Papers by Johan J Steenkamp
Acta Classica, 2019
The four opening couplets of each of Propertius' books (as we have them today) display an interes... more The four opening couplets of each of Propertius' books (as we have them today) display an interesting progression. In each case the presumed audience addressed by the book grows in size or importance. This pattern, as is the case with any pattern discernible within a poetic corpus, has the potential to reveal telling details about the poet, his programmatic statements and, in the case of Propertius, perhaps even the text. This article argues that the posturing of the poet-speaker in the opening verses of each book is important for understanding the poetry, since it is through this posturing that a more authoritative voice is created for the later books with their greater concern with political themes. It is with this in mind that the third and, especially, the fourth books should be understood as attempts by the poet to participate in the construction of a Roman identity for a radically new social and political environment.
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi, 2023
Contribution: This article presents an interpretation of Jews and Jewish practices mentioned duri... more Contribution: This article presents an interpretation of Jews and Jewish practices mentioned during the 1st century BCE in Roman poetry. The poetry of Tibullus, Horace and Ovid, written from a Roman perspective, have been contextualised in their literary traditions and informed by the established philosophical opinions of the time from Cicero, Varro and Lucretius. The result is a useful discussion of how extensive and how reliable these sources are for the understanding of Jewish culture in Rome during the 1st century BCE.
Passion, Persecution, and Epiphany in Early Jewish Literature, 2020
Turmoil, Trauma and Tenacity in Early Jewish Literature, 2022
Acta Classica, 2011
The structure of Vergil's Eclogues has been much discussed and various models have been propo... more The structure of Vergil's Eclogues has been much discussed and various models have been proposed to describe the different ways in which the poems are linked to each other. Two general types of models have been proposed. That of the concentric or recessive panel is well known, but somewhat deficient in that it ignores the inner dynamism of the collection. Models that take these dynamic aspects into account do so at the cost of some of the advantages of considering the concentric panel. This article proposes a new model to describe the structure of Vergil's Eclogues, based on a synthesis of existing models and relevant criticism, one that not only describes the simple thematic correspondences between individual poems, or plots the development of themes through the collection, but also attempts to express the different levels of closeness of correspondence between individual poems and groups of poems in the collection.
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi, 2019
This thesis grew out of a fascination with Augustan poetry and its complex social world to which ... more This thesis grew out of a fascination with Augustan poetry and its complex social world to which the author was introduced through the Eclogae of Vergil. The topic was originally suggested by a comment in a footnote in Ross' Backgrounds to Augustan Poetry (1975: 27-8) that there is no comprehensive study of the image of Apollo in Augustan poetry. Now, 35 years later, there is still no such study and in view of the complexity of the problem, which is becoming more and more evident, it seems less and less likely that a truly comprehensive study of the subject can be made in a single lifetime or be presented in a single volume. However, the importance and usefulness of such a study are self-evident and the present study, in some small way, tries to contribute to this vast project. The title The Two Faces of Apollo: Propertius and the Poetry of Politics belies to some extent the complete picture of Apollo in Propertian poetry. In Republican Rome, as in Classical Greek mythology, Apollo had many faces and he was associated with aspects of life as disparate as tending livestock and producing prophecies. However, in the poetry of especially Vergil and Propertius two of the god's aspects are emphasized much more often than the others. Apollo the leader of the Muses and inspirer of poets had a natural attraction for poets and the Augustan poets were no exception. Apollo was also linked to the house of the Iulii, whose best known (adopted) son became the first Emperor of Rome and the most powerful person in the known world. Octavian used the image of Apollo in his national programme of rebuilding Rome and the famous Temple of Apollo on the Palatine was commissioned by Octavian and joined to his own house. The deity also featured strongly as Apollo Actius, to whose intervention the victory at Actium was ascribed by Vergil and Propertius. It is then in these two faces of the god that the two spheres in which the poets lived came together. Through the image of Apollo-the god of music-the poet could examine subjects such as his craft, his fellow poets, poets who influenced him, his place in tradition and the