The hellebore in Persius’ Satires

Abstract

This article examines the poetic intentions in Persius’ references to the hellebore and comments on the verbal choices the satirist selects in order to refer to the particular plant as well as on the way these choices facilitate his intertextual conversation with Horace. Special emphasis is placed on the word veratrum at 1.50-51: non hic est Ilias Atti / ebria veratro? I argue that this verbal choice recalls the phonetically similar word veretrum and thus evokes thoughts associated with the sexual imagery predominant in the first satire. At the same time, since the name Atti could pave the ground for the theme of Attis, mentioned later in the poem, Persius’ phrase could be interpreted as a further cryptic hint at the eneminacy of the poetry he rejects.