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Lament Scenes in Xenophon of Ephesus: a Study in Self-Fashioning Lament Scenes in Xenophon of Ephesus: A Study in Self-Fashioning Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Nelson, Nicholas Paul Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 10:57:35 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/642032 LAMENT SCENES IN XENOPHON OF EPHESUS: A STUDY IN SELF-FASHIONING by Nicholas P. Nelson ____________________________ Copyright © Nicholas P. Nelson 2020 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND CLASSICS In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2020 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Master’s Committee, we certify that we have read the thesis prepared by Nicholas Nelson, titled Lament Scenes in Xenophon of Ephesus: A Study in Self-Fashioning and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the thesis requirement for the Master’s Degree. _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________06-30-2020 Robert Groves _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________6/30/2020 David Christenson _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________06/30/2020 Arum Park Final approval and acceptance of this thesis is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the thesis to the Graduate College. We hereby certify that we have read this thesis prepared under our direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the Master’s requirement. _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________06/30/2020 Robert Groves Master’s Thesis Committee Co-Chair Department of Religious Studies and Classics _________________________________________________________________ Date: ____________6/30/2020 David Christenson Master’s Thesis Committee Co-Chair Department of Religious Studies and Classics 2 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 Xenophon of Ephesus ................................................................................................................. 7 Theon’s Discussion of Character Types as Evidence for Social Antitheses ............................ 10 Characterization and Self-Fashioning in the Greek Novel ....................................................... 12 Sophrosyne ............................................................................................................................ 17 Lament and Identity .................................................................................................................. 18 Lament and Genre ................................................................................................................. 18 Gender and Tragic Lamentation ........................................................................................... 21 Overview of Chapters ............................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2: “ἀεί σε θρηνῶν”: Self-Fashioning in Habrocomes’ Lament Scenes ........................... 25 Habrocomes’ Self-Fashioning against Eros .............................................................................. 25 Habrocomes’ Changing Definitions of sophrosyne .................................................................. 30 “A Whore Instead of a Man”: Habrocomes’ Masculine Desire for sophrosyne ....................... 33 Slavery vs. Freedom.................................................................................................................. 35 Finding Anthia: Self-Fashioning through Suffering ................................................................. 37 Chapter 3: τί ταῦτα θρηνῶ: Anthia’s Self-Fashioning in Lament Scenes .................................... 43 Taking Initiative: Anthia’s Self-Fashioning at the Beginning of the Novel ............................. 44 Protecting Sophrosyne: Her New Purpose ................................................................................ 46 servitium amoris vs. Literal Slavery ......................................................................................... 49 Οὐχ οὕτως ἄνανδρος ἐγώ: Anthia’s Self-Fashioning to Avoid Re-marriage ........................... 51 Resisting Pirates: Anthia’s Self-Fashioning to Protect Her Sophrosyne. ................................. 56 Hippothous’ Passion for Anthia: The Resolution ..................................................................... 57 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 61 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 63 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 64 3 Abstract Scholars often exclude Xenophon’s Ephesiaca from consideration with texts of the so- called Second Sophistic due to its style. Recent scholarship, especially by Whitmarsh (2001, 2005, 2011), sees a concern with identity to be an important characteristic of Imperial Greek literature. This thesis analyzes the protagonists’ lament scenes of Xenophon’s Ephesiaca in order to see how Anthia and Habrocomes define their identities and interrogate different facets of their identities. Aelius Theon (Prog. 115–6) provides a useful discussion of different character types which delineates different social antitheses: old men and young men, men and women, slaves and freed people, and people in love and those who have sophrosyne. Habrocomes and Anthia interrogate where they stands in relation to these different strands throughout the novel. Habrocomes defines himself in relation to these various character types frequently in his lament scenes. At 1.4. 1–3, he views himself as being in a military contest with Eros and views his loss in this metaphorical battle as a loss of masculinity, thus defining himself with respect to Aelius Theon’s category of men and women. At 1.4. 4–5 he defines scorning Eros as sophrosyne, thus showing himself to prefer a definition of sophrosyne that is closer to Hippolytus’ than is usually seen in the Greek novel. Throughout the rest of Book 1, where Habrocomes defines sophrosyne on his wedding night and in the oath scene, his definition of sophrosyne becomes gradually closer to the one usually seen in the Greek novel. At 2.1.2–4 he argues that if he were to submit to Corymbus he would be a “whore instead of a man,” which further defines his sophrosyne as an integral part of his masculinity. At 2.4.3–5 Habrocomes defines himself in terms of being a slave vs. a freed person and states that although his body is enslaved, his soul is free. After he is freed, for the rest of the novel, he does not truly view himself as free until he is reunited with Anthia. 4 Anthia’s lament scenes often consist of her finding mechanai to protect her sophrosyne from various pirates and others who fall in love with her. At 1.4.6–7, Anthia laments that Habrocomes does not love her, then she asks a series of rhetorical questions which interrogate how she can make this happen anyway. On her wedding night, she chides Habrocomes for her lack of andreia and takes the initiative in erotic matters. Throughout her lament scenes, Anthia often views sophrosyne as something that she cannot live without and she contemplates suicide as an alternative. Her lament scenes help her construct her sophrosyne and help her remember the reasons why she is being faithful to Habrocomes. In order to protect her sophrosyne, Anthia often must act like a clever slave. For example, she steals money from Perilaus in order to pay Eudoxus to make the poison (3.5.9). Nevertheless, she is able to protect her sophrosyne, and her lament scenes often provide her with the mental resolve needed to defend herself. This thesis demonstrates that the lament scenes are important and integral parts of Xenophon’s novel which help characterize Anthia and Habrocomes. The lament scenes also demonstrate that Xenophon is aware of principles of characterization which come from Theon’s progymnasmata or a similar treatise. Thus Xenophon should be seen as more of a sophistical writer than is usually supposed. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction In the study of Imperial Greek literature and in the study of the Greek novel, scholars have noted that there is evidence for an increasing interest in selfhood and identity.1 Xenophon’s Ephesiaca, because it has been seen traditionally as “pre-sophistic” and thus bereft of the stylistic and thematic concerns of the “Second Sophistic,” is often seen as lacking this interest in identity. But the lament scenes in Xenophon’s novel, since they provide a window into the emotions and identity politics of their characters, show concern with the self and identity consistent with that of other works of Imperial Greek literature. In the
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