The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor
Statues of the god Priapus stood in Roman gardens to warn potential thieves that the god would rape them if they attempted to steal from him. In this book, Richlin argues that the attitude of sexual aggressiveness in defense of a bounded area serves as a model for Roman satire from Lucilius to Juvenal. Using literary, anthropological, psychological, and feminist methodologies, she suggests that aggressive sexual humor reinforces aggressive behavior on both the individual and societal levels,...
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Statues of the god Priapus stood in Roman gardens to warn potential thieves that the god would rape them if they attempted to steal from him. In this book, Richlin argues that the attitude of sexual aggressiveness in defense of a bounded area serves as a model for Roman satire from Lucilius to Juvenal. Using literary, anthropological, psychological, and feminist methodologies, she suggests that aggressive sexual humor reinforces aggressive behavior on both the individual and societal levels, and that Roman satire provides an insight into Roman culture. Including a substantial and provocative new introduction, this revised edition is important not only as an in-depth study of Roman sexual satire, but also as a commentary on the effects of all humor on society and its victims.
IntroductionToward a History of SexualityFeminist Work Within ClassicsPhilology, the New Historicism, and the Foucauldian Theory of Sexuality in AntiquityThrough the Garden and BackNotesBibliographyCh. 1Roman Concepts of Obscenity1Apologiae2Decorum in Prose13"Four-Letter Words"18Staining26Ch. 2The Erotic Ideal in Latin Literature and Contemporary Greek Epigram32Pueri34Mistresses44Ch. 3The Content and Workings of Roman Sexual Humor57Descriptive Analysis: The Priapic Model57The Genres of Roman Sexual Humor64The Subjects of Roman Satire65Other Models for Satire: Judgmental Analysis70Ch. 4Graffiti, Gossip, Lampoons, and Rhetorical Invective81Graffiti81Gossip83Lampoons86Rhetorical Invective96Ch. 5Literature Based on Invective: Invective against Old Women, Priapic Poetry, and Epigram105Invective against Old Women109Priapic Poetry116Epigram127Appendix: The Date and Authorship of the Carmina Priapea141Ch. 6Catullus, Ovid, and the Art of Mockery144Catullus144Ovid156Ch. 7Sexual Satire164Lucilius164Horace174Persius185Petronius190Juvenal195Conclusion210Appendix 1. The Evidence on the Circumstances Surrounding Adultery at Rome215Appendix 2. The Circumstances of Male Homosexuality in Roman Society of the Late Republic and Early Empire220Invective220Erotic Poetry222Some Real-Life Evidence223Ideals225Notes227Bibliography261Addenda and Corrigenda273Additional Bibliography292Index of Passages Cited295Index Verborum307General Index311
