What question did this study set out to answer?

The article aims to explore the principles of classical criticism through a close reading of a distinct poem by Quintus Sulpicius Maximus.

April 18, 2026Open Access

The Boy Who Crashed and Burned: Quintus Sulpicius Maximus and the Limits of Classical Criticism

Key Points

The article aims to explore the principles of classical criticism through a close reading of a distinct poem by Quintus Sulpicius Maximus.
Conducted a reflective analysis of contemporary classical criticism principles.
Provided an exploratory reading of a 43-line hexameter poem.
Examined the poem's historical context and its inscription on a funerary altar.
Presented insights into the intersection of classical criticism and the poem's themes.
Highlighted the significance of the poem as a unique literary artifact from 94 CE.

Abstract

This article is two things. On the one hand it is a sustained reflection on the principles that underpin contemporary classical criticism. On the other, it is an exploratory reading of a very distinctive text, a 43-line hexameter Greek poem composed by one Quintus Sulpicius Maximus in 94 CE, which was subsequently inscribed on a funerary altar for him. Sulpicius had improvised a verse ethopoeia at Domitian’s Games for Capitoline Jupiter of 94 CE, on the theme What Words Would Zeus Have Used to Castigate Helios for Giving his Chariot to Phaethon? The poem’s 43 verses appear on two columns on either side of the sculpted figure of Sulpicius (the final lines appearing on a scroll in his hand).

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Cite This Study

Tim Whitmarsh (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69e320fd40886becb654036c https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.129328

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