Attius Labeo (active 1st century AD) was a Roman writer during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

. He is remembered for the derision that greeted his Latin translations of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'', which came to epitomise bad verse. He translated the original Greek into Latin hexameters. The satirist

Persius Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satire, he shows a Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he considered to be the stylistic abuses of his ...

poured scorn on Labeo. Later his name was used by English poets of the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female ...

to attack each other's verse.

Work

His writings have not survived, but a single line of his translation has been preserved in

scholia Scholia (: scholium or scholion, from , "comment", "interpretation") are grammatical, critical, or explanatory comments – original or copied from prior commentaries – which are inserted in the margin of the manuscript of ancient a ...

: "crudum manduces Priamum Priamique pisinnos", which was Labeo's translation of the words - ὠμòν ßεßρώΘοις Πρίαμον Πριάμοιó τε παîδας (Iliad, iv, 35). On the basis of this surviving line, it has been suggested that the translation was considered to be vulgar, since the words 'manduces' and 'pisinnos' would have "undoubtedly struck Romans as exotically 'low'". In English the line means, roughly, "Raw, you'd chew both Priam and Priam's kids."

Persius

, a contemporary of the translator, refers to Labeo in his ''Satires'' as the epitome of a bad poet, mentioning him in his discussion of his reasons for taking up his pen: O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane!
"Quis leget haec?" min tu istud ais? Nemo hercule. "Nemo?"
Vel duo, vel nemo. "Turpe et miserabile." Quare?
Ne mihi Polydamas et Troïades Labeonem
Praetulerint? Nugae! RGM Nesbitt translates these lines as: "The toils of men! The emptiness of life! 'Who's going to read that?' Are you talking to me? Nobody, of course. 'Nobody?' Well, two at the most. 'That's a poor show.' Why? Because Polydamas and the Trojan Women may prefer Labeo to me? Bosh."RGM Nesbitt, "Persius" in J. P. Sullivan (ed), ''Critical Essays on Roman Literature: Satire'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963, p.42. Polydamas was a Trojan leader in the ''Iliad'' characterised by his timidity. He and the women of Troy tried to stop

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

making a bold attack on the Greeks. Persius also says that Labeo must have made the translation while "drunk with hellebore" (''ebria ueratro'').J. Wight Duff, ''A Literary History of Rome in the Silver Age: From Tiberius to Hadrian'', Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1927, p.342.

English satire

Following Persius' use of the name, Elizabethan English satirists used the name "Labeo" as a code for a bad poet. "Labeo" appears in Joseph Hall's ''Satires'', in which he is accused of writing bad pastoral, erotic and heroic verse, evidently a reference to poetry of the time. The identity of Hall's "Labeo" is disputed. It has been suggested that

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...

may be the target.

Samuel Daniel Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) was an English poet, playwright and historian in the late-Elizabethan and early- Jacobean eras. He was an innovator in a wide range of literary genres. His best-known works are the sonnet cycle ''Delia'', the epic ...

has also been suggested. However, it has been argued that Hall's "Labeo" is a composite figure, standing for the vulgarity of modern poetry, as Hall saw it. In the view of Oscar James Campbell, "The English Labeo is best regarded as a type figure representing each and every one of the assiduous and tasteless Elizabethan translators." Likewise, John Marston mentions "Labeo" in ''Pygmalion's Image'', which includes the words, "So Labeo did complain his love was stone,/Obdurate, flinty, so relentless none." It may be that this use of the "Labeo" persona is an attack on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, since the lines resemble a passage in '' Venus and Adonis''.

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

in an early essay quotes Persius on Labeo, referring to academic rivalries, :So provocative of animosity, even in the home of learning, is the rivalry of those who pursue different studies or whose opinions differ concerning the studies they pursue in common. However, I care not if "Polydamas and the women of Troy prefer Labeo to me;--a trifle this".Phyllis B. Tillyard, E. M. W. Tillyard (trans), ''Milton: Private Correspondence and Academic Exercises'', Cambridge, 1932, p.53.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labeo, Attius Silver Age Latin writers 1st-century Romans 1st-century writers in Latin Greek–Latin translators Attii 1st-century translators Translators of Homer