A dog's life, snappish talk, the ravenous mouth: these rude images cluster in the language of insult from early on in Greek poetry, often crystallizing in the form of curses such as this one. While the features of iambic literature clearly developed piecemeal, disparate settings for poetic performance offer strikingly similar figurative language to capture the speaking styles and characterizations of both those who deploy insults and their targets. In the broadest sense, this abusive talk runs the gamut from invective and character assassination on the one hand, to mockery and lampoon on the other; that is to say, some modes are quite vitriolic, others more droll. The genres in which such abuse appears reflect this diversity. Indeed, I would submit that abusive modes shadow many, if not most, genres, often functioning in irreverent, devious, or sinister contrast to the perspectives openly valued by the given text.