importance of his poetry. Through Octavian's Apollothe Apollo who favoured the Trojans in Homer and Octavian at Actium-the poet could speak about current Roman politics and issues of national interest. v Lastly it remains to express my immense gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Beatrice Martin, who guided my studies from the inception, was always ready with invaluable advice, freely volunteered criticism and finally read and reread the various drafts with painstaking meticulousness and patience. Pretoria 2010 better to interpret various addresses to patrons, panegyrics and other programmatic poetry ranging from the opening lines of Vergil's Eclogae to the aetiologies in Propertius' final book. Anthropological studies of various aspects of Augustan literature seldom comprise whole books, but tend to combine with history or criticism. So, for instance, R.A. Gurval's Actium and Augustus: the Politics and Emotions of Civil War (1995) deals mostly with poetry, but also with the impact the civil war and its aftermath had on the minds of the poets. Similarly Fox's Roman historical myths: the regal period in Augustan literature (1996) can also be said to deal chiefly with literature, but the historical myths, symbols and images a society creates and uses and how these myths function fall properly in the domain of the anthropologist. Lastly, Peter White's Promised verse: poets in the society of Augustan Rome (1993) cannot be omitted as the review of the function of poets before and after the battle of Actium and the relative social status of individual poets (conveniently summarised in an appendix) proves invaluable to any scholar interested in Augustan poetry. A notable exception to the general dearth of distinctly anthropological studies of the Republic in book length is Galinsky's Augustan Culture (1996). Written in reaction to Syme, the book addresses the drawback of Syme's prosopographical method and attempts, with great success, to describe Augustan culture from a more holistic perspective. These studies are of great value to a literary critic. Firstly, they supply background information to the culture from which the literature sprang, by elucidating key aspects of that culture, such as what the concept of auctoritas or the word respublica meant to Romans after 27 BCE or what the cult of Augustus actually was. Secondly, these studies also have a more direct value. Since a large part of the sources available to the historian or anthropologist interested in the Augustan age consists of literary texts, any research in the field must be accompanied by a rigorous study of the applicable texts. It is here, then, that the tools from other fields are combined with the instruments of the philologist to produce readings that are fresh and important.
Akroterion, 2012
The alkene-rich petrol fraction from refinery fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) has been characteriz... more The alkene-rich petrol fraction from refinery fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) has been characterized by GC and GC-MS. Quantitative proportions and retention data of 52 acyclic and 11 cyclic C S-C 7 alkenes are given. Relative retentions are reported for methylsilicone and aluminium oxide stationary phases as methylene units (MU). Applications of mass spectra, single-ion GC-MS monitoring and retention data for identifications are demonstrated.
Literator, 2013
Die Onsienlike Son, die debuut bundel van vader Jacobus van der Riet, 'n priester in die Oosters-... more Die Onsienlike Son, die debuut bundel van vader Jacobus van der Riet, 'n priester in die Oosters-Ortodokse kerk bevat 59 gedigte oor heiliges uit sy kerklike tradisie. Min van die heiliges, wie se verhale die gedigte van die bundel geïnspireer het, sal aan Afrikaanse lesers bekend wees, maar die invloed van 'n tradisie wat steeds betreklik onbekend is in Afrikaans, kan net die taal en haar kultuur verdiep.
Die Goueverhouding In Die Struktuur Van Vergilius Se Ecloga-Boek
Publication View. 47733706. Die goueverhouding in die struktuur van Vergilius se Ecloga-boek (200... more Publication View. 47733706. Die goueverhouding in die struktuur van Vergilius se Ecloga-boek (2002). Steenkamp, Johan. Abstract. Thesis (MA (Ancient Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2002.. Vergil's poems are exceptionally complex and polyhedral. ...
Akroterion, 2012
Not only has Propertius 2.31 been used as a kind of artefact to reconstruct the Temple of Apollo ... more Not only has Propertius 2.31 been used as a kind of artefact to reconstruct the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine, but it has also been used to show both that the poet was supporting the new ruler of Rome by eulogising his building projects and to show that the poet was anti-Augustan and expressed his opinions through subtly embedded allusions in the poem. This paper reexamines the artworks described in the poem, recent archaeological evidence and some of the poet's earlier work in order to understand to what extent the temple described in the poem corresponded to the physical temple in Rome; what kind of political message or social commentary the poem delivers, if any; and what this message says about the world of the poet.
