In the case of lines far more lubriciously explicit than these, Wills embraces the Roman poet’s copious Latin obscenities in tumescent Anglo-Saxon translations, and in this sense certainly conveys the authentic Martial.

tumescent (adj): 1. Somewhat tumid. 2. Becoming swollen; swelling. – ‘My Poetry Is Filthy — but Not I’

In both their systems, the interpreter–the philosopher for Hegel, the analyst for Lacan–is granted absolute, unchallengeable authority. Most people are necessarily in thrall to appearances, and thereby to the deceptions of power; but the interpreter is somehow immune to them, and can singlehandedly recognize and expose the hidden meanings, the true processes at work in History or in the Unconscious. This sacerdotal notion of intellectual authority makes both thinkers essentially hostile to democracy, which holds that the truth is available in principle to everyone, and that every individual must be allowed to speak for himself.

sacerdotal (adj) 1: of or relating to a belief in sacerdotalism 2: associated with the priesthood or priests [syn: priestly, hieratic, hieratical] – The Deadly Jester