Les Belles Lettres Research Articles

L'esthetique de Stace (review)

Reviewed by: L’esthétique de Stace A. M. Keith Anne-Marie Taisne. L’esthétique de Stace. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1994. 433 pp. Paper, 280 FF. (Collection d’Etudes Anciennes 122) Anne-Marie Taisne is the author of numerous articles concerning the literary history and artistic context that inform single poems in Statius’ Silvae and self-contained passages in his Thebaid and unfinished Achilleid, papers which lay the groundwork for her comprehensive new study of the literary aesthetic on display in the extant poetic oeuvre of P. Papinius Statius. In this ambitious monograph, she undertakes to explore two facets of Statius’ technical artistry, his spatial and temporal imagery, within the theoretical framework provided by ancient literary criticism. She is particularly concerned to articulate the poet’s dynamic reuse of the weighty literary tradition to which he is heir, and accordingly proposes, in her introduction, to structure her discussion around such central ancient critical issues as imitatio (mimesis) along with its close relatives aemulatio and contaminatio, and doctrina with its associated critical vocabulary of ingenium, ratio, and ars (6–10). Throughout the volume, she explicates these techniques in detailed analysis of Statian imagines, which she defines generally in the sense of “imagery” following S. Viarre (“L’image et le symbole dans la poésie d’Ovide: Recherches sur l’imaginaire,” REL 62 [1974] 263–80), and particularly by reference to individual usages of the term as they are discussed in the article on imago in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (11). Part 1, “Correspondances dans l’espace,” examines the spatial imagery of Thebaid, Achilleid, and Silvae in three chapters which treat (1) echo and reflection (17–52), (2) metamorphosis, multiplication, and contagion (53–119), and (3) simile (120–76). Part 2, “Correspondances dans le temps,” investigates the poems’ use of time as a structural principle, again in three chapters which discuss (1) prophecies and portents (177–236), (2) digressive elements such as ecphrases and embedded narratives (237–303), and (3) leitmotifs, or repeated patterns of imagery, such as divine and human interventions and the role of nature in the poems. The material Taisne analyzes in part 1 coheres more convincingly with her overarching theme of spatial imagery than that which she discusses in part 2 under the rubric of temporal imagery. I did not understand, for example, why nature, well discussed in connection with Statius’ use of the simile in part 1 (137–62), reappears in part 2 (331–58) with no explanation of its relevance to temporal imagery. Taisne persuasively documents the wide range of literary models on which Statius draws in all his poetry, and shows that the Thebaid makes particular use of epic and tragic models (166–68, 170, 373–75), the Achilleid of tragic and lyric models (168–71, 374–78). Her discussion of the literary echoes and wider symbolic relevance of individual passages is often very interesting, and the sheer accumulation of literary parallels is extremely impressive. I was reminded of and newly alerted to significant literary resonances on almost every page, and noticed only one incomplete assemblage of literary parallels (in her discussion of Hylas [End Page 159] in Silvae 1.2.199 [27–28], there is no mention of Theocr. Id. 13, Ap. Rhod. Arg. 1.1207–72, or Nicander apud Ant. Lib. Met. 26). The service to which this material is put, however, is not as exciting as the length of the study might lead one to hope. Throughout, Taisne argues that Statius’ deployment of imagery is consistent with the overarching thematic framework of each poem, defined as furor and horror in the Thebaid (23 and passim), an ambiguous and deceptive calm in the Achilleid (353–54 and passim), and serenity and harmony in the Silvae (28 and passim), but she does not press her analysis beyond the accumulation of imagery in the service of these themes as evidence of Statian amplificatio. This is particularly disappointing in an author so well placed to discuss the material culture of the Flavian epoch and the interrelations between Statius’ poetry (especially the Silvae) and the culture of display in Domitian’s Rome. Nevertheless, scholars will be grateful to Taisne for the material she has collected...

W. J. Dominik, Speech and Rhetoric in Statius' Thebaid (Altertumswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien XXVII). Hildesheim: Olms-Weidmann, 1994. Pp. xi + 377. ISBN 3-487-09814-8. DM 64. - A.-M. Taisne, L'esthétique de Stace: La peinture des correspondances (Collection d'études anciennes CXXII). Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1994. Pp. 433. ISBN 2-251-32644-8. Fr. 280.

