The Seattle p-i has a reviewish sort of thing of an exhibition at Princeton of images various authors, including this one of Milton:

William Marshall’s 1645 Engraving Of John Milton.

This portrait, produced for John Milton’s first published book of verse, includes the writer’s opinion of his likeness in the caption. Written in ancient Greek–which the artist could not understand–Milton invited the reader to “laugh at the artist’s botched attempt” at portraiture.

via Famous Authors Drawn, Not Quartered.

Around the blogosphere:

• Spitting Image | Angelo Mercado (includes a translation)

Scott McGill

Plagiarism or Imitation?: The Case of Abronius Silo in Seneca the Elder’s Suasoriae 2.19–20

Arethusa – Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 2010, pp. 113-131

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Abstract:

Disagreements over whether an author imitated or plagiarized a predecessor are a part of Latin literary history, with Virgil’s ancient reception providing striking examples. This article argues that Seneca the Elder’s Suasoriae 2.19–20 sets forth another case where a Roman author’s perceived textual borrowing was labeled both imitation and plagiarism. The author is Abronius Silo, who adapts a sententia from the declaimer Porcius Latro. In addition, I explore ways of conceptualizing the imitation and plagiarism that appear in Seneca’s passage, situate the discussion in the context of Seneca’s work and intellectual milieu, and link his ideas and critical practices to those found in Latin literary culture more broadly.

via Project MUSE – Arethusa – Plagiarism or Imitation?: The Case of Abronius Silo in Seneca the Elder’s Suasoriae 2.19–20.

Shane Butler

The Scent of a Woman

Arethusa – Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 2010, pp. 87-112

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Abstract:

At Aeneid 1.691-94, Venus sets Ascanius down to sleep on a bed of aromatic marjoram; Servius seizes the opportunity to recount the origins of perfume. Revealing that the note is no antiquarian coincidence, this article argues that the Vergilian passage and others in Greek and Latin poetry echo, to important effect, the remarkable tradition of one of antiquity’s most famous fragrances. Along the way, an investigation of botanical and medical sources clarifies our picture of how perfume was used, explaining the vicious humor of a passage in Lucretius and suggesting a new solution to a famous interpretive crux regarding Catullus 13.

via Project MUSE – Arethusa – The Scent of a Woman.

Claudia Zatta

Making History Mythical: The Golden Age of Peisistratus

Arethusa – Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 2010, pp. 21-62

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Abstract:

This paper examines the association in Aristotle (Ath. Pol. 16.7) of the mythical Golden Age with the tyranny of Peisistratus and, by means of an array of both iconographic and textual evidence, suggests that Peisistratus made use of Golden Age imagery during his regime. This paper also discusses the tyrant’s attempts to relieve the twin problems of overpopulation in the city and lack of cultivation of the countryside, and addresses the overall policy of coordination between astu and chōra.

via Project MUSE – Arethusa – Making History Mythical: The Golden Age of Peisistratus.

Eric Dodson-Robinson

Helen’s “Judgment of Paris” and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16

Arethusa – Volume 43, Number 1, Winter 2010, pp. 1-20

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Abstract:

The evaluation and judgment of what is most beautiful (κάλλιστον) in Sappho 16 is what John Foley calls a “traditional reference” to the judgment of Paris. By making Helen rather than Paris the judge of what is κάλλιστον, the poem focalizes erotic agency from her perspective. Helen’s “judgment of Paris” and her erotic agency should be read in light of the poem’s references to archaic Greek marriage. While André Lardinois (2001, 2003) makes a case that Sappho 16 is a wedding song, my reading focuses on unexplored aspects of the poem’s relation to the marriage ritual.

via Project MUSE – Arethusa – Helen’s “Judgment of Paris” and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16.