Gender and Sexuality in Juvenal's Rome: Satire 2 and Satire 6

179 Pages·2020·2.275 MB·English

by  Chiara Sulprizio, Sarah H. Blake

Gender and Sexuality in Juvenal’s Rome
oklahoma series in classical culture
Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture
series editor
Ellen Greene, University of Oklahoma
advisory board
Ronnie Ancona, Hunter College and CUNY Gradu ate Center
Carolyn J. Dewald, Bard College
Nancy Felson, University of Georgia
Helene P. Foley, Barnard College
Thomas R. Martin, College of the Holy Cross
John F. Miller, University of Virginia
Richard F. Thomas, Harvard University
Gender and Sexuality
in Juvenal’s Rome
Satire 2 and Satire 6
Translated and Edited by Chiara Sulprizio
Introduction by Sarah H. Blake
university of oklahoma press : norman
Publication of this book is made pos si ble through the generosity
of Edith Kinney Gaylord.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Juvenal, author. | Sulprizio, Chiara, 1977– editor, translator. |
Blake, Sarah H., 1979– writer of introduction.
Title: Gender and sexuality in Juvenal’s Rome : Satire 2 and Satire 6 / translated
and edited by Chiara Sulprizio ; introduction by Sarah H. Blake.
Other titles: Oklahoma series in classical culture ; v. 59.
Description: Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 2020. | Series: Oklahoma series
in classical culture; volume 59 | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary:
“An updated translation of two of Juvenal’s most provocative poems in a style that
is accessible to a modern audience, accompanied by explanatory notes and an
introduction geared t oward undergraduates and t hose beginning their study of
Juvenal”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019030014 | ISBN 978-0-8061-6488-5 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Juvenal. | Latin poetry—H istory and criticism.
Classification: LCC PA6447.E5 S85 2020 | DDC 871/.01— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2019030014
Gender and Sexuality in Juvenal’s Rome: Satire 2 and Satire 6 is Volume 59 in the
Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2020 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division
of the University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-
copying, recording, or other wise— except as permitted u nder Section 107 or 108 of the
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Permissions, University of Oklahoma Press, 2800 Venture Drive, Norman, OK 73069, or
email rights . oupress@ou . edu.
For Ric, marito optimo

CONTENTS
Preface | ix
Introduction, Sarah H. Blake | 3
i.1 Who Was Juvenal? | 3
i.2 The Manuscript Tradition | 6
i.3 Life and Times in the High Empire | 8
i.4 Juvenal and the Roman Genre of Satire | 1 3
i.5 Roman Men and W omen: Gender Norms and
Deviations | 16
i.6 Marriage and Morality: From Republic to Empire | 2 0
i.7 Satire 2: Worse Comes to Worst | 2 4
i.8 Satire 6: W omen. You C an’t Live with Them . . .
Full Stop | 27
i.9 Afterlives of Juvenal | 35
Satire 2: Translation and Notes | 3 9
Satire 6: Translation and Notes | 6 5
Bibliography | 159

PREFACE
Love it or hate it, Juvenal’s sixth Satire is an exceptional piece of lit er a ture.
The poem essentially answers the question “Why get married?” with a
series of unforgettable images of w omen gone wild and guys gone soft that
are meant to deter young men from “taking the plunge.” The vehemence
with which this warning is conveyed is evident at e very turn: the length
of the poem alone is staggering— weighing in at 661 lines, it was originally
published as its own book— and the variety of arguments Juvenal makes
against the institution of marriage is exhaustive. Not only that, the tone of
the poem reaches the heights of satiric spite and ferocity, and its treatment
of the subject m atter is unforgiving and disturbingly graphic in its detail.
So why take on the proj ect of translating and annotating such a monster of
a poem? I had two reasons for d oing so, one of which grew out of the other.
The first was purely practical: I often teach courses on the subject of ancient
gender and sexuality, such as “ Women in Antiquity” or “Sex, Gender, and the
Family in Ancient Greece and Rome.” Th ese types of courses are standard
offerings in most university classics departments nowadays and they seem
to be growing in popularity. In courses like these, Juvenal’s Satire 6 is an
especially crucial read b ecause it provides valuable, potentially voy eur is tic
insight into Roman sexual politics during the high empire and crystallizes
in one magnum opus much of what ancient misogyny and sexual in equality
ix