Beyond Greek: The Beginnings of Latin Literature

393 Pages·2016·2.59 MB·English

by  Denis Feeney

Beyond Greek

Beyond
Greek
}
the beginnings
of latin literature
Denis Feeney
Harvard University Press
cambridge, Massachusetts
london, england 2016
Copyright © 2016 by the President and
Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Feeney, D. C., author.
Beyond Greek : the beginnings of Latin Literature /
Denis Feeney.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-674-05523-0 (alk. paper)
1. Latin literature— Greek infl uences. 2. Greek
language— Infl uence on Latin. 3. Comparative
literature— Greek and Latin. 4. Comparative
literature— Latin and Greek. I. Title.
PA3010.F55 2016
870.9'001— dc23
2015005784
For the team— Clare, Michael, Susan,
James, Margaret, and Peter

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction 1
1 Translation:
Languages, Scripts, Texts 17
2 Th e Roman
Translation Project 45
3 Th e Interface between
Latin and Greek 65
4 Middle Grounds,
Zones of Contact 92
5 A Stage for an Imperial Power 122
6 A Literature in the
Latin Language 152
7 Th e Impact and Reach
of the New Literature 179
viii Contents
8 Acts of Comparison 199
Conclusion:
Joining the Network 236
Notes 249
References 331
Index 369
Preface
I have been interested for many years in the problems involved in this
book, and I could not have written it without the generous help of many
people, especially those who have answered my questions on topics be-
yond my competence. I have found it illuminating for myself to try to
take account of comparative evidence, particularly from the ancient
Near East, in order to put the Roman case in perspective, and I have
made this comparative material part of the argument in the hope that
others will also fi nd it illuminating. Yet I am very much aware that I am
technically incompetent in this comparative zone. Th e only script I
command is the alphabet, and the only languages I know are ones that
are encoded in that script. I am, then, especially grateful to the great
generosity of a number of scholars who have responded with kind pa-
tience to my ignorant enquiries: Stephanie Dalley, John Dillery, Andrew
George, Tom Hare, Simon Hornblower, Marwan Kilani, Barry Powell,
Josephine Crawley Quinn, Tessa Rajak, Christopher Tuplin, and Michael
Wachtel. I thank Stephanie Dalley in par tic u lar for inviting me to her
stimulating Workshop on Translation and Bilingualism in Ancient
Near Eastern Texts (Wolfson College, Oxford, March, 14–15, 2013); it was
a privilege to try to learn from her and her colleagues.
I have tried to be scrupulous in acknowledging my debts, yet I am
aware that I may have lost track of the origin of certain points. I was