Journal Entry #7: Juvenal

How is the concept of wealth developed in Juvenal’s satires?

Juvenal shows wealthy people as spoiled and unfit for their money. He compares them to the brave poor, who have only their weapons left to fight with, not their money. He implies that wealth leads to hypocrisy, greed and unkind behavior.

How is this different or similar to that of Twain’s development of the same subject in Innocents Abroad?

Twain refers to the wealth of the church and the ephemeral wealth of the state. Like Juvenal, Twain believes, in the church’s case, that wealth leads to hypocrisy and greed. The churches want more and more decoration, while the beggars starve outside. The state, however, is a well-intentioned bumbler, not meaning to be unkind. They spend their wealth on unnecessary projects, but they mean well, as opposed to Juvenal, who has his wealthy spending money on bad feasts for their inferiors, being deliberately mean.

What role does hypocrisy play in relation these concepts of wealth in both authors’ satirical works?

Wealth leads to hypocrisy. Juvenal’s rich throw “parties” for their inferiors, but feed them the dregs. They also praise the poets and soldiers and mature members of society, but act like small children and won’t pay. Twain’s rich church spends money on decorations, but lets its flock starve.

How are the themes of sedition and free speech in Juvenal similar/different to those in Twain’s satire?

Twain tends to take free speech for granted, and satirizes the Italians for not having it. He does this by having the plebe speculate about travels in America, and how no one would believe him if he told them. Juvenal, however, sees free speech in a mixed light. He satirizes the nobles for being so corrupt that a slave has to call them out, but he doesn’t think that it was a good thing for the slave to talk. He warns the nobles against sedition on the part of the slaves, and warns them against large gatherings of poets.

How are artists, poets, and patrons of the arts depicted similarly/differently by the two authors?

Twain mocks them through his tourist, saying they design too much, they sponsor too much, they want too much glory so they try to hard. It’s an affectionate for of mocking, though, he doesn’t discredit their works, he just tries to moderate his tourist’s reaction to it. Juvenal warns poets away from patrons, depicting patrons as greedy, self-absorbed people. He takes the side of the poets and artists, mocking the patrons in a very harsh light. He does say, however, that the artists cater too much to their patrons, so he mocks them for that.

What is “noble” according to Juvenal’s narrator?

Being “noble” is not being selfish, not being greedy, being kind to others, taking care of your family, working your way up to your status, acting your age and just generally not being a jerk. Oddly enough, he doesn’t seem to think that the nobility are “noble,” thus providing the basis for these satires.

Cite a passage from each of the four satires by Juvenal which amused you and say why. What literary mechanisms or rhetorical devices did Juvenal use for each of these?

Honestly, I did not find these satires amusing. I didn’t understand the context for most of them, so I felt like many of the points Juvenal was trying to make were lost on me. Aside from that, he was satirizing in a very caustic manner, which I don’t enjoy. I prefer the gentle, poking-fun type of satire utilized by Twain. If I had to choose, though, these are the passages I thought came somewhat close to approaching humorous.

The First Satire: “Meanwhile, all by himself, on a couch unshared, their good king will gobble and guzzle the choicest products of land and ocean. Down goes a whole estate; from such luxurious tables, broad and antique, down goes a whole estate at on sitting.”

Here Juvenal uses sarcasm and hyperbole.

The Fifth Satire: “You get a rotten old apple, the kind that is given a monkey all rigged out with a helmet and shield, and afraid of a whipping while he is being trained to toss the spear from a goat’s back.”

Here Juvenal uses mock-heroics and parody.

The Seventh Satire: “But still we’re persistent, we poets, ploughing our furrows in dust or the salty sand of the seashore. No use to try to give up; the noose of a hopeless infection, writer’s itch, has us all by the neck till we’re old and sick-hearted.

Here Juvenal uses irony.

The Eighth Satire: “The chests of his forebears were hairy; look at him, though, with his butt all smoothed by Catanian pumice!”

Here Juvenal uses burlesque.