Juvenal - Decimus Junius Juvenalis

The greatest satirical poet of ancient Rome. Much about his life is unknown. He was born into a noble family in Aquinum, central Italy, but was banished after writing a satirical poem about Emperor Domitian's favorite actor. He may have served in the military in Egypt at this time. He later returned to Rome and lived a poor life. His friend Martialis called him a rhetorician during this period. Between 100 and 127, he published his Satires, a series of five books and 16 songs, in roughly the order in which they exist today.

He does not seek subject matter in mythology, but satirizes all human activities. Among his works, the first canto (Prologue), in which he declares that the corruption of Rome made him write poetry, the third canto lamenting that honest people could not survive in Rome, the fifth canto self-deprecatingly singing about the miserable lives of his subjects (clientes), the sixth canto about the vices of women, the eighth canto denouncing the decadence of the nobility, and the tenth canto, in which he laughs at the futility of human hope and encourages people to pray for a "healthy mind in a healthy body." Juvenal seems to have lived a comfortable life in his later years, and his satire loses its sharpness from the tenth canto onwards. Juvenal is a moralist based on Stoic thought, and develops sharp social criticism while looking back on traditional virtues. His works were not much looked at until the end of the 4th century, but they were completed in the tradition of satirical poetry continued by Lucilius and Horace, and became the starting point of European satire.

[Toki Masasaku]

"Kunihara Kichinosuke's translation of "Satire Poems" (included in "World Famous Poems Collection 1: Ancient and Medieval Volumes", 1966, Heibonsha)" ▽ "Higuchi Katsuhiko's translation of "Human Wishes Are Vanity" (Satire Poems No. 10), "Humanity's Outside, Humanity's Inside (Excerpts)" (Satire Poems No. 2) (included in "World Philosophy of Life Collection 2", 1963, Chikuma Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代ローマ最高の風刺詩人。その生涯は不明な点が多い。中部イタリア、アクィヌムの名門に生まれたらしいが、ドミティアヌス帝お気に入りの役者を風刺する詩を書いて追放される。このときエジプトで軍務に服したかもしれない。そののちローマに帰り、貧乏暮らしを送る。友人マルティアリスはこの時期の彼を修辞家とよんでいる。100年ごろから127年ごろの間に五巻16歌からなる『風刺詩』をほぼ現存する順序で発表する。

　彼は神話に題材を求めず、あらゆる人間の活動を風刺の対象としている。なかでも、ローマの腐敗堕落が自分に詩を書かせるのだと宣言する第一歌（序）、ローマでは正直者は生きてゆけないと嘆く第三歌、被護民(クリエンテス)のみじめな生活を自嘲(じちょう)的に歌う第五歌、女の悪徳を主題とする第六歌、貴族の堕落ぶりを罵倒(ばとう)する第八歌、人間の願いのむなしさをわらい、「健康な身体に健康な心を」宿らせ給えと願うことを勧める第十歌が名高い。晩年には余裕ある生活を送ったらしく、第十歌以後は風刺も鋭さを欠いている。ユウェナリスはストア思想に立脚するモラリストであり、旧来の徳を回顧しつつ鋭い社会批判を展開させる。その作品は4世紀末まではあまり顧みられなかったが、ルキリウス、ホラティウスと続く風刺詩の伝統を受け継いで完成しており、ヨーロッパ風刺詩の出発点となった。

［土岐正策］

『国原吉之助訳『風刺詩集』（『世界名詩集大成1　古代・中世篇』所収・1966・平凡社）』▽『樋口勝彦訳『むなしきは人の願い』（風刺詩第十）、『人の表、人の裏（抄）』（風刺詩第2）（『世界人生論全集2』所収・1963・筑摩書房）』

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