VIRGIL: Gaius Maecenas
Horace dedicated his Odes 1-3, Epodes, Satires 1 and Epistles 1 to Maecenas and mentions him passim; check any reputable biography or description of Horace to find more since Horace had good reason to be grateful to him as a patron. Of course, Virgil dedicated the Georgics to him also, and was the person who introduced Horace to him initially. Any good classical dictionary will have an account of Maecenas' life with numerous references under the name 'Maecenas' - with sources, as does also a good, large Latin dictionary - references too many to mention. For example in Latin or in translation for primary source 'snippets' and details: Horace.for most mentions Suetonius' Life of Augustus 66 Plutarch's Life of Augustus Herodian(us) 7 Seneca Epistles 19, 92, 114 Pliny the Elder Natural History 8.170 Martial 8.55.5 and more Tacitus Annals 1.54 and more Suggest you look up 'Maecenas' and 'Literary Patronage' in whatever background books to the Augustan Age you can find. Good hunting! Sincerely, Marjorie Rigby From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Oct 21 09:08:48 1999 >From mantovano-returns Wed Oct 20 14:51:10 1999 Received: ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) by wilsoninet.com (8.8.5) id OAA14386; Wed, 20 Oct 1999 14:51:10 -0700 (PDT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 14:49:40 -0700 Subject: VIRGIL: The Devil Knows Latin Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Juno 3.0.11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 3,9,15,19-21 X-Juno-Att: 0 X-Juno-RefParts: 0 From: JAMES C Wiersum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-UIDL: 6b9f96aa47b1b591c26a35d230f935ff I just checked out from our public library's new book section, "The Devil Knows Latin: Why America Needs the Classical Tradition," by E. Christian Kopff. I am in the process of reading it now. An initial preview suggests it is going to be an insightful and fun book to read. Beside the emphasis on Latin and Greek language and literature in general, there are things in the book relevant to Virgil studies. Page 223, for example, has Kopff discussing the cost of victory. He writes: "As in Virgil's Aeneid, a better society will emerge from the conflict, but the cost in human suffering and loss is real -- and we must face them." I especially like Kopff's interesting details about Virgil translators. C. Day Lewis is the father of the actor Daniel Day Lewis. Jackson Knight supposedly contacted the spirit of Virgil through a medium. A question for the list: Does anyone know more about Knight's seance? It is a trivial question but, hey, even Virgil students need some good gossip from time to time. A more appropriate question for the list, instead of the above, might be taken from the subtitle of Kopff's book. Do you think America needs the classical tradition? It would be interesting to read what the list has to say. James C. Wiersum --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
Re: VIRGIL: Gaius Maecenas???
Don't trust my word - look up the "Life of Virgil" by Aelius Donatus. You can find it at: www.virgil.org/vitae/a-donatus.htm It's a really old text on the life of Virgil (funnily enough) and has more information - and I'm sure more accurate and relevant information - than the stuff I've written. Good luck. Louise. > > --- Michael Clarke > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > When working on a recent Virgil essay (his life > > basically...) I discovered that he received > > patronage from a man called gaius Maecenas, who > was > > a close friend of Augustus. > >Can anyone give me some more info on this > guy??? > > > > > --- > > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, > do > > NOT hit reply. > > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with > > the message > > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the > > quotation marks). You > > can also unsubscribe at > > http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > > > > > = > > __ > Do You Yahoo!? > Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com > --- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do > NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the > quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at > http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > = __ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
Re: VIRGIL: Gaius Maecenas???
Gruezli mitenand! Gueten aabig von Tokio! Gaius Cilnius Maecenas (circa 70 8 BC) was a roman knight from an old family of Etruscan nobility. He discovered Virgilius Maro, but also Horatius, Sextus Propertius, etc. In 37 BC Virgil became one of his clients, like Horatius and Varius, the tragic poet, were already at the time. He was a friend and an adviser of the Emperor August. Maecenas always refused to be involved in politics for the reason that he was from an Etruscan family of royal descent, and that the men of his family had traditionally no interest in politics. Because of this family particularity he became an Epicurian, wich was in Rome the usual language of political disengagement. Virgil embraced the lifestyle of his new master and his philosophy. He wrote the Georgics on the request of Maecenas, who is the only recipient of the poem. Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram, Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere vites, Conveniat ; Georgics Liber I, 1 et sqs. The few existing fragments of his own poems were edited by W. Morel. Ed. : W. Morel, Fragm. Poet. Lat. (Teubner 1927) 101-3. Hope it will help. Uf wiederluege. A.P.I. = Andre-Paul Itel [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hic tamen hanc mecum potera requiescere noctem Fronde super viridi. Super nobis mitia poma, Castaneae molles et pressi copia lactis; Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant, Majoresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae. __ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
Re: VIRGIL: Gaius Maecenas???
Meacenas was basically Virgil's patron - sure, it was a financial support situation, but both parties stressed that the relationship was more about friendship than about money. Maecenas had a circle of 'clients' that he supported including Horace (though none of them he supported fully - it wasn't a wage thing) and they had no official obligation to speak well of Maecenas. Thing is, because they're friends, Virgil speaks well of him anyway. You get my drift. Now, Octavian (that's actually Augustus - he changed his name from Octavian to Augustus after the Georgics was written) and Meacenas are close associates. Virgil would speak well of Octavian for a couple of reasons. If Octavian and Maecenas were such great mates, maecenas would be a bit hurt if Virgil tore him to pieces. Plus, Octavian, being Caesars heir (son, adopted son, I'm not sure exactly), has an influence on his writing anyway. Maecenas inspires Virgil to write of bigger issues, specifically those of Caesar's wars (see the proem to book 3). At the end of the day though, I guess Virgil has to speak well of Augustus - he's the boss after all, he's the guy who's pretty much known as the first Roman Emperor, and I probably wouldn't want to cross him regardless of not having any official obligation to write well of him. Virgil writes big of Octavian. Virgil writes the whole 'you're up there with the gods' thing, he even implies that he may one day become a god, that his future is uncertain. His dad was deified, and Augustud spends a lot of time later on in his rule playing on that one. Anyway, even if he doesn't become a god, he'll stay on being the living saviour of the Roman world (take a look at book 1, lines 22-28). So either way, he's this political and military genius, and potentially the political and military saviour of the world. Already he's a military victor - book 4, lines 559-562 are good for that one. I think I kind of got away from the point, but it's about thwelve thirty at night in Australia and I'm putting off writing an essay on post-modernist film theory in relation to Peter Greenaway - have you seen his films? Let me just say they're not Sunday afternoon bludging on the couch with a bag of chips and a hangover type films. Anyway, hope I helped a little - this was my good deed for the day so I hope it did. Good luck on the essay. Louise. --- Michael Clarke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > When working on a recent Virgil essay (his life > basically...) I discovered that he received > patronage from a man called gaius Maecenas, who was > a close friend of Augustus. >Can anyone give me some more info on this guy??? > > --- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do > NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the > quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at > http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > = __ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
VIRGIL: Gaius Maecenas???
When working on a recent Virgil essay (his life basically...) I discovered that he received patronage from a man called gaius Maecenas, who was a close friend of Augustus. Can anyone give me some more info on this guy??? --- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
