Joannes Burmeister of Lüneburg (1576-1638) was among the greatest Neo-Latin poets of the German Baroque. His masterpieces, now mostly lost, are Christian ‘inversions’ of the classical Roman comedies of Plautus. With o... more abstractJoannes Burmeister of Lüneburg (1576-1638) was among the greatest Neo-Latin poets of the German Baroque. His masterpieces, now mostly lost, are Christian ‘inversions’ of the classical Roman comedies of Plautus. With only minimal changes in language and none in meter, each transforms Plautus’ pagan plays into comedies based on biblical themes. Singular Renaissance curiosities in their day, they have since been entirely forgotten. This volume offers the first critical edition of the newly discovered Aulularia (1629), which exists in a sole copy, and the fragments of Mater-Virgo (1621), which adapts Plautus’ Amphitryo to show the Nativity of Jesus. The introduction offers reconstructions of Susanna (based on Casina) and Asinaria (1625), his two lost or unpublished inversions of Plautus. It also provides the only biography of Burmeister based on archival sources, along with discussions of his inimitable Latinity and the perilous context of war and witch burning in which he wrote. Scholars of early modern literature will take special interest in the poetic German plot summaries (also translated), while students of the Thirty Years War or the Holy Roman Empire will want to add Burmeister's contemporary view of military abuses to those later expressed in Grimmelshausen's Simplicius Simplicissimus.

Roman Comedy, German Baroque Literature, Plautus, and Neolatin Literature

More Info: Edited, translated, and introduced by Michael Fontaine

Publisher: Leuven University Press (Bibliotheca Latinitatis Novae)

Publication Date: Jul 2014

In recent decades literary approaches to drama have multiplied: new historical, intertextual, political, performative and metatheatrical, socio-linguistic, gender-driven, transgenre-driven. New information has been am... more abstractIn recent decades literary approaches to drama have multiplied: new historical, intertextual, political, performative and metatheatrical, socio-linguistic, gender-driven, transgenre-driven. New information has been amassed, sometimes by re-examination of extant literary texts and material artifacts, at other times from new discoveries from the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, art history, and literary studies. The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy marks the first comprehensive introduction to and reference work for the unified study of ancient comedy. From the birth of comedy in Greece to its end in Rome, from the Hellenistic diffusion of performances after the death of Menander to its artistic, scholarly, and literary receptions in the later Roman Empire, no topic is neglected. 41 essays spread across Greek Comedy, Roman Comedy, and the transmission and reception of Ancient comedy by an international team of experts offer cutting-edge guides through the immense terrain of the field, while an expert introduction surveys the major trends and shifts in scholarly study of comedy from the 1960s to today. The Handbook includes two detailed appendices that provide invaluable research tools for both scholars and students. The result offers Hellenists an excellent overview of the earliest reception and creative reuse of Greek New Comedy, Latinists a broad perspective of the evolution of Roman Comedy, and scholars and students of classics an excellent resource and tipping point for future interdisciplinary research.

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publication Date: Jan 2014

"Plautus, Rome's earliest extant poet, was acclaimed by ancient critics above all for his mastery of language and his felicitous jokes; and yet in modern times relatively little attention has been devoted to elucidati... more abstract"Plautus, Rome's earliest extant poet, was acclaimed by ancient critics above all for his mastery of language and his felicitous jokes; and yet in modern times relatively little attention has been devoted to elucidating these elements fully. In Funny Words in Plautine Comedy, Michael Fontaine reassesses some of the premises and nature of Plautus' comedies. Mixing textual and literary criticism, Fontaine argues that many of Plautus' jokes and puns were misunderstood already in antiquity, and that with them the names and identities of some familiar characters were misconceived. Central to his study are issues of Plautine language, style, psychology, coherence of characterization, and irony. By examining the comedian's tendency to make up and misuse words, Fontaine sheds new light on the close connection between Greek and Roman comedy. Considerable attention is also paid to Plautus' audience and to the visual elements in his plays. The result is a reappraisal that will challenge many received views of Plautus, positioning him as a poet writing in the Hellenistic tradition for a knowledgeable and sophisticated audience. All quotations from Latin, Greek, and other foreign languages are translated. Extensive indices, including a "pundex," facilitate ease of reference among the many jokes and plays on words discussed in the text. Reviews: American Journal of Philology 132.3 (2011), 510-3 (A. Sharrock); Ancient History Bulletin Online Reviews 1 (2011), 67-70 (W. Stockert); BMCR (J. Tatum); Gnomon 83.8 (2011), 692-5 (Jo. Henderson); Greece and Rome 58.1 (2011) 116-117 (R. Langlands); Journal of Roman Studies 101 (2011), 9-14 (S. Goldberg); New England Classical Journal 37.4 (2010), 296-8 (D. Christenson)"""

