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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PER-PIG |
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PERSIUS , in full AuLUS PERSIUS FLACCUS (A.D. 34-62), Roman poet and satirist. According to the Life contained in the MSS., Persius was a native of Volaterrae, of good stock on both parents' side. When six years old he lost his father, and his step-father died in a few years. At the age of twelve Persius came to Rome, where he was taught by Remmius Palaemon and the rhetor Verginius Flavus. Four years later began a close intimacy with the Stoic Cornutus
Cornutus
The scholia add a few detailson what authority is, as generally with such sources, very doubtful. The Life itself, though not free from the suspicion of interpolation and undoubtedly corrupt and disordered in places, is probably trustworthy. The MSS. say it came from the commentary of Valerius Probus, no doubt a learned edition of Persius like those of Virgil and Horace by this same famous " grammarian " of Berytus, the poet's contemporary. The only case in which it seems to conflict with the Satires themselves is in its statement as to the death of Persius's father. The declaiming of a suasoria in his presence (Sat. 3. 4 sqq.) implies a more mature age than that of six in the performer. But pater might here mean " step-father," or Persius may have forgotten his own auto-biography, may be simply reproducing one of his models. The mere fact that the Life and the Satires agree so closely does not of course prove the authenticity of the former. One of the points of harmony is, however, too subtle for us to believe that a forger evolved it from the works of Persius. It requires indeed a thoughtful reading of the Life before we realize how distinct is the impression it gives of a " bookish " youth, who has never strayed far, at least in spirit, from the domestic hearth and his women-folk. And of course this is notoriously the picture drawn
Horace . A keen observer of what occurs within his narrow horizon, he cannot but discern the seamy side of life (cf. e.g. such hints as Sat. iii. o); he shows, however, none of Juvenal's undue stress on unsavoury detail or Horace's easy-going acceptance of human weaknesses. The sensitive, home-bred nature of Persius shows itself perhaps also in his frequent references to ridicule, whether of great men by street gamins or of the cultured by Philistines.The chief
interest
Persius's satires are composed in hexameters, except for the scazcns of the short prologue above referred to, in which he half ironically asserts that he writes to earn his bread, not because he is inspired. The first satire censures the literary tastes of the day as a reflection of the decadence of the national morals. The theme of Seneca's 114th letter is similar. The description of the recitator and the literary twaddlers after dinner is vividly natural, but an interesting passage which cites specimens of smooth versification and the languishing style is greatly spoiled by the difficulty of appreciating the points involved and indeed of distributing the dialogue (a not uncommon crux in Persius). The remaining satires handle in order (2) the question as to what we may justly ask of the gods (cf. Plato's second Alcibiades), (3) the importance of having a definite aim in life, (4) the necessity of self-knowledge for public men (cf. Plato's first Alcibiades), (5) the Stoic doctrine of liberty (introduced by generous allusions to Cornutus' teaching), and (6) the proper use of money. The Life tells us that the Satires were not left complete; some lines were taken (presumably by Cornutus or Bassus) from the end of the work so that it might be quasi finitus. This perhaps means that a sentence in which Persius had left a line imperfect, or a paragraph which he had not completed, had to be omitted. The same authority says that Cornutus definitely blacked out an offensive allusion to the emperor's literary taste, and that we owe to him the reading of the MSS. in Sat. i. 121, " auriculas asini quis non [for Mida rex] habet !" Traces of lack of revision are, however, still visible; cf. e.g. v. 176 (sudden transition from ambition to superstition) and vi. 37 (where criticism of Greek doctores has nothing to do with the context). The parallels to passages of Horace and Seneca are recorded in the commentaries: in view of what the Life says about Lucan, the verbal resemblance of Sat. iii. 3 to Phars. x. 163 is interesting. Examples of bold language or metaphor: i. 25, rupto iecore exierit caprificus, 6o, linguae quantum sitiat canis; iii. 42, intus palleat, 81, silentia rodunt; v. 92, ueteres auiae de pulmone reuello. Passages like iii. 87, too sqq. show elaboration carried beyond the rules of good taste. " Popular " words: barn, ado, ebullire, gluto, lallare, mamma, muttire, obba, palpo, stloppus. Fine lines, &c., in i. 116 sqq., ii. 6 sqq., 61 sqq., 73 sqq., in. 39 sqq. The important editions are: (t) with explanatory notes: Casaubon (Paris, 16o5, enlarged edition by Diibner, Leipzig
Leipzig
York
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