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Papers by Martin W Michálek
Arion, 2024
This April marks two-hundred years since Lord Byron died in the wet marshes of Missolonghi, Greec... more This April marks two-hundred years since Lord Byron died in the wet marshes of Missolonghi, Greece. Despite his early death at age thirty-six, Byron's fame was already assured. The story is well known at this point: at nineteen, Byron published a collection of juvenilia titled Hours of Idleness (1807). The Edinburgh Review responded with a searing critique of the book. Byron was humiliated, by his own account, so "furious" that he "drank three bottles of claret to drown it." One year later he responded with a satire titled English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809). It was his first successful publication. Next, he left England for a two-year Grand Tour through Portugal, Spain, and the Levant. Returning in 1811, he published two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Romaunt (1812). The poem sold out in three days, to which Byron quipped "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." Fame gave way to scandal. Byron's wife, Annabella, who for years had suffered her husband's cruel jokes, erratic mood swings, and manipulative behavior, separated from him in January 1816, removing their daughter, Augusta Ada, to her parents' house. As their marriage dissolved, arion 31.3 winter 2024
Arion: A Journal of the Humanities and Classics, 2023
David Ferry is one of America’s most accomplished poets and translators. In addition to his contr... more David Ferry is one of America’s most accomplished poets and translators. In addition to his contributions to English verse, his translations of Horace’s Odes (1997), Virgil’s Eclogues (2000), the Georgics (2005), and the Aeneid (2017) have considerably swayed our modern, Anglophonic appreciation of Augustan poetry. While much has been said about Ferry’s original poems and translations, the extent to which they depend upon each other, and the meticu- lousness with which Latin informs his English (and vice versa) merit further consideration, particularly from classicists. As Ferry nears his eleventh decade of life, now seems as fitting a moment as ever to re- consider some of this poet’s classically influenced work.
My MLitt dissertation: This dissertation investigates the translations of Latin poems by Charl... more My MLitt dissertation:
This dissertation investigates the translations of Latin poems by Charles Hubert Sisson (1914-2013), focusing primarily on how Sisson explores English national identity through his translations of Aeneid 6, called ‘The Descent.'
A brief, narratological examination of how early Greek lyric poets interact with Homeric epic and... more A brief, narratological examination of how early Greek lyric poets interact with Homeric epic and the presentation of agency in the Iliad.
There is no doubt that John Milton would have found De rerum natura (DRN) a morally troubling boo... more There is no doubt that John Milton would have found De rerum natura (DRN) a morally troubling book; yet within Paradise Lost (PL) we find significant allusions to Lucretius in both style and subject matter. Despite the latter's arguments contra religionem and the former's devout Christianity, Lucretius' voice-his rhetorical devices, imagery, prosody, and even his style of argument-percolate so thoroughly into PL that they cannot be considered coincidental. The aim of this paper is not to prove that Milton was inspired by DRN (of that there is no question), but rather to discover specific passages wherein Milton merges Lucretius into PL, to demonstrate why the allusions in those specific passages are intentional, and to argue how Milton's usage of Lucretius to praise Christianity emboldens PL in ways that are not paradoxical, but instead serve as both an opportunity to strengthen Milton's praise of God and continue a tradition of reception premised by Lucretius himself, who fashioned himself as an heir to Epicureanism.
Talks by Martin W Michálek
Queer and the Classical, 2022
CAMWS, 2023
Right now, there is a flourishing of interest in the work of C. H. Sisson (1914 – 2003) as a poet... more Right now, there is a flourishing of interest in the work of C. H. Sisson (1914 – 2003) as a poet and translator of Latin authors (Moul and Talbot, 2023). In a 2014 issue of PN Review celebrating Sisson’s centennial, editor Henry King (2014) observes that Sisson’s ideology is difficult to sympathize with now more than ever: he was an Englishman—not a Briton, a staunch monarchist, and believed that all royal subjects were de facto Anglicans. Still, classicists should not ignore Sisson’s work. In this talk, I will show how Sisson’s translations of Roman poets deserve careful evaluation, particularly his handling of Virgil’s underworld prophecy in Aeneid 6, where the ancient poet makes explicit claims about Rome’s divinely mandated empire.
