Humor in the Letters of G. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius

Abstract

G. S. Apollinaris Sidonius, late Roman author of Gallic provenance, was a Christian and even was elected a bishop by his contemporaries. It is interesting, that the style of his his letters, published by him in nine books, is merely secular. It becomes possible thanks to the fact that great role in his letters — the letters of educated aristocrat and consecrated priest — belongs not only to the motives of classical literature and mythology of ancient Rome, but also to humor. In the article we try to sum up the means of comism in the letters of Sidonius — the comism, which, partly, makes them to be not easy, but amusing reading.

Keywords:

Sidonius, epistolography, humor, Late Roman Literature, Late Roman Gaul