Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

10518

Suetonius, Nero, 21.3

nan He also put on the mask and sang tragedies representing gods and heroes and even heroines and goddesses, having the masks fashioned in the likeness of his own features or those of the women of whom he chanced to be enamoured. Among other themes he sang "Canace in Labor," "Orestes the Matricide," "The Blinding of Oedipus" and the "Frenzy of Hercules." At the last named performance they say that a young recruit, seeing the emperor in mean attire and bound with chains, as the subject required, rushed forward to lend him aid.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

9 results
1. Sophocles, Antigone, 450 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
2. Sophocles, Oedipus The King, 410 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
3. Horace, Ars Poetica, 123 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
4. Seneca The Younger, Thyestes, 177-180, 176 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
5. Suetonius, Augustus, 85 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
6. Suetonius, Caligula, 22 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
7. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 59.5, 59.25.5, 59.26.6-59.26.10, 59.30.1, 7372.15.6, 7372.16.1, 7372.20.2, 7372.22.3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 59.5. 1.  This was the kind of emperor into whose hands the Romans were then delivered. Hence the deeds of Tiberius, though they were felt to have been very harsh, were nevertheless as far superior to those of Gaius as the deeds of Augustus were to those of his successor.,2.  For Tiberius always kept the power in his own hands and used others as agents for carrying out his wishes; whereas Gaius was ruled by the charioteers and gladiators, and was the slave of the actors and others connected with the stage. Indeed, he always kept Apelles, the most famous of the tragedians of that day, with him even in public.,3.  Thus he by himself and they by themselves did without let or hindrance all that such persons would naturally dare to do when given power. Everything that pertained to their art he arranged and settled on the slightest pretext in the most lavish manner, and he compelled the praetors and the consuls to do the same, so that almost every day some performance of the kind was sure to be given.,4.  At first he was but a spectator and listener at these and would take sides for or against various performers like one of the crowd; and one time, when he was vexed with those of opposing tastes, he did not go to the spectacle. But as time went on, he came to imitate, and to contend in many events,,5.  driving chariots, fighting as a gladiator, giving exhibitions of pantomimic dancing, and acting in tragedy. So much for his regular behaviour. And once he sent an urgent summons at night to the leading men of the senate, as if for some important deliberation, and then danced before them.   59.26.6.  because he had bridged so great an expanse of sea; he also impersonated Hercules, Bacchus, Apollo, and all the other divinities, not merely males but also females, often taking the rôle of Juno, Diana, or Venus. Indeed, to match the change of name he would assume all the rest of the attributes that belonged to the various gods, so that he might seem really to resemble them. 59.26.7.  Now he would be seen as a woman, holding a wine-bowl and (Opens in another window)')" onMouseOut="nd();" thyrsus, and again he would appear as a man equipped with a club and lion's skin or perhaps a helmet and shield. He would be seen at one time with a smooth chin and later with a full beard. Sometimes he wielded a trident and again he brandished a thunderbolt. Now he would impersonate a maiden equipped for hunting or for war, and a little later would play the married woman. 59.26.8.  Thus by varying the style of his dress, and by the use of accessories and wigs, he achieved accuracy inasmuch diverse parts; and he was eager to appear to be anything rather than a human being and an emperor. Once a Gaul, seeing him uttering oracles from a lofty platform in the guise of Jupiter, was moved to laughter 59.26.9.  whereupon Gaius summoned him and inquired, "What do I seem to you to be?" And the other answered (I give his exact words):"A big humbug." Yet the man met with no harm, for he was only a shoemaker. Thus it is, apparently, that persons of such rank as Gaius can bear the frankness of the common herd more easily than that of those who hold high position. 59.26.10.  The attire, now, that I have described was what he would assume whenever he pretended to be a god; and suitable supplications, prayers, and sacrifices would then be offered to him. At other times he usually appeared in public in silk or in triumphal dress.
8. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Commodus, 11.13, 17.8-17.9 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
9. Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Commodus, 11.13, 17.8-17.9 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
accession (imperial)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
aeschylus,dramas by\n,oresteia	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
anger,of atreus	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
antigonus i monophthalmus	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
appearance	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
atreus,and metatheatre	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
atreus,as actor	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
audience,and thyestes	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
augustus,ajax	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
autocrats/autocracy see also dionysus,monarchy,satyrplay,tragedy,tyrants\n,and theatre	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
caligula	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
caracalla	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
character,fictional,and metatheatre	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
character,fictional,as textual construct	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
characterisation	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
citations of tragedy by	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
claudius (germanicus)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
commodus	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
contrasts (in narrative)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
creon (king of thebes)	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
divine	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
domitian	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
downfall	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
euripides,dramas by\n,aeolus	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
euripides,dramas by\n,antigone	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
euripides,dramas by\n,orestes	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
euripides (tragic poet),and nero	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
father(hood)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
heracles	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
horace	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
identity,and metatheatre	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
juvenal (poet)	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
luxury	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
marcus aurelius	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
mask,and metatheatre	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
metatheatre,in thyestes	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
minds (of in-text characters)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
minotaur,significance of in senecan tragedy	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
moderation	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
moral(isation)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
naming	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
nero	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68; Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
nero (emperor),performing greek tragedy	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
nero (emperor)	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165; Mcclellan (2019), Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola, 6
nobility of birth	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
oedipus	Mcclellan (2019), Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola, 6
onlookers	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
orestes	Mcclellan (2019), Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola, 6
philostratus (the younger)	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
physiognomy	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
propaganda (imperial)	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
readers,expectations	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226
recognition scenes,and metatheatre	Bexley (2022), Seneca's Characters: Fictional Identities and Implied Human Selves, 68
sophocles,dramas by\n,antigone	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
sophocles,dramas by\n,oedipus at colonus	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
sophocles,dramas by\n,oedipus tyrannus	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
theatre'	Mcclellan (2019), Paulinus Noster: Self and Symbols in the Letters of Paulinus of Nola, 6
tragedy,and autocrats	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
tragedy,modern reception of	Csapo et al. (2022), Theatre and Autocracy in the Ancient World, 165
tyranny/tyrants	Chrysanthou (2022), Reconfiguring the Imperial Past: Narrative Patterns and Historical Interpretation in Herodian’s History of the Empire. 226