Book Reviews by Martin W Michálek
Classical Review, 2018
Review of "Robert Graves and the Classical Tradition" (OUP, 2015)
Arion, 2024
This April marks two-hundred years since Lord Byron died in the wet marshes of Missolonghi, Greec... more This April marks two-hundred years since Lord Byron died in the wet marshes of Missolonghi, Greece. Despite his early death at age thirty-six, Byron's fame was already assured. The story is well known at this point: at nineteen, Byron published a collection of juvenilia titled Hours of Idleness (1807). The Edinburgh Review responded with a searing critique of the book. Byron was humiliated, by his own account, so "furious" that he "drank three bottles of claret to drown it." One year later he responded with a satire titled English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809). It was his first successful publication. Next, he left England for a two-year Grand Tour through Portugal, Spain, and the Levant. Returning in 1811, he published two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage: A Romaunt (1812). The poem sold out in three days, to which Byron quipped "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." Fame gave way to scandal. Byron's wife, Annabella, who for years had suffered her husband's cruel jokes, erratic mood swings, and manipulative behavior, separated from him in January 1816, removing their daughter, Augusta Ada, to her parents' house. As their marriage dissolved, arion 31.3 winter 2024
Arion: A Journal of the Humanities and Classics, 2023
David Ferry is one of America’s most accomplished poets and translators. In addition to his contr... more David Ferry is one of America’s most accomplished poets and translators. In addition to his contributions to English verse, his translations of Horace’s Odes (1997), Virgil’s Eclogues (2000), the Georgics (2005), and the Aeneid (2017) have considerably swayed our modern, Anglophonic appreciation of Augustan poetry. While much has been said about Ferry’s original poems and translations, the extent to which they depend upon each other, and the meticu- lousness with which Latin informs his English (and vice versa) merit further consideration, particularly from classicists. As Ferry nears his eleventh decade of life, now seems as fitting a moment as ever to re- consider some of this poet’s classically influenced work.
My MLitt dissertation: This dissertation investigates the translations of Latin poems by Charl... more My MLitt dissertation:
This dissertation investigates the translations of Latin poems by Charles Hubert Sisson (1914-2013), focusing primarily on how Sisson explores English national identity through his translations of Aeneid 6, called ‘The Descent.'
A brief, narratological examination of how early Greek lyric poets interact with Homeric epic and... more A brief, narratological examination of how early Greek lyric poets interact with Homeric epic and the presentation of agency in the Iliad.
There is no doubt that John Milton would have found De rerum natura (DRN) a morally troubling boo... more There is no doubt that John Milton would have found De rerum natura (DRN) a morally troubling book; yet within Paradise Lost (PL) we find significant allusions to Lucretius in both style and subject matter. Despite the latter's arguments contra religionem and the former's devout Christianity, Lucretius' voice-his rhetorical devices, imagery, prosody, and even his style of argument-percolate so thoroughly into PL that they cannot be considered coincidental. The aim of this paper is not to prove that Milton was inspired by DRN (of that there is no question), but rather to discover specific passages wherein Milton merges Lucretius into PL, to demonstrate why the allusions in those specific passages are intentional, and to argue how Milton's usage of Lucretius to praise Christianity emboldens PL in ways that are not paradoxical, but instead serve as both an opportunity to strengthen Milton's praise of God and continue a tradition of reception premised by Lucretius himself, who fashioned himself as an heir to Epicureanism.
Queer and the Classical, 2022
CAMWS, 2023
Right now, there is a flourishing of interest in the work of C. H. Sisson (1914 – 2003) as a poet... more Right now, there is a flourishing of interest in the work of C. H. Sisson (1914 – 2003) as a poet and translator of Latin authors (Moul and Talbot, 2023). In a 2014 issue of PN Review celebrating Sisson’s centennial, editor Henry King (2014) observes that Sisson’s ideology is difficult to sympathize with now more than ever: he was an Englishman—not a Briton, a staunch monarchist, and believed that all royal subjects were de facto Anglicans. Still, classicists should not ignore Sisson’s work. In this talk, I will show how Sisson’s translations of Roman poets deserve careful evaluation, particularly his handling of Virgil’s underworld prophecy in Aeneid 6, where the ancient poet makes explicit claims about Rome’s divinely mandated empire.
Classical Review, 2018
Review of "Robert Graves and the Classical Tradition" (OUP, 2015)