Research Catalog

Title

Telling tales on Caesar : Roman stories from Phaedrus / [translated and edited by] John Henderson.

Author

Phaedrus

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Henderson, John, 1948-

Description

x, 286 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

• "This book presents a dozen entertaining short stories, in easy-going classical Latin, together with new translations and discussion by John Henderson. Their author, Phaedrus, was a freedman of Augustus who turned Aesop's Fables into verse in the reign of Tiberius; along with them, he included a string of tales and anecdotes set in Rome, the Greek past, or everyday ancient life. These stories take their reader straight to the heart of Rome under its first emperors, and they poke into odd and unexpected corners of classical culture.
• Cameos showcase Tiberius in private and Augustus in court, with Pompey the Great on campaign and Phaedrus himself struggling against prejudice and persecution, and tales feature all sorts - a toadying slave, wicked servant, vain musician, effeminate soldier, sexy poet, and rogue quack. These forgotten tales tell short and clear Roman parables of power and powerlessness. Humorous and acute, they explain, and protest at, the Caesars, and they sit perfectly among Aesop's sadistic lions, murderous wolves, and apes in purple."--Jacket.

Subject

• Phaedrus > Translations into English
• Fables, Latin > Translations into English
• Fables, Latin
• Rome > Poetry

Genre/Form

• Poetry
• Translations

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-273) and indexes.

Language (note)

• English and Latin parallel text; commentary in English.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. We Are Not Amused: Tiberius Caesar and the Flunkey (2. 5) -- 2. The Only Good Caesar: Divus Augustus and the Case of the Widow and the Wicked Freedman (3. 10) -- 3. Another Hard Luck Story: Phaedrus' Tale (3. Prologue) -- 4. L'Acteur-Roi: Piper Prince Breaks a Leg and Gets a Good Hand (5. 7) -- App. It's the Real Thing: Grunt Piggy Grunt (5 .5) -- 5. The Price of Fame: Pompey the Great and the Queen's Shilling (App. 10) -- 6. Talent-Spotting: King Demetrius meets the Poet Menander (5. 1) -- 7. Your Life in their Hands: The King and Dr. Cobbler (1. 14) -- 8. Kings of Fable and Fables of Kings: Emperor Ape; Sick Lion; Dictator Kite; Tyrant Pisistratus, King Long and King Watersnaker; and other Wolves (4, 13; 4. 14; 1. 31; 1, 2; 1. 1, etc.).

ISBN

0199240957

LCCN

^^^00056649^

OCLC

• 44518029
• SCSB-12170589

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library