stage 36 culture Flashcards
How might an author first present his work and where?
- They might present it to a listening audience first (Ie: street corner, barber’s shop, colonnade in the forum)
- Could be entertaining or annoying
What was Martial’s complaint about Ligurinus?
- He followed him everywhere (dinner, the street, baths, public bathrooms, sleeping) and tried to recite poetry to him
Where also (more comfortably) might a first reading have taken place? Who might have been there?
- In front of a chosen group of listeners at a dinner party (Patron and his family, Friends)
How could some hosts make nuisances of themselves?
- By reading boring or bad work to their guests
What was a recitātiō? For what two purposes was it given?
- Recitatio: special occasion where a writer would read their work for the first time in front of a chosen audience
- Purpose:
1) The audience could hear the writers’ work
2) They could decide whether or not to buy a copy of the writer’s work
List three places where a recitātiō might be given. Describe the setting of the reading.
- Writer’s house
- House of his patron
- Rented hall (auditorium)
Setting:
- Cushioned chairs at the front for important guests (benches or tiered seats on temporary scaffolding behind)
- Slaves who would hand out programs
- Raised platform for the poet
- Person reciting the poem = recitator
Who paid for the costs of the recitātiō?
The author or the patron
What might an unscrupulous or anxious author do?
Have his friends or hired clappers sit in the front and applaud at certain times
Who usually gave the readings? For what reason would there be an exception?
- The author usually read his own work
- If they were bad at reading (ie: Pliny the Younger) a freedman could read for them
Describe the recital procedure. How long might it have lasted?
Recital procedure
- The writer wore a freshly cleaned toga
- The writer gave a short intro (praefatio) and then sat down to read their work
- Lasted up to 3 days
What amusing accident happened at Emperor Claudius’ reading?
- A fat audience member sat down on a flimsy bench and it broke
- The audience laughed and Emperor Claudius could not continue his reading
Why was a historian asked not to read the next installment of his work? How could this cancellation have helped the sale of the book?
- Some people asked him not to continue his reading because it was about an event that they were a part of
- The historian (writer) could have been Tacitus who wrote abt the mistakes of Emperor Domitian
- People were more curious about the reading after the recitatio was canceled
According to Pliny, some people behaved frivolously at readings. Describe some of this behavior.
- Some people will wait outside the hall and send their slaves inside to tell them when the recitatio is almost over
- Then, they will come back into the hall at the end and sometimes leave before it was over (some were discreet, others were bold)
Explain how each of these authors viewed public readings:
1) Pliny the Younger - though they were very important
2) Martial - laughed at them once he was an established poet
3) Seneca - ironic - thought that people didn’t actually want to hear the readings
4) Juvenal - didn’t like them, thought they were not good parts of life in Rome
Pros of recitationes
- Authors could show their work to a lot of people w/ out using the money and labor needed to make books
- The audience could decide if the work was worth publishing
- Libraries/ books were not accessible to public - recitationes allowed then to sample new work
- Author could get feedback on the work for the final version