ROMAN LOVE POETRY. D.E. Mccoskey, Z.M. Torlone Latin Love Poetry. Pp. xxvi + 233, ills. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2014. Paper, £14.99 (Cased, £58). ISBN: 978-1-78076-191-6 (978-1-78076-190-9 hbk)
The Classical Review, 2015
concern’ (p. 90). We read about Catullus ‘quietly wishing us to understand’ (p. 5), about ‘his de... more concern’ (p. 90). We read about Catullus ‘quietly wishing us to understand’ (p. 5), about ‘his delight in being overheard’ (p. 9), that he is ‘haunted’ (p. 217), ‘deeply invested’ (p. 262), that he loves how poetry-as-peep-show feels (p. 38), that he’s an ‘écouteur’. He is overwhelmed by the silences ‘over which even the sophisticated poet has no control, and so out of which even poetry seems unable to manage any meaningful speech’ (p. 46). His poetry is motivated by unsuccessful attempts to integrate himself into elite society, by jealousy of Suffenus’ simple happiness, or by a sense of guilt and shame for playing the poet in the big city while shirking family responsibilities back home and wasting the chance at a meaningful relationship with his poor, dead brother. We read that the burning faeces kindling Volusius’ bad poetry in poem 36 somehow reveal Catullus’ embarrassment of his own rustic origins. A broken grammatical rule ‘symbolizes Catullus’ heartbreak’ (p. 182). ‘Catullus takes the fact of language’s dependence on silence, a simple inevitability, and makes it a central feature of literature’ (p. 45). I am not convinced Catullus does any such thing, but S. has brought a new perspective to the collection that will certainly spur further reflection on the nature of silence in Catullus.
Klassieke Griekse Jambiese Poesie: 'N Afrikaanse Bron
Henderson, W.J. 2011. Die berispende stem: vroee Griekse jambiese poesie vertaal en toegelig. Joh... more Henderson, W.J. 2011. Die berispende stem: vroee Griekse jambiese poesie vertaal en toegelig. Johannesburg: Universiteit van Johannesburg. 188 p. Prys: R100,00. ISBN: 978-0-86970-709-8. Die berispende stem vertaal, interpreteer en bespreek antieke Griekse jambiese poesie. Jambiese poesie vanaf die vroee sewende eeu v.C., Archilochos en Semonides, tot en met Kallimachos van Aleksandrie in die Hellenistiese tydperk word vertaal en toegelig met diepsinnige kommentaar wat op jarelange navorsing geskoei is. Waar Henderson se vorige boeke, naamlik Op Griekse lier (2004) en Vir Griekse fluite (2009) onderskeidelik die antieke Griekse liriek en elegie gedek het, fokus Die berispende stem op die korter jambiese poesie. In hierdie opsig vul die boek hierdie gaping en het Afrikaans nou 'n toereikende korpus wat Griekse korter poesie dek. Die berispende stem is van fundamentele waarde vir Afrikaanse literatuur. Elke Westerse kultuur het eiesoortig uit Grieks-Romeinse wortels gegroei. Engels...