W. J. Dominik, Speech and Rhetoric in Statius' Thebaid (Altertumswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien XXVII). Hildesheim: Olms-Weidmann, 1994. Pp. xi + 377. ISBN 3-487-09814-8. DM 64. - A.-M. Taisne, L'esthétique de Stace: La peinture des correspondances (Collection d'études anciennes CXXII). Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1994. Pp. 433. ISBN 2-251-32644-8. Fr. 280. - Volume 85

Solomos et Origène suivi de deux autres essais (review)

Reviews Octave Merlier, Solomos et Origène suivi de deux autres essaL·. Athens: Center of Asia Minor Studies (Archives Melpo and Octave Merlier, 2). 1990. Pp. 67. The French neohellenist Octave Merlier (1897-1976) displayed in various ways his great admiration for Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857), Greece's "national poet." It was he, for example, who organized the celebrated Solomos Exhibition at the French Institute in Athens in 1957 to honor the centenary of the poet's death, an event memorialized in the catalogue Exposition du centenaire de Solomos (Athens: Insütut Français d'Athènes, 1957). He was also responsible for the publication in the same year of Solomós's Éloge de Foseólo et autres textes, traduits de l'italien par Joseph Peretti et présentés par Octave Merlier (Athens: Collection de l'Institut Français d'Athènes, 104). After Linos Politis produced his two-volume edition of Solomós's works (Thessaloniki, 1964), Merlier presented to the third Pan-Ionion Congress, in September 1965, exemplary interpretative observations on the poet's manuscript notes and thoughts; these were published in the Πϕακτικά Τϕίτου Παντονίου Συνεδϕίου (Athens, 1969), vol. 2, pp. 113-118. For a general appreciation of Merlier's contributions to Solomos studies during his lifetime, see my obituary notice «O Octave Merlier (1897-1976) και q πϕοσφοϕά του στα νεοελληνικά γϕάμματα» that appeared originally in volume 25 of the Επιστημονική ΕπετηϕίςτηςΦιλοσοφικήςΣχολήςτουÎανεπιστημίουΑθηνών(1978)and is reprinted in my Εεοελληνικά. ΜελÎ-τες και ápdpa (Athens: Gnosis, 1984), volume 2, pp. 270-272. Merlier's most significant contribution to Solomos studies, in my opinion, is La Vhion prop^ique du moine Dionysios ou La femme de Xante. Essai d'anastylose de l'oeuvre. Introduction, traduction et commentaires par Octave Merlier (Paris: Société d'Édition Les Belles Lettres, 1987; Athens: Center of Asia Minor Studies [Archives Melpo and Octave Merlier, 1])—the edition of H γυναίκα της ΖάκυΟος to which he devoted twenty years of his life and which was not published until after his death. In reviewing this work (JMGS 7 [1989]: 174-177; also HΛÎ-ξη no. 73 [March-April 1988]: 318-320), I expressed the wish that in the future the Center of Asia Minor Studies might "offer us additional studies on Solomos from Octave Merlier's unpublished papers, prepared with the same exemplary care." This wish has now been fulfilled by the Center's new volume that makes available three interesting essays from the French neohellenist's posthumous papers: "Solomos et Origène" (pp. 5-20), "Solomos et Azaïs" (pp. 21^42), Journal of Modem Greek Studies, Volume 10, 1992. 271 272 Reviews and "Italien et grec chez Solomos" (pp. 43-58). In addition the new volume contains a preface by Paschalis M. KitromilÃ-dis, the Center's director (pp. 34 ). The index of proper names (pp. 59-67) was compiled by Eléni Papanicolaou , the Merliers' dedicated collaborator and friend. The stimulus to the first essay is a passage of Origen's that Solomos used as the epigraph to his manuscript Ot ελεϕθεϕοι πολιοϕκημÎ-νοι (where, more precisely, the title is Οι ελεϕθεϕοι πολιοϕκισμÎ-νοι—see p. 8 of Merlier's book). Merlier attempts to interpret Solomós's work according to the cosmological and anthropological theories of this great Christian thinker of the third century. Solomos quotes the passage in French: Le Père embrasse tout ce qui existe. Le Fils est borné aux seuh êtres intelligents et l'esprit aux seuL· élus. Origène (The Father embraces everything that exists. The Son is restricted to intelligent beings alone, the Holy Spirit to the elect alone). After specifying the source of this quotation to be none other than Origen's On First Principles, Merlier attempts unsuccessfully to locate the French translation from which Solomos took his quotation. Having failed in this quest, Merlier suggests that Solomos probably found the passage in some philosophic book that dealt with the subject of divine grace and free will or that referred to the history and theology of the persecuted Christian church. Merlier then attempts to explain Solomós's quotation within the context of Origen's overall cosmology. In an effort to overthrow Valentinus's and Marcion's gnostic theories about the existence of two creative principles, one good and the other evil, Origen formulated the theory that the...

