Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia?
This essay considers two witnesses to the reception of Horace in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, particularly Epode 5, which features one of Horace's most disturbing and disruptive figures, the witch Canidia. One witness is the comic reworking of Epode 5 in Anselmo da Besate's Rhetori...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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University of Milan
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures |
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| Online Access: | http://riviste.unimi.it/interfaces/article/view/7676 |
| _version_ | 1831647363644522496 |
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| author | Monika Otter |
| author_facet | Monika Otter |
| author_sort | Monika Otter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay considers two witnesses to the reception of Horace in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, particularly Epode 5, which features one of Horace's most disturbing and disruptive figures, the witch Canidia. One witness is the comic reworking of Epode 5 in Anselmo da Besate's Rhetorimachia; the other is a drawing in Leiden ms. Gronovius 15, which shows Canidia and her young victim, the boy whom she is intending to kill in order to make a love charm. Horace was a standard school author, and these two witnesses also point to a scholastic context of some sort. I examine them closely to consider what sort of "sex education," or socialization and initiation to a sexual role, might be accomplished by exposing young students to the more bizarre and obscene elements of Horace's poetry (even when deflected into comedy), and the threat to one's poise and composure, the embarrassment that comes with them. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:13:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6debf0d4623745a8a0f343144d72308f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2421-5503 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T14:13:02Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | University of Milan |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures |
| spelling | doaj.art-6debf0d4623745a8a0f343144d72308f2022-12-21T20:18:04ZdeuUniversity of MilanInterfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures2421-55032017-06-0103718910.13130/interfaces-76767197Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia?Monika Otter0Dartmouth CollegeThis essay considers two witnesses to the reception of Horace in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, particularly Epode 5, which features one of Horace's most disturbing and disruptive figures, the witch Canidia. One witness is the comic reworking of Epode 5 in Anselmo da Besate's Rhetorimachia; the other is a drawing in Leiden ms. Gronovius 15, which shows Canidia and her young victim, the boy whom she is intending to kill in order to make a love charm. Horace was a standard school author, and these two witnesses also point to a scholastic context of some sort. I examine them closely to consider what sort of "sex education," or socialization and initiation to a sexual role, might be accomplished by exposing young students to the more bizarre and obscene elements of Horace's poetry (even when deflected into comedy), and the threat to one's poise and composure, the embarrassment that comes with them.http://riviste.unimi.it/interfaces/article/view/7676Horacemedieval commentariesmedieval school education |
| spellingShingle | Monika Otter Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures Horace medieval commentaries medieval school education |
| title | Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? |
| title_full | Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? |
| title_fullStr | Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? |
| title_short | Medieval Sex Education, Or: What About Canidia? |
| title_sort | medieval sex education or what about canidia |
| topic | Horace medieval commentaries medieval school education |
| url | http://riviste.unimi.it/interfaces/article/view/7676 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT monikaotter medievalsexeducationorwhataboutcanidia |