It is now well known that Vergil exploited this twofold nature of the symbol of the Euphrates mas... more It is now well known that Vergil exploited this twofold nature of the symbol of the Euphrates masterfully. On the one hand he uses it to refer back to Callimachus and in doing so to state his own views on poetry; on the other hand he invokes the famous river of the East to explain how events there impacts on Rome, her new princeps and ultimately his own capacity to write poetry. Propertius, too, was not insensitive to the possibilities afforded by the symbol of the Euphrates and, having Vergil as an example, could exploit the symbol in much the same way as the illustrious poet. This paper is primarily concerned with how Propertius uses the symbol of the Euphrates to speak about his own poetry and the socio-political circumstances in which he wrote. Delphi and the springs on Parnassus, Helicon and the Capitoline hill before the arrival of Aeneas were important landmarks in the world of the Roman poets of the Augustan Age. Reference to them allowed the poets to discuss, through metaphor and intertext, their world and their poetry. In the same way the river Euphrates constituted an important landmark. The image of the river was used by Callimachus in his famous metaphor (H.2.105-113) about the nature of his own poetry and this programmatic statement became central to Augustan poetics. Politically, the river also marked the boundary between Rome and the Parthian Empire and in the minds of Romans was associated with an exotic enemy and some of the Roman Republic's most bitter defeats. It is now well known that Vergil exploited this twofold nature of the symbol of the Euphrates masterfully (Scodel & Thomas 1984:339, Clauss 1988:309-322 and Jenkyns 1993:115-121). On the one hand, he uses it to refer back to Callimachus and in doing so to state his own views on poetry; on the other hand, he invokes the famous river of the East to explain how events there impact on Rome, her new princeps and ultimately his own capacity to write poetry. Propertius, too, was not insensitive to the possibilities afforded by the symbol of the Euphrates and, having Vergil as an example, could exploit the symbol in much the same way as the illustrious poet. This article is primarily concerned with how Propertius uses the symbol of the Euphrates to speak about his own poetry and the socio-political circumstances in which he wrote. Vergil mentions the river Euphrates only three times and all three instances are placed at very specific geometric points in his poems: in the Georgics at 1.509 and 4.561 and in the Aeneid at 8.726-all three occurring six lines from the end of a book. This fact on its own might seem like a curious coincidence, but as http://akroterion.journals.ac.za
In Luce Verbi, 2019
The main aim of this article is to understand how Augustus is written into life in the storyworld... more The main aim of this article is to understand how Augustus is written into life in the storyworld of Propertius. It traces the development of the character in the story-world over time with due regard to the parallel historical narratives that were told about the historical Augustus. The investigation proceeds from a content analysis of the incidence of references (overt and oblique) to Augustus Caesar in the extant text of Propertius. This approach assumes that quantitative data, that is, frequency of incidence, spatial or temporal dimensions of
incidence and the location of a reference in the broader context, are important indicators of meaning. The investigation presents its content analysis and the interpretation of this analysis. The investigation also relies to a certain extent on narratological analytical concepts, because
Augustus is written into life by the Propertian text as a character which exists, to a certain extent at least, in a narrative. The investigation concludes that Augustus is not a fully developed character in the Propertian texts. Nevertheless, Augustus is revealed to be a distant ruler
mostly associated with military authority and wealth; at some instances, he is regarded as a messianic figure, which is also present in other poets. Most notably, the content analysis reveals a consistent engagement between the speaker in the Propertian poems and the power wielded by Augustus.
Akroterion 2012
"Not only has Propertius 2.31 been used as a kind of artefact to reconstruct the Temple of Apollo... more "Not only has Propertius 2.31 been used as a kind of artefact to reconstruct the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine, but it has also been used to show both that the poet was supporting the new ruler of Rome by eulogising his building projects and to show that the poet was anti-Augustan and expressed his opinions through subtly embedded allusions in the poem. This paper re-examines the artworks described in the poem, recent archaeological evidence and some of the poet’s earlier work in order to understand to what extent the temple described in the poem corresponded to the physical temple in Rome; what kind of political message or social commentary the poem delivers, if any; and what this message says about the world of the poet.
The paper concludes that it is impossible to say how closely the description of the Temple of Apollo in the poem corresponded to the actual temple, partly because the poet could and probably did exploit the fact that his audience were familiar with the temple, such as emphasising certain features by omitting them. The poem does have a political message suggested by the detail of the artworks it describes, but this message is not anti-Augustan per se. Compared to the author’s other early work, the poem professes strong pacifist sentiments, as is common to Roman elegy, but at no stage blames Octavian for the loss of human life which Propertius’ poems deplore."
