Moschus

This PhD thesis contains an investigation into the nature of five ancient Greek ekphraseis: 1. the shield of Achilles in the Iliad (18.478-608); 2. the shield of Heracles in the pseudo-Hesiodic Scutum (139-320); 3. the goatherd’s cup in Theocritus’ first Idyll (27-60); 4. Jason’s cloak in Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica (1.721-68); and 5. Europa’s basket in Moschus’ Europa (37-62). The main aim of this thesis is to investigate to what degree these ekphraseis can be regarded as descriptive, and to what degree as narrative. For definitions of narration and description, this thesis draws on modern narratological and discourse linguistic theory. By close analysis of the ekphraseis, it is shown that they contain both descriptive and narrative elements.

Part I of this study argued that Aratus’s decision to base his LEPTĒ acrostic, which occurs during a discussion of moonlight (Phaen. 783-87), on Homer’s LEUKĒ acrostic (Il. 24.1-5) was motivated by the connection in Homer between the adjective λευκός and various types of light from the sky, including the light of dawn, which appears shortly after the acrostic (Il. 24.12), and the light of the moon (Il. 23.455). In Part II, I argue that a study of the reception of Aratus’s acrostic in Greek and Latin poetry reveals that many ancient poets solved the “riddle” of how Aratus’s acrostic relates to Homer’s.

Abstract
Il personaggio di Dafni, affascinante per i suoi risvolti religiosi e folclorici, assurge a dignità letteraria con Teocrito, che ne fa la figura fondante del nuovo genere da lui creato, la poesia bucolica, con la narrazione della sua morte. Inevitabile da parte dei suoi continuatori, Bione di Smirne nel suo Epitafio di Adone, e l’anonimo autore dell’Epitafio di Bione, il richiamo al personaggio, trasformato per adattarsi agli scopi e ai temi dei due componimenti. Dopo di loro, nel suo approdo latino, di Dafni si appropria Virgilio, non solo a scopo di omaggio verso la tradizione precedente, ma come punto di partenza (e di arrivo) della sua riflessione sulla poesia bucolica e sul rapporto con il grande predecessore siracusano.
Scopo del presente lavoro sarà ripercorrere il cammino di Dafni, per cogliere, nel trattamento riservatogli da ciascun poeta, gli elementi di vitalità e di originalità che il suo grande inventor Teocrito seppe dargli, destinati agli sviluppi più o meno profondi dei suoi continuatori.

The character of Daphnis, fascinating for his religious and folkloric implications, finds his literary dignity with Theocritus, who, through the narration of his death, makes him the founding figure of his new genre, the bucolic poetry. His followers, Bion of Smyrna in his Adonidis Epitaphium, and the anonymous author of Bionis Epitaphium, unavoidably refer to the Theocritean Daphnis and transform his figure adapting it to themes and purposes of their poems. After them, in founding Latin bucolic poetry, Virgil appropriates Daphnis, not only in order to pay tribute to the previous literary tradition, but as a point of departure (and of arrival) of his reflection on the bucolic poetry and on the relationship with his great Syracusan predecessor.
My paper aims to retrace the path of Daphnis, to understand, in the treatment reserved for him by each poet, the elements of vitality and originality that his great inventor Theocritus gave him and that his successors more or less deeply developed.

In Dial. Mar. 15, Lucian stages a dialogue between the winds Zephyr and Notus on the famous story of the rape of Europa by Zeus in the form of a bull. The tale is told by several classical authors (Moschus, Achilles Tatius, Horace, Ovid) and depicted in coins, vases and Roman mosaics of different age. There has bene much discussion around the sources of Lucian and his engagement with the various representations of Europa: scholars have highlighted both parallels and Lucian’s original innovations. However, some considerations may be added.  By considering Lucian’s account of the same tale contained in De Dea Syria 4, the potential Ovidian parallels and the dialogue’s humour, one could try to reassess Lucian’s treatment of this well-known myth. 

A tradução à luz da tradição: as traduções neoclássicas do poema Éros Drapét̄s, de Mosco, e o espaço para novas propostas de tradução. Fábio Gerônimo Mota Diniz RESUMO: O texto apresenta traduções do poema Éros Drapét̄s do poeta helenístico Mosco, realizadas pelos poetas neoclássicos Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage (1765– 1805) e Antônio Ribeiro dos Santos (1745-1818). A partir da investigação do processo de transposição dos versos hexamétricos para o português e da análise de alguns breves aspectos do poema, pretende-se discutir os procedimentos tradutórios e as escolhas desses tradutores/poetas. Ao fim propõem-se duas outras possibilidades de tradução do poema, e uma breve discussão sobre a flexibilidade de uma tradução poética.

Este livro reúne sete artigos voltados à conceitualização e ao estudo da literatura do período helenístico, tendo como ponto de partida trabalhos apresentados em três eventos promovidos pelo PPG em Letras Clássicas da USP entre 2013 e 2014. Os textos aqui publicados tem como fim, conforme augurado já na primeira publicação congênere (2007) e na fundação do Grupo de Pesquisa “Hellenistica” (2012), a divulgação de produção crítica referente ao período helenístico.

In this paper, we offer a study of Politian’s Latin translation of Moschus’
idyll Amor fugitivus and epigram In amorem arantem; and Callimachus’
hymn In Palladis Lavacra, which consist of the first translations into Spanish of
the same, with notes and accompanied by an extensive commentary. To this end,
we will compare the texts with the Greek originals to show Politian’s style features,
and we will study the loci similes which our author has made use of, where
mimesis reflects that set of sources that the author uses for a bella invenzione.