Metaquotation: Homer and the Emperor

HESLIN, PETER

Abstract

For the emperor, quoting Homer was both a danger and an opportunity. Suetonius’ Lives shows that anecdotes of quotation circulated widely to characterise the emperor for good or for ill. Subsequently, these moments could themselves become the subject of allusion. If you quote a line of Homer that was famously quoted by the emperor, are you quoting the poet or Caesar? This phenomenon, whereby a poetic cliché could be reborn as charged reference to a prior use of that tag by a well-known figure, might be termed metaquotation. This ambiguity of reference was exploited throughout Seneca's Apocolocyntosis, and in turn by readers of that text in antiquity.

Citation

HESLIN, P. (online). Metaquotation: Homer and the Emperor. The Journal of Roman Studies, 113, 51-77. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435823000321

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 4, 2023
• Online Publication Date: May 24, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 15, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Roman Studies
• Print ISSN: 0075-4358
• Electronic ISSN: 1753-528X
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 113
• Pages: 51-77
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075435823000321
• Keywords: Literature and Literary Theory; Archeology; Visual Arts and Performing Arts; History; Archeology; Classics
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1718404