Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil
In this article I begin by comparing and contrasting our reading practice regarding acrostics with our practice regarding allusions and intertexts, looking in particular at the problematic notion of authorial intention; I suggest an approach that assumes that ancient learned readers were on the loo...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Fabrizio Serra editore
2019
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| _version_ | 1797089479288160256 |
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| author | Robinson, M |
| author_facet | Robinson, M |
| author_sort | Robinson, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | In this article I begin by comparing and contrasting our reading practice regarding acrostics with our practice regarding allusions and intertexts, looking in particular at the problematic notion of authorial intention; I suggest an approach that assumes that ancient learned readers were on the look-out for acrostics, just as they were for allusions, and that they would test them for significance (as we imagine they did for allusions). I then apply this approach to the beginning and end of the Aeneid, and the beginning of the Metamorphoses, exploring how our reading of these well-studied passages changes if we pay attention to the acrostics and telestics that this process unearths. I note among other things how the presence of ilus, of arma and a man, and of a Horatian mus and a Vergilian erato can enrich our reading of the text. I close with an old and particularly controversial acrostic in Eclogue 4 (cacata) that presents a potential challenge to my approach. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:04:40Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:b2178091-dec7-4e78-8c50-3baa1ade2a80 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:04:40Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Fabrizio Serra editore |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:b2178091-dec7-4e78-8c50-3baa1ade2a802022-03-27T04:09:10ZArms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and VergilJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b2178091-dec7-4e78-8c50-3baa1ade2a80EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordFabrizio Serra editore2019Robinson, M In this article I begin by comparing and contrasting our reading practice regarding acrostics with our practice regarding allusions and intertexts, looking in particular at the problematic notion of authorial intention; I suggest an approach that assumes that ancient learned readers were on the look-out for acrostics, just as they were for allusions, and that they would test them for significance (as we imagine they did for allusions). I then apply this approach to the beginning and end of the Aeneid, and the beginning of the Metamorphoses, exploring how our reading of these well-studied passages changes if we pay attention to the acrostics and telestics that this process unearths. I note among other things how the presence of ilus, of arma and a man, and of a Horatian mus and a Vergilian erato can enrich our reading of the text. I close with an old and particularly controversial acrostic in Eclogue 4 (cacata) that presents a potential challenge to my approach. |
| spellingShingle | Robinson, M Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title | Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title_full | Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title_fullStr | Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title_short | Arms and a mouse: Approaching acrostics in Ovid and Vergil |
| title_sort | arms and a mouse approaching acrostics in ovid and vergil |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robinsonm armsandamouseapproachingacrosticsinovidandvergil |