The Muse at Play: Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry

Description

Riddles and other word games are widespread in classical literature and played a crucial role in shaping Greek and Roman cultural discourses, yet few efforts have been made to treat them in all their variety and complexity. This volume, the fruit of a conference held in May 2011 by the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of Warsaw, gathers contributions on a range of topics linked by the theme of linguistic play. With its broad spectrum of approaches, the book serves as companion to a fascinating but somewhat neglected area of ancient culture - the domain of the Playful Muse. The Muse at Play: An Introduction I. Discourses of Play The Sympotic Tease “You Make Less Sense than a (New) Dithyramb”: Sociology of a Riddling Style Magic Squares, Alphabet Jumbles, Riddles and More: The Culture of Word-Games among the Graffiti of Pompeii II. The Ancient Riddle: Theory and Practice What Has It Got in Its Pocketses? Or, What Makes a Riddle a Riddle? Technopaegnia in Heraclitus and the Delphic Oracles: Shared Compositional Techniques “Gods Cannot Tell Lies”: Riddling and Ancient Greek Divination Were There Hellenistic Riddle Books? The Rhetoric of the Riddle in the Alexandra of Lycophron In scirpo nodum: Symphosius’ Reworking of the Riddle Form III. Visual Poetry in the Text and on the Stone The Treachery of Verbal Images: Viewing the Greek technopaegnia Nicander’s Aesopic Acrostic and Its Antidote Greek Acrostic Verse Inscriptions Sopha grammata: Acrostichs in Greek and Latin Inscriptions from Arachosia, Nubia and Libya IV. Case Studies Versus anacyclici: The Case of P. Sorb. 72v (= adesp. com. fr. 52 PCG) A Palindrome, an Acrostich and a Riddle: Three Solutions Triple Tipple: Ausonius’ Griphus ternarii numeri V. Playful Receptions The Aulularia inversa of Joannes Burmeister Waste of Time or Artistic Expression? Notes on poesis artificiosa of the Modern Era Note on Contributors and Editors Index of Passages Discussed General Index