The Language of Greek Skoptic Epigram of the I-II centuries AD

Skoptic epigrams are mainly preserved in book 11 of the Greek Anthology and form a subgenre that flourished between the first and second centuries A.D. They may be described as short, witty poems, based on puns, intertextual allusions, and polysemy. On the one hand, skoptic authors engage with the literary tradition, and show their literary pedigree by way of quotations and intertextual allusions, or by “mimicking” highbrow poetry; on the other, they show a tendency to incorporate contemporary linguistic materials into their poems. For instance, several Latinisms are to be found in Nikarchus and Lucillius’ poetry is often open to colloquialisms and syntactic oddities, which most probably reflect the language spoken by the graeculi who lived under Nero. Interestingly, the skoptic technique of reproducing a given character's linguistic mannerisms extends to appropriating the jargon of such professionals as doctors, astrologers and grammarians. This paper will focus on some of the techniques designed to enhance the poems' linguistic diversity, indeed one of the most striking features of the subgenre as a whole.