Stage 42 Culture

Question 1

For what reasons did Quintilian feel that all future Roman leaders should study poetry above all other forms of literature?

Answer 1

• Served as inspiration
• Elevation of language
• Evoked emotions
• Delineated character

Question 2

What downsides did poetry have, however, as a model to prepare someone to speak in a law court?

Answer 2

• Emphasis on entertainment
• Unrealistic images
• Constraining rules for rhythm and structure

Question 3

What kind of poet does Horace describe as ‘superior’ in his work Ars Poetica?

Answer 3

A poet whose work is useful and pleasurable (can delight and advise at the same time)

Question 4

Look at the graffito on page 145. What evidence does it provide that the average Roman citizen “was well aware of the characteristics of Latin poetry and able to use them effectively”?

Answer 4

• It was written in Latin verse in elegiac couplet (the structure and rhythm which Martial also used)
• Used stylistic and rhetorical devices (Personifies the wall, metaphors, humor)

Question 5

How does Latin meter differ from English meter?

Answer 5

• Latin meter - based on the number of long and short syllables in a line
• English meter - based on the stressed and unstressed syllables

Question 6

Explain the relationship between Latin and Greek poetry and how it evolved.

Answer 6

• Greek - originally seen as the language of literature (Greek poetry closely related to music)
• Latin poets borrowed the meter from Greek poetry
• Eventually Latin poets changed Greek meters to Latin, Latin became main literary language

Question 7

Give four examples of rhetorical devices made use of by Roman poets.

Answer 7

Connotations, antithesis, parallelism, sound effects

Question 8

What is it about Latin as a language that makes word order such a useful tool for poets?

Answer 8

• Latin as an inflected language - the ending of the word denotes its meaning, not the word order
• Latin poets could vary their word order

Question 9

Give three examples of ways in which a poet might use word order to create a particular effect.

Answer 9

• An important word could be first or last in a verse
• A word could be put in between a pair of related words
• A word could be juxtaposed with another

Question 10

What three types of references would Roman poets use in their work?

Answer 10

Mythology, history, geography

Question 11

When analyzing a piece of poetry, what must we examine in addition to recognizing and labeling poetic devices?

Answer 11

Analyzing how the poet uses and blends stylistic devices