The Language of Red in Latin Literature

Benichou, Magda Violet Aya

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The Language of Red in Latin Literature

Benichou, Magda Violet Aya

Abstract

What red was to ancient Roman authors and how is it conveyed in the literature in the absence of abstract color expression? This thesis analyzes some of the convoluted ways that the ancient Romans responded to this challenge in expressions of the color red in Latin literature. One response is that the ancient Romans name shades of red after their origins, either material object or geographical location. In turn, this means that certain shades of red take on the associated connotations of their origins. Another response, as revealed through a close-text literary analysis of the adjectives sanguineus, subrufus, and rubens, is that the Romans relied on the syntax of their language to express distinct shades of red. Both patterns occur on simultaneously linguistic and material levels, particularly when looking at the origins and function of the pigment, cinnabar. As one of the main material sources of red in Roman antiquity, cinnabar was used in wall paintings and political inscriptions in Pompeii. Cinnabar also played a key role in triumphal processions. The pigment was painted onto the cheeks of the statue of Jupiter, as well as onto the bodies of victorious participants. It is then revealed that some of the ancient practices involving material red gave rise to some of the modern symbolic associations that we have of red today, such as wealth, power, victory, and vitality. In understanding the symbolism of red, the association and representation of blood is examined in the etymological origins of the pigment, cinnabar. Some meaning might have slipped through the cracks as Latin adopted Greek terminology, creating ambiguous expressions of red in the literature. The conclusion is that the ancient Romans nevertheless overcame the challenge of conceptualizing color, ultimately giving red an agency like no other.