Was Martial the school ground bully or is there an underlying meaning?

I believe that in Martial's epigrams, epigrams VII.3, XXII.46, II.38 are satire, while epigram I.32 is a parody.

Martial's epigram I.32 can be classified as a parody because it's rude and makes fun of something stupid (being Sabidus in the passage), and has no higher meaning. This epigram doesn't seem to me to even have the slightest bit of higher meaning besides just insulting the person. If Martial gave an explanation for why he doesn't like Sabidus, then there would be some form of higher meaning but he doesn't and rather just cruelly insults Sabidus.

Martial's epigrams VII.3, XXII.46, and II.38 are satire. Although Martial criticizes people in these epigrams, there is a higher meaning in each of them. In epigram II.38 Martial insults Linus, but actually provides a reason for why he's insulting Linus. Martial's reason for going to the farm in Norment could be partly because of Linus which makes this satire. In epigram XXII.46 Martial is actually complimenting this person. In this epigram Martial criticizes specific traits in a person and then amends them by saying they are also the opposite of that. Epigram VII.3 Martial criticizes Pontilianus' works but actually brings up a valid point in society that one person may not send something to another person for fear of receiving a bad item in return.

Martial can be mean but often brings up valid points and flaws in society that are "stupid."

Martial and His Books

Martial was trying to get across the point in the epigrams 1.38, 7.81, and 1.16 that books couldn't be flawless. Martial expresses in these epigrams that he knows that some of his poems are bad but in order to recognize the good poems you must first understand which poems are bad. This balance between good and bad poems make a book. Without a bad poem in a book the reader could think they were all bad. In order to ensure though that when writing your books isn't very bad is that you must have at least as many good poems as bad ones as Martial mentions to Lausus. Also as Martial says to Fidentinus, when you recite a book in a certain expression or add a phrase or two your changing the book and can no longer hold the author responsible for the new poem versions. Lastly Martial tells Avitus that there are all different types of books and that each appeals to different people, whether it be mediocre ones, evil ones, or good ones, each is unique to a specific audience.

Roman Economics

Roman economics consisted of mainly three economic classes: the plebs, the equiles, and the senators/emperors. This structure was like a pyramid that the plebs were at the bottom and there were the most of them. The second level was the equiles who were merchants and others who had moved up in the world. The third level as it is called consisted of senators and the emperor. Realistically in Rome the only way to move was down and usually never up the pyramid. This is because wealth and status was mainly based on family and your name. You had a wealthy family and a good name and you were famous.

Another key part to Roman economics was that everyone was GREEDY. Even if you were an emperor and were the richest man/woman in the known world, you would still scheme and plot to get more money. As stated by Martial "Fortune gives too much to many; she gives enough to no one." Greed was a major part of Roman  culture because the economic structure was almost directly related to the social structure. Greed shaped Rome and even looking at the government revolves around it. The senators were all just really wealthy people who wanted to write the rules so that they stayed that way. Rome had an interesting economic structure, the likes of which are still seen in the modern world but with different titles and forms but the base remains constant, money means power.

Satire-VS-Parody

The children's stories The Sneetches and The Stinky Cheese Man are good examples of parodies and satires.

The Sneetches is a satire story based on differences in people. The story is satire because it makes fun of peoples perceptions of differences but also has a hire meaning of eliminating those differences. In this story the differences are that some sneetches have stars and others do not. The sneetches with stars think of themselves as better than those without stars. The sneetches without stars feel jealous of the sneetches with stars. Slyvester McMonkey McBean is a con-man who comes to the beaches with a "marvelous" machine which can put a star on any sneetch. When the sneetches without stars paid money to go through the machine they actually got stars. The sneetches who had stars before decided to pay money and get their stars removed. This happened many times before no sneetch knew the difference of one from another. At this point they had all run out of money by paying McMonkey. Then McMonkey left the beach with all their money. This story criticizes the stupidity of people for playing on each others differences and shows that when the people actually realize they are not that different it's too late.