Correction

In CR 41.1 (1991), pp. 7 and 226, the publisher of Paul Wathelet, Les Troyens de l'Iliade, and of Patrick Thollard, Barbarie et civilisation chez Strabon, was incorrectly stated to be Les Belles Lettres, Paris. The former book was published by the University de Liège, the latter by the University de Besanc.on; Les Belles Lettres is the distributor of both books.

La Vision prophétique du moine Dionysios ou La femme de Zante. Essai d' anastylose de l'oeuvre (review)

174 Reviews Dionysios Solomos, La Vüion prophétique du moine Dionysios ou La femme de Zante. Essai d' anastylose de l'oeuvre. Introduction, translation and commentary by Octave Merlier. Paris: Société d'Edition Les Belles Lettres. 1987. Athens: Center of Asia Minor Studies, Archives Melpo and Octave Merlier, I. Pp. 284. H γυναίκα της Ζάκυνθος is a milestone in demotic Greek literature . The second prose work of the poet Dionysios Solomos (1798— 1857), following the Diálogos (1823-1825), its first draft was completed in Zákynthos in 1826. It was subsequently reworked from the start in Corfu in 1828-1829, but then abandoned—perhaps because the author had spiritually outgrown it (see Emmanuel Kriarás, Σολωμός. O βίος—To épyo. Athens: Estia, 1970:66. 2nd Edition). Untitled, the work is included in Zákynthos holograph notebook no. 13. In addition, a transcription prepared by Iákovos Polylás (1826-1896) is extant in the National Library of Greece. The pages of the holograph, in large 4° format, are divided into two columns. The left-hand column contains the Greek text, clearly written and easily legible, with only a few cancellations and corrections. Later additions and corrections to the original draft, as well as the poet's notations in Italian, are recorded in the right-hand column. The notations are extremely improvisatory ; presumably they were meant to be consulted during a subsequent reworking of the text—something that never took place. Polylás' edition of Solomos' Τα ευϕισκόμενα (1859) did not include the entire text of The Woman of Zákynthos but only its third chapter, inserted among his prolegomena. The entire work was published for the first time by K. Kairofylas in 1927 (Σολωμοϕ ΑνÎ-κδοτα Î-ϕγα. Αθήνα: Στοχαστή) and was reissued in 1944 by Linos Politis in a self-contained edition based on Polylás' transcription. In 1955 Politis reissued the text as Volume 2 of Solomos' Απαντα (Athens: Ikaros), this time employing as well the Zákynthos holograph. Starting in 1927, scholars concerned with Solomos' work began to consider the textual problems arising from The Woman of Zákynthos' mode of publication, as well as problems of interpretation. Preeminent among these works is that of the late French neohellenist Octave Merlier (1897—1976), who devoted approximately twenty years to the preparation of a new edition of The Woman of Zákynthos. We may now enjoy the results of this labor thanks to the affectionate efforts of the Center of Asia Minor Studies, and in particular to philologists Eléni Papanikoláou and Odysséas Dimitrakópoulos. In his Introduction (pp. 11-13), Merlier discusses Polylás' suppression of parts of the work and investigates the identity of the person concealed behind the woman of Zákynthos. Regarding the latter, he Reviews 175 concludes that this mysterious person is not "equal" merely to one of Solomos' relatives; rather, she coalesces traits of other women whom Solomos detested. Nor does she symbolize English rule. Merlier concludes , furthermore, that it was the poet's brother, Dimitrios Solomos, who forbade the work's publication after recognizing in it several ladies from his circle. In the "Introductory Note" that follows (pp. 15-21), Merlier discusses the work's subject matter (as we noted above, the work is untitled; the current title was invented by the first publisher because the woman answers frequently throughout the work). The subject matter includes the prophecies of the holy monk Dionysios, his adventures, description of the woman of Zákynthos, prophecies regarding the siege of Missolónghi, the woman's behavior vis-à -vis the female refugees from Missolónghi, the scene with the mirror, and death. Afterwards, Merlier refers to the Italian notes by Solomos that enrich the Greek text. Readers of Greek are confronted by two versions —the Greek of the principal text and the Italian of the notessomething that inhibits them from registering the unity of Solomos' thought. It is precisely this unity that Merlier seeks. Extracting from the notes whatever can be incorporated in the principal text, he senses that he has "reassembled" a new text that, compared to the text in its exclusively Greek form, displays a greater integrity and a more logical construction that is easier to interpret—even though it, too, remains incomplete...

