The assumption that imitation of Alexander the Great played a key role in the image of Demetrius Poliorcetes has been broadly accepted by many researchers. The main source on this subject is Plutarch’s Life of Demetrius where the author directly compares these two Macedonian kings and depicts Demetrius as a failed imitator of Alexnader. However, the juxtaposition of numerous other parts in that biography with fragments of Life of Alexander demonstrates that Plutarch purpose was creating the image of Demetrius as a sort of anti-Alexander.
This paper deals with the myth of Minyas’ daughters in the novel Frenzy by Percival Everett, a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He has brought forward a new interpretation of that myth in his book. The main theme is the story of god Dionysus based on Euripides’ Bacchae to which the author adds other mythes. References to Ovid, Aelian and Antoninus Liberalis can also be found.
Religious ceremonies in ancient Rome, foundational for its cult, made manifest the communal piety by the means of sacrificial rites. Adopting a formalist religious approach, the Romans carefully regulated the sacrificial process (sacrificium). Partially preserved literary sources in theory allow one to reconstruct the sequence of acts comprising a Roman sacrificial rite, with the following article employing said sources to propose a template for a Roman animal sacrifice ritual.
At the main entrance to the Adam Mickiewicz Park in Poznań, there are two identical stone vases with ancient motives. The author indicates that they are not merely neoclassical works from the beginning of the 20th century, but copies of the famous Townley Vase dating back to the Roman times. Then, he focuses on the retinue of Dionysus on the main frieze of the vase and discusses all ten figures occurring in it.
The aim of the article is to analyse the image of a woman in the II Eclogue written by Nemesianus. Moreover, the text describes somatic symptoms used in the evidentiary proceedings in the case of loss of virginity and leading to the accused woman’s isolation.
The article concerns the Latin Grammar by Emilia Kubicka, published in 2019. The book presents the rules of the Latin pronunciation, conjugation, declension of the nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, and the indeclinable parts of speech such as adverbs and prepositions. However, the grammar does not present all the principles that govern the structure of Latin sentences, and the book has numerous errors.
The article is an attempt to revise the long-established belief in the alabaster-white exterior shape of Roman antiquity, which in fact turns out to be full of colours that bring life to its image. The authors implement this intention by indicating how intensely the colour red was present in the reality described by classical Latin authors – contrary to the accusation that one of the participants of the discussion on this subject in Aulus Gellius’ Attic Nights (Gell. Noc. Att. 2.26) makes of the alleged poverty regarding various shades of red in Latin terminology. The material presented contradicts the opinion expressed in Gellius’ text, and at the same time makes us realise how colourful and lively the world that emerges from the literary works of the classical Roman period was. In comparison with it, the reality witnessed by the literature of the Christian era – this parallel is what the authors of the article focus on, concluding their deliberations – in which red becomes almost exclusively a sign of shame, turns out to be ascetically sterile and depressingly colourless.
The aim of this article is to analyse the Renaissance poem Sarca, whose authorship is attributed to the Italian humanist Pietro Bembo, and to indicate the ancient inspirations of the work. The main model for the work is Carmen 64 by Catullus, although the author also refers to other Roman poets. The intertextual relations between Sarca and the hypotexts are presented on various levels. The analysis focuses on showing parallel elements of the setting and takes in consideration the few similarities at the linguistic and stylistic level. Genre-wise Sarca is classified as an epithalamium of an aythiological character. Its characteristics typical of the Renaissance era are also highlighted. The article also brings up the history of the poem and the topic of its attribution, presenting an extensive state of research.
This article analyses two stories by women writers (The Heads of Cerberus by Francis Stevens (1952) and The Breakthrough by Daphne du Maurier (1964)), which could both be considered as belonging to the genre of science fiction. These stories do not follow the ‘canonical’ or more popular type of underworld narrative, especially the idea of the katabasis or descent to the underworld and the encounter with the dead, a motif which has often been present in Western culture since classical antiquity and has generated numerous narratives. Rather, they evoke the classical myth of the underworld through the use of certain names (such as Charon and Cerberus) as well as exploring other concepts which coincide with ancient Greek accounts of the topography and inhabitants of the world of the dead, the realm ruled over by Hades.
Two Latin poets of late antiquity, Claudian and Sidonius Apollinaris, included in their verse panegyrics short descriptions of diplomatic journey to Persia. The first mentioned the mission of Stilicho himself in “Panegyric on the consulate of Stilicho” (400 AD), whereas the latter described the mission of Procopius, father of the honorand in the “Panegyric on the consulate of Anthemius” (468 AD). Since Sidonius was in many ways imitator of Claudian, these pieces show a great deal of similarity both in content and form (especially in wording). However, closer scrutiny enables us to discover some differences in the treatment of Oriental topics as well as in general attitude to the praised heroes. Such an analysis allows us an insight into the image of Iranian world created in the Roman poetry as well as the question of sources used by late Latin poets. This paper can be also treated as a small contribution to the discussion on Sidonius’ imitation of Claudian poetry.
Anty-Aleksander? Wizerunek Demetriusza Poliorketesa w "Żywocie Demetriusza" Plutarcha z Cheronei