A Commentary on Ovid, Ars Amatoria 2, 1-294
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A COMMENTARY ON OVID ARS AMATORIA 2, 1-294 A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2014 SARAH L. BROOKS SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Contents Abstract 3 Declaration and Copyright Statement 4 Acknowledgement 5 Preface 6 General Introduction 1 Content and Structure a. Unity 8 b. Narrative Progress 11 2 Genre a. Generic Ascent and the Didactic Position 16 b. Amores and Ars 19 3 Mythological Figures of the Lover a. Myth in the Ars 24 b. Paris 27 c. Daedalus and Icarus 30 d. Ulysses and Calypso 32 e. Milanion 34 f. Hercules and Echoes of Aeneas 36 4 Other Figures of the Lover a. The kolax 40 b. The Electoral Campaigner 41 5 Method of the Commentary 43 Commentary on Ars Amatoria 2, lines 1-294 45 Bibliography 198 Word Count: 80, 000 2 Abstract This thesis (‘A commentary on Ovid Ars Amatoria 2, 1-294’) is submitted to The University of Manchester for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It examines the methods through which Ovid presents internal unity and structure to the poem: through the use of the progress metaphor, and a sense of narrative progression. It also examines the generic positioning of the Ars within Ovid’s wider oeuvre, with special reference to the Amores and Heroides. It treats the poet’s use of mythological exempla, and how these are used as models (whether positive or negative) for the lover. This provides rich intertextuality with Ovid’s elegiac predecessors. As well as mythological figures, Ovid uses the models of the kolax (‘Flatterer’) and of the canvassing electioneer as a means of reconciling the lover’s traditional role as ‘slave of love’ with that of a free Roman male. These themes are exposed and analysed through a systematic, line-by-line commentary on the first 294 lines of Ars 2. 3 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given the The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 4 Acknowledgement I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Roy Gibson for his tireless support, and for reading and correcting numerous drafts of this thesis. I would also like to thank Professor Alison Sharrock and Dr Andrew Morrison for their valuable advice and contributions throughout my time at the University of Manchester. This thesis was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It is dedicated to the memory of my father, Stephen Brooks. 5 Preface The commentary covers the first 294 lines of Ars Amatoria 2. Due to the restrictions of an 80,000 word thesis, it is not possible to cover the entire poem and do justice to it. 294 seemed an obvious place to stop as the tone of the poem begins to change after this point. First, obsequium can be seen as a unifying feature of the major section 145-294, where Ovid gives advice on indulgentia, obsequium, militia amoris, and gift-giving. Labate (1984) 175-226 draws a strong connection between the obsequious behaviour of the Ovidian lover in the Ars and the behaviour of the kolax or ‘Flatterer’. Labate’s theory can be demonstrated with special reference to 145-294, since the acts Ovid recommends force the lover into the role of kolax, thus justifying my decision to stop at this point. 295-336 goes on to address the use of flattery and sick-visiting, which can be seen as slightly different perspectives of the kolax theme.1 For a thorough treatment of the role of the kolax as figure of the lover, see section 4a, pp37-8. Second, Ovid himself marks a break at line 295, with a new beginning: sed te, cuicumque est retinendae cura puellae, attonitum forma fac putet esse sua. (Ars 2.295-6) The echo of the opening of the Book, where the aim of ‘holding’ a girl is set out (12 arte tenenda est), the emphatic direct address sed te, and the intensely didactic feel of the following lines (295-314), all point the reader towards a new start. Lines 295-314 represent further development of the idea of flattery. This Introduction is designed to cover the whole of Ars 2 in order to demonstrate how those issues which dominate the section 1-294 also relate to the Book as a whole. However, certain features of the Introduction relate to issues that solely dominate 1-294, 1 The kolax-type behaviour advocated when a relationship is still fairly new is less relevant for a more grounded relationship, as presented after 337; cf. 337-8 sed non, cui dederas a litore carbasa, uento / utendum, medio cum potiere freto. 6 specifically key themes which recur throughout the main commentary. For more general introductions to the Ars, see especially Watson’s article in Brill’s Companion to Ovid (2002), Sharrock’s in The Cambridge Companion to Ovid (2002), and Gibson’s in the Blackwell A Companion to Ovid (2009). The text of the Ars Amatoria which I use is based on the second revised edition of the Oxford Classical Text of E.J. Kenney (1995). Variants and conjectures are reported selectively for discussion in the commentary. I also use Kenney’s OCT for the Amores; for the Metamorphoses I use the Teubner of W.S. Anderson (1985); for Propertius I use the Loeb edition by G.P. Goold (1990); for Tibullus I use the Cairns edition of G. Lee (1975). 7 General Introduction 1 Content and Structure a. Unity Ars Amatoria 1 ends with a couplet pointing towards the following book: pars superat coepti, pars est exhausta, laboris; hic teneat nostras ancora iacta rates. (Ars 1.771-2) The division of the Books was signposted (misleadingly) at the start of Ars 1: principio, quod amare uelis, reperire labora, qui noua nunc primum miles in arma uenis; proximus huic labor est placitam exorare puellam; tertius, ut longo tempore duret amor. (Ars 1.35-8) The first-time reader of the Ars might assume that this seemingly clear setting-out of the poet’s agenda reflects the contents of the three Books; i.e. that Ars 1 deals with finding a suitable girl, Ars 2 with winning her over, and Ars 3 with ensuring the love is long-lasting. However, this is not the case: the first two stages, those of finding and of seducing the girl, are given in Book 1. This leaves Book 2 with the task of educating the reader in how to ensure he can keep the girl for as long as he wants. It seems Ovid is deliberately misleading his reader from the very start about what to expect. When the reader comes to the end of Book 2, the three stages set out at the start have been completed. This makes the address of Book 3 to women a complete surprise. 8 Ars 2 begins and ends with direct reference to the previous and following books: dicite ‘io Paean’ et ‘io’ bis dicite ‘Paean’: decidit in casses praeda petita meos. laetus amans donat uiridi mea carmina palma praelata Ascraeo Maeonioque seni. (Ars 2.1-4) The opening of the second book presents the figure of the Praeceptor Amoris (‘Teacher of Love’) - the persona which Ovid adopts throughout the Ars2 - as thrilled with the success of the first book. There is much cause for celebration; after all, the hunting metaphor of the first couplet seems to imply that the girl has been caught,3 yet also suggests on a poetic level that the first book has been a success with the general reader. The laetus amans then demonstrates his gratitude to the poet by setting him above even Hesiod and Homer. However, Ovid goes on to explain that there is much more work to be done by the lover in order to secure his victory.