The Stinky Cheese Man is a parody based on the gingerbread man. In the story The Stinky Cheese Man the stinky cheese man is created at like the gingerbread man runs away from everyone. Unlike the gingerbread man though no one wants to eat the stinky cheese man so they leave him to run by himself and not chase him. Eventually the stinky cheese man dies and there is no moral or resolution. This story is a parody because there is no higher meaning or purpose to the idea of the story.

The Satyr And The Creepy Body Arn't So Different After All

First thing I noticed, was that the Satyr who was kinda mean but overall had good intentions which is a thing he shared with the Body. The body unlike the Satyr is dealing with itself, being the stomach. The stomach isn't doing work but is eating (like a good stomach should) but the body thinks that eating isn't working for the stomach (obviously in this story the body didn't include the brain) and so the body condemns the stomach to stop eating, or do work. This shows some cruelty but overall good intentions because the body wants the stomach to share the burden. The stomach and body both die because the body is mislead in its intentions. This parallels the satyr, because he too has good intentions by bringing the traveler into his house and by doing so saving the traveler's life. In this story too one party is mislead, but in this one it's the traveler who contradicts whatever the satyr has just done for him. The traveler angers the satyr until the satyr kicks him out. In both "the satyr and traveler," and "the stomach and the body," good intentions are overpowered by stupidity.

Bettering the community, and not yourself

In the story the frog and their king, the frogs are selfish, and only think about what they, themselves want. They never consider that by having a ruler they would be making other frogs unhappy, or would be affecting Jupiter by asking him. This story shows that because of selfishness, and stupidity, the frogs got what they deserved (being eaten alive by a stork). Aesop was clever in making this part of the moral, because it shows readers what not to do, therefore giving good advice. An example of Aesop's moral in modern day life could be, because a man wanted to get to work quickly, and drive fast, he crashed into another car, potentially killing or injuring someone in the process.

9/16/2013-The Four Characters in Aesop's Fables

9/16/2013                                      The Four Characters in Aesop's Fables

               The Satyr- The Satyr was a deity of the forest who had a warm home safe from the cold. The Satyr is generous to let the traveler stay in his house, and kindly complies to the travelers needs (being warmth, and food). The Satyr is calm, kind, and peaceful, as well as curious. All these traits are shown by the Satyr's dialogue. In the end the traveler contradicts himself too much until the Satyr gets mad and kicks him out of his house. These are all human like qualities that can easily be applied to many situations, so, the moral helpful.
             
               The Traveler- The traveler is a helpless, wanderer in the forest. The Satyr is kind and takes him in because the traveler is dying of cold. The traveler is full of wants, but while satisfying them, doesn't realize the Satyr is taking care of his more important needs. The traveler doesn't acknowledge this and the Satyr kicks him out. This shows the human quality of stupidity, which no matter how smart we are, we can never overcome (but apparently Satyrs can).

               The Lion- The lion is a devious, and daring trickster. He plans to trick a horse, thinking it's stupid and won't be expecting the trick. As you can guess the lion underestimates the horse, and the horse kicks the lion in the face. The lion reflects his choices of tricking the horse, and decides the horse rightfully got away because the lion's plan was foolish and not thorough. The lion's qualities relate to human's qualities, in the way that both are ambitious and not always completely lucid when thinking of plans. In addition the lion also reflects humans in the manner that like humans, he was trying to take the easy way out.
             
               The Horse- The horse is a clever, and fast animal that can outrun the lion. horse realizes that it shouldn't trust the lion even though the lion claims to be a "doctor" (even if he was, he probably wouldn't be a good one). The horse comes up with the plan to give the lion a good lesson by kicking the lion as hard as he can straight in the face. The horse then quickly runs away to make sure he isn't eaten by the lion if he wasn't knocked unconscious (he was, and almost dead). The horse shows the want to survive, spontaneous, and clever thinking, as well as showing it has good judgement.