Reviews

CentaurusVolume 31, Issue 3 p. 312-337 Reviews First published: October 1988 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0498.1988.tb00742.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Wilbur Knorr, The Ancient Tradition of Geometric Problems. Cambridge, Mass. (Birk-häuser Boston Inc.) R. Rashed, Sharaf al-Dln al-Túsí, oeuvres mathématiques. Algèbre et géométrie au XIP siècle. Paris (Sociétéédition ‘Les Belles Lettres’) Volume31, Issue3October 1988Pages 312-337 RelatedInformation

A Cluster of (Old) Portuguese Derivational Suffixes:-ece, -ice, -ez(a),Viewed in Relation to their Spanish Counterparts

A Cluster of (Old) Portuguese Derivational Suffixes:<i>-ece, -ice, -ez(a),</i>Viewed in Relation to their Spanish Counterparts

Further Letters of Blanco White to Robert Southey

Further Letters of Blanco White to Robert Southey

(Apollonius) Rhodius. Argonautiques. Tome iii. Chant 4. Ed. F. Vian. Trans. E. Delage and F. Vian. (Association G. Budé.) Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1981. Pp. xi + 273, 4 folding col. maps at rear. Price for cloth bound ed. not stated; price for paper boards ed. Fr. 131.

(Apollonius) Rhodius. Argonautiques. Tome iii. Chant 4. Ed. F. Vian. Trans. E. Delage and F. Vian. (Association G. Budé.) Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1981. Pp. xi + 273, 4 folding col. maps at rear. Price for cloth bound ed. not stated; price for paper boards ed. Fr. 131. - Volume 103

A Rumanian Commentary on the Septem - Liana Lupaş and Zoe Petre: Commentaire aux Sept contre Thèbes d'Eschyle.Bucharest and Paris: Editura Academiei and Les Belles Lettres, 1981. Pp. x + 301. Paper, 11.50 lei.

A Rumanian Commentary on the Septem - Liana Lupaş and Zoe Petre: Commentaire aux Sept contre Thèbes d'Eschyle.Bucharest and Paris: Editura Academiei and Les Belles Lettres, 1981. Pp. x + 301. Paper, 11.50 lei. - Volume 32 Issue 2

Synesius of Cyrene. Tome 1. Hymnes. Ed. and trans. C. Lacombrade. (Budé.) Paris: ‘Les Belles Lettres’. 1978. Pp. xlix + 139. Fr. 115 (bound), Fr. 85 (paper).

Synesius of Cyrene. Tome 1. Hymnes. Ed. and trans. C. Lacombrade. (Budé.) Paris: ‘Les Belles Lettres’. 1978. Pp. xlix + 139. Fr. 115 (bound), Fr. 85 (paper).

REVIEWS

REVIEWS Get access Saint Basile: Lettres. Edited and translated by YVES COURTONNE. Vol. I. Pp. xxv+446. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1957. 1,500 fr. H. CHADWICK H. CHADWICK Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume IX, Issue 2, October 1958, Pages 377–378, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/IX.2.377 Published: 01 October 1958

Memorandum on the Teaching of English; London through the Ages; Dans les Senders de la Renaissance Anglaise

Memorandum on the Teaching of English; London through the Ages; Dans les Senders de la Renaissance Anglaise Get access Memorandum on the Teaching of English. Compiled by the Association of Assistant Mistresses in Secondary Schools. University of London Press. 3s. (paper).London through the Ages. By Dorothy Margaret Stuart. Methuen. 15s.Dans les Senders de la Renaissance Anglaise. By Émile Legouis. Société d'Édition ‘Les Belles Lettres’, 95 Boulevard Raspail, Paris (VIe). English: Journal of the English Association, Volume 11, Issue 62, Summer 1956, Pages 73–74, https://doi.org/10.1093/english/11.62.73 Published: 01 July 1956

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Émile Zola. Principes et caractères généraux de son œuvre. By GUY ROBERT. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 1952. 208 pp. 400 fr. Repetition in Zola's Novels. By CALVIN S. BROWN (University of Georgia Monographs, No. 1). Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press. 1952. 124 pp. $1.75. F W. J. HEMMINGS F W. J. HEMMINGS LEICESTER Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar French Studies, Volume VII, Issue 1, January 1953, Pages 77–79, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/VII.1.77 Published: 01 January 1953

Ferrifodinae and Similar Compounds

ProfessorLinsay has called my attention to the need for an examination of these compounds, with a view to ascertaining whether they are ever used in the Singular by Latin writers, or always in the Plural.From a scholium, probably by Donatus, on Aen. X. 173:(Ilua) insula inexhaustis Chalybum generosa metallis, has come a gloss which appears in the Ansileubus Glossary (just published in Vol. I. of Glossaria Latina, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1926) in two forms:FR 205 Frofra (!): insula Tirreno mari in quo (qua) ferrifodina &lt;e&gt; exercentur, RU 77 Rufa: insula Tirreni maris in qua ferrifodina exercetur.