things and people tied to previous; dikaiosyne, “justice”

tisis

“payback”—in the Odyssey, nearly a synonym for dike. From the verb tinein, to “meet out”, “repay”, frequently in sense of “revenge”

lex talionis

Latin for “law of revenge”, a concise way to describe notion that “justice” is negative reciprocity. Note the inherent potential for this to spiral into cyclic violence

homophrosyne

“same-mindedness”

odussomai

“to hate”; the mythic root of Odysseus’ name (hated by gods and men”)

anabasis

the opposite of a katabasis, a heroic ascent from the underworld

apologoi

aka apolog, book 9–12 of the Odyssey in which he speaks of his wanderings (I believe it’s implied that the apologoi also serve as a form of justification)

telemacheia

aka telemachy, books 1–4 of the Odyssey as Telemachus’ coming of age tale

alke

battlefield prowess, strength, courage, especially as applied to defense and help of one’s own

bildungsroman

a “novel of education”, i.e. a coming of age story

oikos

“home” in the fullest sense; immediate family, extended family, lands, servants, herds, etc.

nostos

“return”; the pl. Nostoi refers to a work from the epic cycle that collected the (usually disastrous) returns of heroes from the Trojan War

theodicy

an attempt to vindicate divine justice and goodness in the face of human suffering and injustice

theoxeny

sharing food and drink with a god (especially a god in disguise); often associated with the idea of gods testing mortals