Juvenal reading response

Juvenal depicts wealth very critically, speaking of wealthy groups of people as greedy and over-excessive. He does this by mentioning these different groups and scoffing at their indulgent activities, such as in the First Satire, where he writes, “Meanwhile, all by himself, on a couch unshared, their good king will Gobble and guzzle down the choicest products of land and ocean.” Like Twain, Juvenal is mocking this greed, although he does it in a very flat out manner, whereas Twain revealed his opinion through irony, by giving his narrator a personality that places a strong emphasis on monetary things. Similarly, the concept of hypocrisy in regards to wealth is a clear point in both Juvenal and Twain’s works. In the Fifth Satire, Juvenal writes of the wealthy patron’s gluttony, but then also his stinginess in sharing with others, as the artist Trebius is served “One prawn, half an egg – the kind of supper people leave at the tombs of the dead by way of a token.” This reminded me of Twain’s description of Roman churches – decked in marble and expensive décor, but indifferent to the herd of starving beggars outside their door. Juvenal address sedition and free speech in the same pointblank, stinging manner, stating “If you suppose that your tongue is going to earn you a living, Or do you teach declamation? What iron nerve must be needed While your class, by the score, knocks off tyrannical monarchs…What refutation will come from the speech of the opposition? That’s what they all want to know, but no one is willing to pay for.” I didn’t really remember these themes playing a major part in Twain’s piece however, so I wasn’t sure how they compared. The interaction between artists and patrons in Juvenal’s work is similar to Twain’s – he portrays the patrons as rich and uncaring and the artists as nearly begging for scraps, such as in the Fifth Satire: “The height of good luck! What more could you ask for? Trebius has good cause to break off his sleep, to come running, Shoelaces not yet tied.” From the reading, I got the impression that Juvenal finds morality to be the most noble thing of all. He criticizes things like gluttony, hypocrisy, and mistreatment of others, and overall his attacks are all at moral misdeeds such as these. He also expressly states that nobility “lies in more than a name and title,” which furthers my opinion.

First satire: “Hence come sudden deaths, too sudden for old men to make wills. What a good laugh for the town at all of the dinner tables! Hear the disgruntled friends cheer at the funeral service!” I found this excerpt entertaining because it was mocking the gluttony of the rich and using hyperbole in saying that they would simply keel over after such a filling dinner. He also uses irony in his statement that the friends would cheer at the funeral service, the mental image of which I found amusing as well.

Fifth satire: “To the main event, a battle royal, the freedmen Versus the rest of you, with goblets and crockery flying. You stop a jug with your face, pick up a napkin to wipe it.” I thought this was amusing because of the casual nature with which Juvenal describes getting hit in the face with a jug. This use of burlesque is entertaining because it’s so informal sounding, as if getting hit in the face like that was cleanable simply with a napkin.

Seventh satire: “If you are lucky, you hurl the javelin farther than any, Make the greatest orations, and even with laryngitis Sing like an angel.” I thought this was amusing because of the reference to laryngitis – this example of a person so blessed that even with a sickness of the throat can still sing brilliantly is a funny way to make a point. This seems to also be a use of burlesque language due to its contrast between subject matter and style.

Eighth satire: “You can go back a long way, tracing your roster of forebears, Yet in the end, you will find you came from a shameful asylum.” I thought this quote was funny because it reminded me of the Pazzi family we learned about when we discussed the Medici. The Pazzi were very proud of their family lineage, that they could trace their family back to a soldier who climbed the walls of Jerusalem, but in the end they fell, after an audacious attempt to assassinate Lorenzo Medici when he was attending Easter Mass, something I personally find to be crazy. In addition, we recently learned in Italian class that “pazza” means crazy, another connection to this. I thought this quote employed hyperbole – most of the “forebears” wouldn’t actually belong to an asylum, although Juvenal’s use of this word definitely gets his point across.