Martial: Epigrams Overview

The next poet we will read is Marcus Valerius Martialis, otherwise known as Martial. Martial's style is dramatically different from what you read in Ovid: Martial used his poetry to satirize and critique Roman society, using biting language and cruelty to mock the powerful. Instead of writing lengthy poems, akin to the epics of Homer, Vergil and Ovid, Martial kept his poems short, using his quick wit and using powerful language. His poems, called epigrams, are the epitome of the style and many satirists followed Martial's example.

Download: Study Guide

Please download the Martial: Epigrams Study Guide. The study guide follows the module in order and should be viewed at first as a note-taking document, then later, as a review file.

Essential Questions

What is a conditional clause?
What are the different types of conditional clauses?
Who was Martial?
What sort of poetry did Martial write?
How does Martial compare with Ovid?

Key Terms

conditional sentence - a sentence discussing factual implications or hypothetical situations and their consequences. There are two parts to a conditional sentence:
- protasis - the if clause: establishes the conditions under which the consequence would occur.
- apodosis - the then clause: the consequence of the if clause.
simple conditional - a conditional sentence in which the protasis and apodosis are presented as factual events
- future more vivid - the protasis and apodosis will happen, according to the speaker (some future action will lead to a real consequence)
- simple conditionals of fact - the action of the protasis and apodosis happens, according to the speaker (real action leads to real consequence)
subjunctive conditional - a conditional sentence in which either one or both parts of the condition are hypothetical or otherwise possible
- future less vivid - in this conditional sentence, the protasis and apodosis both present possibilities for near future outcomes, though the actual outcome is unknown (possible action leads to possible outcome)
- contrary to fact - in this conditional sentence, the protasis presents a possibility that did not happened, but if it had, it would have lead to a particular outcome (a possible action did not happen, but still could, and if it does, could lead to a possible outcome)
- mixed - subjunctive conditionals can combine tenses to create a mixture of time frames
Epigram - a type of poem, utilizing brevity and wit, often written in elegiac couplets.

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