The structure of Vergil’s Eclogues has been much discussed and various models have been proposed ... more The structure of Vergil’s Eclogues has been much discussed and various models have been proposed to describe the different ways in which the poems are linked to each other. Two general types of models have been proposed. That of the concentric or recessive panel is well known, but somewhat deficient in that it ignores the inner dynamism of the collection. Models that take these dynamic aspects into account do so at the cost of some of the advantages of the concentric panel. This article proposes a new model to express the structure of Vergil’s Eclogues based on a synthesis of current models and recent criticism. One that not only describes the simple thematic correspondences between individual poems or plots the development of themes through the collection, but also attempts expresses the different levels of closeness of correspondence between individual poems and groups of poems in the collection.
It is now well known that Vergil exploited this twofold nature of the symbol of the Euphrates mas... more It is now well known that Vergil exploited this twofold nature of the symbol of the Euphrates masterfully. On the one hand he uses it to refer back to Callimachus and in doing so to state his own views on poetry; on the other hand he invokes the famous river of the East to explain how events there impacts on Rome, her new princeps and ultimately his own capacity to write poetry. Propertius, too, was not insensitive to the possibilities afforded by the symbol of the Euphrates and, having Vergil as an example, could exploit the symbol in much the same way as the illustrious poet. This paper is
primarily concerned with how Propertius uses the symbol of the Euphrates to speak about his own poetry and the socio-political circumstances in which he wrote.
Uploads
Papers by Johan J Steenkamp
incidence and the location of a reference in the broader context, are important indicators of meaning. The investigation presents its content analysis and the interpretation of this analysis. The investigation also relies to a certain extent on narratological analytical concepts, because
Augustus is written into life by the Propertian text as a character which exists, to a certain extent at least, in a narrative. The investigation concludes that Augustus is not a fully developed character in the Propertian texts. Nevertheless, Augustus is revealed to be a distant ruler
mostly associated with military authority and wealth; at some instances, he is regarded as a messianic figure, which is also present in other poets. Most notably, the content analysis reveals a consistent engagement between the speaker in the Propertian poems and the power wielded by Augustus.
The paper concludes that it is impossible to say how closely the description of the Temple of Apollo in the poem corresponded to the actual temple, partly because the poet could and probably did exploit the fact that his audience were familiar with the temple, such as emphasising certain features by omitting them. The poem does have a political message suggested by the detail of the artworks it describes, but this message is not anti-Augustan per se. Compared to the author’s other early work, the poem professes strong pacifist sentiments, as is common to Roman elegy, but at no stage blames Octavian for the loss of human life which Propertius’ poems deplore."
primarily concerned with how Propertius uses the symbol of the Euphrates to speak about his own poetry and the socio-political circumstances in which he wrote.
incidence and the location of a reference in the broader context, are important indicators of meaning. The investigation presents its content analysis and the interpretation of this analysis. The investigation also relies to a certain extent on narratological analytical concepts, because
Augustus is written into life by the Propertian text as a character which exists, to a certain extent at least, in a narrative. The investigation concludes that Augustus is not a fully developed character in the Propertian texts. Nevertheless, Augustus is revealed to be a distant ruler
mostly associated with military authority and wealth; at some instances, he is regarded as a messianic figure, which is also present in other poets. Most notably, the content analysis reveals a consistent engagement between the speaker in the Propertian poems and the power wielded by Augustus.
The paper concludes that it is impossible to say how closely the description of the Temple of Apollo in the poem corresponded to the actual temple, partly because the poet could and probably did exploit the fact that his audience were familiar with the temple, such as emphasising certain features by omitting them. The poem does have a political message suggested by the detail of the artworks it describes, but this message is not anti-Augustan per se. Compared to the author’s other early work, the poem professes strong pacifist sentiments, as is common to Roman elegy, but at no stage blames Octavian for the loss of human life which Propertius’ poems deplore."
primarily concerned with how Propertius uses the symbol of the Euphrates to speak about his own poetry and the socio-political circumstances in which he wrote.
Author: Jacobus van der Riet
ISBN: 978-1-8691-9751-3
Publisher: Protea, Pretoria, 2012,
104 p., ZAR160.00*
jambiese poësie vertaal en toegelig. Johannesburg:
Universiteit van Johannesburg. 188 p. Prys: R100,00.
ISBN: 978-0-86970-709-8.