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publication Date: 2010

Lucius, the narrator of Apuleius' Golden Ass, meets the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia. This observation suggests (1) that schizophrenia is not a recent disease, as historians of psychiatry assert, but that—what... more abstractLucius, the narrator of Apuleius' Golden Ass, meets the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia. This observation suggests (1) that schizophrenia is not a recent disease, as historians of psychiatry assert, but that—whatever its origin and nature—it is at least ancient and probably eternal. It also suggests (2) that Lucius is an unreliable narrator of the novel because he believes his own delusions even more sincerely than most readers do. This paper begins with a caveat that it represents no more than a thought experiment in progress. It draws together ideas I have developed piecemeal over many years of thinking about Apuleius' Golden Ass in the light of J. J. Winkler's ideas about the novel's unreliable narrator. Winkler (1985) attributed the novel's unreliable narrator to Apuleius' experimentation with a kind of narrative akin to modern detective fiction. In this paper, I would like to suggest a different reason. As I

Psychology, Social Psychology, Psychiatry, Classics, Latin Literature, and 5 more

Journal Name: ELECTRYONE (ΗΛΕΚΤΡΥΩΝΗ)

Publication Date: 2016

Review essay of Mary Beard, SPQR.

History, Classics, Foreign Policy Analysis, Political Science, European Foreign Policy, and 1 more

Classics, Greek Literature, Latin Literature, Greek Comedy, and Roman Comedy

Publisher: Verlag-Antike

Publication Name: Fragmente einer Geschichte der griechischen Komödie/Fragmentary History of Greek Comedy

Psychology, Psychiatry, Philosophy, Classics, History of Medicine, and 6 more

Euripides' Bacchae eerily predicts the murder of Joseph Smith, Jr., and the violent persecution of the Mormons in America. What does that tell us about ourselves? https://medium.com/eidolon/american-bacchae-389f72f3f172

Religion, American History, American Politics, Classics, Greek Tragedy, and 4 more

Roman poets and readers seem to have taken it for granted that our preoccupations determine and affect the words we utter in moments of extreme emotion. By noticing how those words resemble other words, therefore, we... more abstractRoman poets and readers seem to have taken it for granted that our preoccupations determine and affect the words we utter in moments of extreme emotion. By noticing how those words resemble other words, therefore, we can sometimes decode or glimpse an anguished speaker’s private thoughts. This is the conclusion suggested by several puns in the poetry of Virgil, Lucretius, and Catullus, puns that are better explained by a psycholinguistic than a psychoanalytic (Freudian) model. Since they appear in correct, ordinary speech—in contrast to Freudian slips, in which the pun results from a speech error—I call them ‘Freudian bullseyes.’

Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Philosophy of Mind, Classics, Latin Literature, and 6 more

Publication Date: 2016

Publication Name: P. Mitsis and I. Ziogas (eds.), Wordplay and Powerplay in Latin Poetry. Trends in Classics, DeGruyter. Berlin/Boston.

The essay is online at https://medium.com/eidolon/straight-talk-about-gay-marriage-in-ancient-rome-9fd466672152

Comparative Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Law, Classics, Gay And Lesbian Studies, and 7 more

Publication Name: Eidolon

This paper supplements my Funny Words in Plautine Comedy (2010) by reinterpreting two famous “Plautine elements in Plautus.” Part one (on Amphitryo 303-7) argues that the pun on Quintus (the name) and quattuor, “four,... more abstractThis paper supplements my Funny Words in Plautine Comedy (2010) by reinterpreting two famous “Plautine elements in Plautus.” Part one (on Amphitryo 303-7) argues that the pun on Quintus (the name) and quattuor, “four,” translates a pun in the Greek model on Pentheus and tettaras, “four.” Part two (on Captivi 84) argues that rurant “they are in the countryside,” should be rorant, “they are glistening,” sc. unguento, “with after-bath oil.” The examples suggest Plautus’ genius lay as much or more in inspired translation as it does in his “originality.”

