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  • Essay / Realization and Construction of Self-Identity in Satire Vi and Catilinam I and II, Juvenal

    In Satire VI and In Catilinam I and II, Juvenal and Cicero both attack the personal conduct of their enemies to construct an identity Roman while appealing to “Roman values”. Their projects are indeed very similar; both raise questions of class, expressing fear of how wealth and luxury are changing traditional values. Yet while Juvenal primarily uses ad hominem attacks and misogyny in his satire, Cicero's two speeches demonstrate a slightly more complex range of tactics for constructing identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The logic followed by Juvénal in his satire is perhaps crystallized in his analysis of the relationship between wealth and morality: brought among us from foreign morals and effeminate wealth which, with vile complacency, have destroyed us over the years” (l. 298-300). The language used in this passage recalls and anticipates the themes he develops throughout the satire. First, the passage recalls Juvenal's opening sentence ("during the reign of Saturn, I believe that chastity still persisted on earth" (l. 1-2)) in his hypothesis that there was once an age of gold of morality which has been supplanted by corruption. This hypothesis is necessary if we want to say that wealth (or anything else, for that matter) "first brought foreign morals among us", since we could not distinguish a precise moment where immorality took hold if there was not a moral age. stand in comparison. The passage thus highlights the importance of Juvenal's first sentence as the premise on which much of his argument rests. Additionally, Juvenal appeals to Roman national identity by describing "free morals" as "foreign," implying that if Rome were true to its traditional values, immorality would not be so rampant. This choice of words helps to subtly reinforce the audience's identification with traditional Roman values ​​by positioning anyone who considers themselves a true Roman on the side of morality. Invoking foreignness is a tactic that initiates a cyclical process of identity construction through which Juvenal appeals to Roman identity while simultaneously defining that identity. In Catiline's first speech, Cicero appears to construct Roman identity in a somewhat similar way. “There is not here, apart from this conspiracy of ruined men, a single person who does not fear you, not a single one who does not hate you” (p. 47), he said, addressing Catiline before the Senate. Cicero here creates a binary opposition between Catiline's co-conspirators and all the other senators. Like Juvenal, who contrasts “true” Roman values ​​with the corrupt moralities of his time, Cicero leaves no room in his binary for those who might disagree with his accusations; in Cicero's logic, if one is an honest senator, one must fear and hate Catiline --- just as for Juvenal, if one has true Roman values, one will criticize the immorality of the contemporary period. Juvenal further constructs his version of Roman identity by calling corrupting wealth “effeminate”. This description positions morality on the side of masculinity, emphasizing the “moralist as misogynist” theme that runs throughout the satire. The text is indeed littered with misogyny: Juvénal advocates suicide or homosexuality rather than marriage to a woman and describes in detail the immorality to which women are subject, particularly detailing their sexual indiscretions. However, inUsing the word "effeminate" in this passage, Juvenal makes explicit a cyclical association between women and corruption: women are not only perverted by wealth, it seems, but they are also, in one way or another on the other, inextricably associated with this contaminating force. This association thus positions women, as well as wealth, on the anti-Roman side of the binary, and Roman identity becomes linked to normative masculine identity as well as traditional values. Juvenal returns to this theme several times in his text, characterizing women as immoral through descriptions of their supposed sexual deviance and impropriety. Her account of the Bona Dea festival illustrates Juvenal's positioning of women on the side of immorality: "...if they cannot find [the water bearer] either, and men are rare, [ women] are ready and willing to get down on all fours and set out their dish for a donkey. May our ancient rituals (at least in their public observances) not be affected by such wickedness! » (334-7). In this passage, Juvenal's reference to bestiality demonstrates the unbridled lust of his female characters; They are so unbridled and reckless that they are even ready to have sex with animals in order to satisfy their desires. This lack of restraint is an example of the “vile complacency” that Juvenal said wealth and luxury fostered among the Roman people. Furthermore, his exclamation following the description of the immoral behavior of women (“are our ancient rituals…”) reinforces the opposition between corruption and traditional Roman values. He explicitly appeals to a common Roman identity by referring to "our ancient rituals", reminding his audience that they must identify with his critique of luxury, that they must see themselves as being on the moral, prudent and masculine of the binary. Yet his personal attacks on these women and their life choices have nothing to do with the behavior of actual Roman women; women are simply characters that Juvenal constructs to appeal to and define Roman identity. It is through these overt attacks that he defends traditional Roman values. Cicero's first speech, on the other hand, is markedly more reserved than Juvenal's satire in its reliance on ad hominem attacks and misogyny; in fact, he explicitly refuses to attack Catiline for personal reasons: “I pass over in silence the total ruin of your fortune which you will feel weighing on you in the next Ides; I come to events which do not care about the disgrace caused to you. by the scandals of your private life or by the poverty and shame of your family, but by the supreme interests of the State and by the life and security of us all” (p. 47). Here, Cicero positions himself as being concerned about the law. and the well-being of the State rather than through petty personal attacks, and in this posture he seems to distance himself from Juvenal's tactics. While Juvenal details people's deviant sexual behavior, Cicero claims to renounce these kinds of attacks out of respect for the state. This assertion appears to have been a wise decision on Cicero's part when speaking before the Senate, since the senators would have been more likely to condemn Catiline for criminal behavior and conspiracy against the state than for lifestyle choices; thus Cicero seems to behave according to senatorial decorum. However, this refusal to launch ad hominem attacks is a rhetorical strategy, and Cicero actually prefaces his refusal with several of these attacks: “What mark of family scandal is not marked on your life? [...] What young man you had seduced by the attractions of your..