Research Catalog

Title

How to tell a joke : an ancient guide to the art of humor / Marcus Tullius Cicero ; selected, translated, and introduced by Michael Fontaine.

Author

Cicero, Marcus Tullius

Publication

• Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2021]
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Fontaine, Michael
• Quintilian

Description

xxxiii, 292 pages; 18 cm.

Summary

"Everyone knows that Marcus Tullius Cicero was one of the great statesmen, lawyers, and effective orators in the history of Rome. But did you also know he was regarded as one of the funniest people in Roman society as well? Five hundred years after his death, in the twilight of antiquity, the writer Macrobius ranks him alongside the comic playwright Plautus as the one of the two greatest wits ever. In this book, classicist Michael Fontaine, proposes to translate selections from Cicero's great rhetorical treatise, On the Ideal Orator (De Oratore). That larger work covered the whole of rhetoric and effective public speaking and debate. However, contained within it, is a long section focused on the effective use of humor in public speaking. In it, Cicero is concerned not just with various kinds of individual jokes, but with jokes that are advantageous in social situations. He advises readers on how to make the most effective use of wit to win friends, audiences, and achieve their overall ambitions. Cicero wants to teach his readers how to tell a joke without looking like a buffoon, and how to prevent or avoid jokes from backfiring. Hence, he does give scores of examples of jokes-some of which are timeless and translate easily, others that involve puns in Latin that challenged the translator's creativity. But overall, this work brings to the fore a little known, but important part of Cicero's classic work."--

Series Statement

Ancient wisdom for modern readers

Uniform Title

Ancient wisdom for modern readers.

Subject

• Wit and humor > Early works to 1800
• Joking > Early works to 1800
• Joking
• Wit and humor
• LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics

Genre/Form

Early works.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-292)

Language (note)

• Facing page translations with Latin on the versos and English on the rectos ; introduction and epilogue in English.

Contents

Introduction -- How to tell a joke / Cicero -- On the art of humor / Quintilian -- Epilogue.

Call Number

JFC 21-114

ISBN

• 9780691206165
• 0691206163

LCCN

2020044600

OCLC

1193064431

Author

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, author.

Title

How to tell a joke : an ancient guide to the art of humor / Marcus Tullius Cicero ; selected, translated, and introduced by Michael Fontaine.

Publisher

Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2021]

Copyright Date

©2021

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Ancient wisdom for modern readers

Ancient wisdom for modern readers.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-292)

Language

Facing page translations with Latin on the versos and English on the rectos ; introduction and epilogue in English.

Added Author

Fontaine, Michael, editor, translator, writer of supplementary textual content.

Container of (expression): Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De oratore. Liber 2.216-290. English (Fontaine)

Container of (expression): Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De oratore. Liber 2.216-290. Latin (Fontaine)

Container of (expression): Quintilian. Institutiones oratoriae. Liber 6. Caput 3. English (Fontaine)

Container of (expression): Quintilian. Institutiones oratoriae. Liber 6. Caput 3. Latin (Fontaine)

Other Form:

Online version: Cicero, Marcus Tullius, How to tell a joke Princeton ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2021. 9780691211077 (DLC) 2020044601

Research Call Number

JFC 21-114