Classics, Greek Comedy, Textual Criticism, Roman Comedy, Plautus, and 2 more

Publication Name: Classical Journal

After the holocaust there was nowhere to go. It was too dangerous to stay, so the survivors banded together and set sail for another continent, to their God-given ancestral homeland of long ago. But they got there onl... more abstractAfter the holocaust there was nowhere to go. It was too dangerous to stay, so the survivors banded together and set sail for another continent, to their God-given ancestral homeland of long ago. But they got there only to find that other people were already living in it, and the natives weren’t about to surrender or quit their land just because a bunch of ragtag refugees have come along claiming divine title to it. War, terrorism, and atrocities follow. This is the story of Virgil's Aeneid.

Classics, Latin Literature, Roman History, Jewish Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and 13 more

This paper makes three main points. 1, A lost Neo-Latin comedy by the German poet Joannes Burmeister, titled Susanna, exposes many features of the biblical Susanna story that point to an origin in Greek New Comedy.... more abstractThis paper makes three main points. 1, A lost Neo-Latin comedy by the German poet Joannes Burmeister, titled Susanna, exposes many features of the biblical Susanna story that point to an origin in Greek New Comedy. 2, Daniel's puns at the climax of the biblical story are newly shown to be double entendres alluding, as in Plautus' Miles Gloriosus, to punitive castration. 3, It is argued that Nicholas of Damascus is the likeliest author of the biblical account of Susanna.

Classics, Greek Literature, Latin Literature, Greek Comedy, Jewish Studies, and 5 more

Publication Date: 2016

Publication Name: To appear in: Roman Drama and its Contexts, edited by Gesine Manuwald, Stephen Harrison and Stavros Frangoulidis. Trends in Classics-Supplementary Volumes. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2016.

Some think morbus hepatiarius is a real diagnosis and that it means "liver disease" (from ἧπαρ, liver). Others think it is a joke diagnosis and that it means "pâté disease" (from ἡπάτιον,pâté ). I say... more abstract Some think morbus hepatiarius is a real diagnosis and that it means "liver disease" (from ἧπαρ, liver). Others think it is a joke diagnosis and that it means "pâté disease" (from ἡπάτιον,pâté ). I say it is a humorous diagnosis and that it means "hepatus-fish disease" (from ἥπατος, a fish that has no pyloric caeca). Parallels from Greek and Plautine comedy support this interpretation, which emerges as only one of several medical jokes alluding to the Asclepieion, or medical complex, of Epidaurus, where the play is set.

Classics, Latin Literature, Greek Comedy, Humor, Gastroenterology, and 5 more

My statement to accompany the roundtable discussion " Vox populo: The Risks and Rewards of Public Scholarship" at the upcoming Society for Classical Studies annual meeting in San Francisco (January 2016)

Classics, Public Relations, Israel/Palestine, Social Media, Public Intellectuals, and 1 more

Classics, Latin Literature, Peace and Conflict Studies, Middle East Studies, Literature, and 6 more

Time: 4 PM to 6 PM

Location: Temple University, 342 Anderson Hall

Event Date: Oct 14, 2015

Lucius, the narrator of Apuleius’ Golden Ass, meets the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia. This realization suggests (1) that schizophrenia is not a recent disease, as historians of psychiatry assert, but that—what... more abstractLucius, the narrator of Apuleius’ Golden Ass, meets the diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia. This realization suggests (1) that schizophrenia is not a recent disease, as historians of psychiatry assert, but that—whatever its origin and nature—it is at least ancient and probably eternal. It also suggests (2) that Lucius is an unreliable narrator of the novel *because* he believes his own delusions even more sincerely than most readers do.

Psychiatry, Classics, Latin Literature, Schizophrenia, History of Psychiatry, and 1 more

Psychiatry, Classics, Greek Literature, Theology, Schizophrenia, and 2 more

Time: 2 PM to 4 PM

Location: New York City

Event Date: Oct 21, 2015

Organization: The Richardson History of Psychiatry Research Seminar, Cornell University-Weill Cornell Medical College

The Josef Martin Lecture (also the keynote address of the NeoLatina conference on Camerarius Polyhistor, Wuerzburg, Germany)

European History, Classics, Early Modern History, History of Psychiatry, Salem Witchcraft Trials, and 6 more

Time: 8 PM to 9 PM

Event Date: Jul 2, 2015

Organization: University of Wuerzburg

Ancient History, Classics, Greek Literature, Latin Literature, Hellenistic Literature, and 4 more

Event Date: Apr 8, 2015

Organization: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (The Library of Alexandria)

Virgil's Aeneid is shot through with puns, but what do they mean? If they aren't funny, if they aren't etymological glosses, and if we reject psychoanalytic explanations, how can we explain them? I offer a new mode... more abstractVirgil's Aeneid is shot through with puns, but what do they mean? If they aren't funny, if they aren't etymological glosses, and if we reject psychoanalytic explanations, how can we explain them? I offer a new model to show how classical Latin authors believed guilty thoughts spill over into and determine ordinary language, and what that means for Latin literature generally.

Psychology, Psychiatry, Classics, Latin Literature, Psycholinguistics, and 4 more

Location: Fondation Hardt, Geneva, Switzerland

Event Date: Nov 7, 2014

Organization: Les mots sous les textes : Interpreting wordplay in greek and latin poetry

"Un giorno nel 1621, un poeta laureato del Sacro Romano Impero di nome Giovanni Burmeister (1576-1638) ha avuto un momento di eureka. Colpito da coincidenze tra la Casina di Plauto e il racconto biblico di Susanna e d... more abstract"Un giorno nel 1621, un poeta laureato del Sacro Romano Impero di nome Giovanni Burmeister (1576-1638) ha avuto un momento di eureka. Colpito da coincidenze tra la Casina di Plauto e il racconto biblico di Susanna e dei vecchioni, cominciò a scrivere una commedia Neo-latina basata riga per riga sulla favola Plautina. Così facendo, a mio avviso, e senza saperlo, ha invertito il processo stesso che ha generato la storia biblica. In questo lavoro, io sostengo che Susanna non si basa sulla parola di Dio, ma su una commedia greca della Nea. L’autore più probabile è Difilo di Sinope (342-291 a.C.), contemporaneo di Menandro e autore dell’ originale greco delle Casina e Rudens Plautine. A mio avviso, quindi, la storia di Susanna è analoga ad una commedia romana: cioè, un adattamento di una commedia della Nea, ma ad una ellenistico-ebraica, piuttosto che ellenistico-romana, impostazione."

Greek Literature, Latin Literature, Theology, Biblical Studies, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and 1 more

Time: 11 AM to 12 PM

Event Date: Jun 12, 2014

Organization: University of Pisa

Plautus’ Roman comedy Menaechmi (The Two Menaechmuses) of c. 200 BC anticipates in fictional form the famous Rosenhan experiment of 1973, a landmark critique of psychiatric diagnosis. An analysis of the scenes of feig... more abstractPlautus’ Roman comedy Menaechmi (The Two Menaechmuses) of c. 200 BC anticipates in fictional form the famous Rosenhan experiment of 1973, a landmark critique of psychiatric diagnosis. An analysis of the scenes of feigned madness and psychiatric examination suggests that the play (and the earlier Greek play from which it was adapted) offers two related ethical reflections, one on the validity of psychiatric diagnoses, the other on the validity of the entire medical model of insanity—that is, of the popular notion and political truth that mental illness is a (bodily) disease “like any other.” This talk is offered as a contribution to the interpretation of the play as well as to the history of psychiatry.

Psychology, Psychiatry, Latin Literature, Mental Health, History of Psychiatry, and 3 more

Time: 12 PM to 2 PM

Location: Syracuse, New York

Event Date: Sep 11, 2014

Organization: SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds

A letter reflecting on "The Celebration of the Life and Work of Thomas Szasz," sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at Upstate Medical University August 8, 2014. Text by Michael Fontaine, introduced by Jeffrey S... more abstractA letter reflecting on "The Celebration of the Life and Work of Thomas Szasz," sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at Upstate Medical University August 8, 2014. Text by Michael Fontaine, introduced by Jeffrey Schaler. Primarily hosted on http://www.szasz.com/.

Psychology, Psychiatry, Plato, Mental Health, Suicide, and 6 more

This is an interim report, commissioned by a colleague working on the history of medicine, on the idea that Hep! Hep! originates as an acronym of the Crusader-Latin phrase Hierosolyma est perdita (Jerusalem is Lost or... more abstractThis is an interim report, commissioned by a colleague working on the history of medicine, on the idea that Hep! Hep! originates as an acronym of the Crusader-Latin phrase Hierosolyma est perdita (Jerusalem is Lost or Destroyed). I'd be grateful for any comments, corrections, or counter-evidence! (This is a working paper only.)

History, Classics, Latin Literature, Jewish Studies, Medieval History, and 9 more