Ovid's Visceral Reactions
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Ovid’s Visceral Reactions: Reproduction, Domestic Violence, and Civil War by Caitlin Hines A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto © Copyright by Caitlin Hines (2018) ii Ovid’s Visceral Reactions: Reproduction, Domestic Violence, and Civil War Caitlin Hines Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto 2018 Abstract Throughout a body of poetic texts composed from the late first century B.C.E. to the early first century C.E., the Roman poet Ovid enacted a semantic shift upon the Latin word viscera. Traditionally denoting the vital inner organs of a human or animal, viscera appear in Ovidian texts as metaphors for wombs and children. This dissertation demonstrates that these visceral reproductive bodies are deployed specifically in contexts of domestic violence and civic discord. Almost without exception, visceral wombs and visceral children in Ovidian mythography mark acts of violation that threaten familial bonds and presage the civic conflicts that tear communities apart from within. Against the backdrop of a nascent dynasty whose program of rebuilding after decades of civil war exerted pressure on its citizens to produce numerous children, Ovid’s visceral bodies link reproduction to destruction rather than renewal. At the end of his career, the author in exile employed viscera as a figure for his own poetic texts, implicating those dangers associated with sexual reproduction in the act of authorial production. Ovid’s new visceral metaphors continue to resonate in later Julio-Claudian and Flavian literature, from the domestic bloodshed of Senecan tragedy to Lucanian civil war epic to an account of private grief in iii Quintilian’s rhetorical handbook. In the end, these visceral bodies are demonstrative of a sharpening of Roman poetics around abortion, fertility, and women’s bodies in the Augustan period. They serve as a useful point of contact with the ideological substrates of the political, cultural, and social environment in which they developed, indicating to us first what is Augustan about Ovid, and then what is Ovidian about the poet’s literary successors. iv Acknowledgments I am sincerely grateful to Alison Keith for her keen insight, sensitive reading, and careful eye. This project would never have taken shape without her intellectual and moral support, and it would have taken a great deal longer to complete without her lightning-quick feedback. Her unwavering confidence in my abilities keeps me moving forward even (and especially) when I run into obstacles. I am extremely fortunate to have enjoyed the supervision of such a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and attentive scholar. Jarrett Welsh, in addition to providing thorough and insightful commentary on the larger arc of my argument, allowed no small detail to escape his attention. The absence of mistakes within these pages is due in large part to his meticulous reading (and any remaining errors are entirely my own). His diligence has taught me to be a more observant reader and a more careful writer. I would like to thank Michael Dewar for helpful and interesting contributions to this project, as well as for the steady research support that he has provided since the early stages of my time in this program. It was from him that I learned that most immutable truth about our field: that Callimachus’ lost Potamoi is the missing link in every argument about Latin poetry. Regina Höschele has been a valued teacher and mentor since my arrival in Toronto. It was in her classroom that I developed the skills to write persuasively about authors outside my area of specialization and to preserve the integrity of my diacritical marks. I owe her a great debt of gratitude for the generosity and grace with which she has devoted her time to my growth as a scholar. Thanks are due also to Christer Bruun, for wisdom and guidance freely offered in the subjects of conference planning, epigraphy, Finnish history and culture, and zombies. v Stephen Hinds offered insightful and generous commentary on the project in its final stage, for which I am very grateful. I am so appreciative of the unconditional friendship and support of Marion Durand, Chiara Graf, Rachel Mazzara, Emily Mohr, Claire Jensen, Amy Cote, Celia Byrne, Nicole Daniel, Jaclyn Robbins, and Grace MacCormick. You have all shown genuine interest in my research, made up for my abysmal cooking skills with delicious and nutritious meals, and inspired me with your intelligence, poise, and determination. To the Hines family, whose love and guidance have allowed me to pursue an academic dream: I am so lucky for your support, your humor, and the enthusiasm with which you welcome me home. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me to love literature, for an endless supply of tea and cookies, and for always taking my calls, even when I forget that you live in a different time zone. Dad, thank you for teaching me to love languages, for weekly crossword puzzles over Skype, and for never, ever doubting that I will succeed. Sarah, your generous heart and emotional intelligence have provided me with the model for becoming a better teacher, mentor, and friend. Zach, you have been my intellectual touchstone since I followed you into academia and commenced greedily absorbing your expertise in research, writing, and teaching. I hope you don’t mind that your little sister is still copying you. I should also thank the four-legged friends who have offered the bracing company that only animals can provide—warm and comforting, if a bit slobbery: Emma, Harry, Gatsby, Chewie, Batman, the gentleman Jasper, and the dearly beloved Truffle-toes. Finally, I must thank Sharon James, without whom I would not be a Classicist at all. Thank you for teaching my first course on antiquity with so much enthusiasm and care, for encouraging me vi to begin studying Latin and Greek, for the consistent and selfless mentorship that you have offered me for nearly a decade, and—of course—for sending me to Alison. vii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................... VII INTRODUCTION: HOW AUGUSTAN IS OVID, OR HOW IS OVID AUGUSTAN? ......................................... 1 CHAPTER 1 THE VISCERAL LEXICON .................................................................................................... 18 1.1 METHODOLOGICAL NOTE ................................................................................................................... 18 1.2 PRE-OVIDIAN VISCERA ....................................................................................................................... 20 1.3 LATIN DESIGNATIONS FOR WOMBS AND CHILDREN .................................................................................. 30 1.4 GREEK PRECEDENTS ........................................................................................................................... 34 1.5 FIGURATIVE CHILDREN ....................................................................................................................... 39 1.6 OVID’S NEW METAPHORS ................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 2 VISCERAL REPRODUCTION AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ...................................................... 44 2.1 VISCERAL ABORTIONS ........................................................................................................................ 51 2.2 THE UN-VISCERAL WOMB ................................................................................................................... 58 2.3 FILICIDE, CANNIBALISM, AND INCEST .................................................................................................... 60 2.4 MOTHER AND SON, WOMB AND WOUND .............................................................................................. 66 CHAPTER 3 VISCERAL BODIES AND CIVIL WAR .................................................................................... 70 3.1 FOREIGN DYNASTY ............................................................................................................................ 70 3.2 DIVINE REGICIDE ............................................................................................................................... 76 3.3 THE EARTHBORN CIVIL WAR ................................................................................................................ 79 3.4 FOUNDATIONAL FRATRICIDE ................................................................................................................ 83 3.5 THE PROBLEM OF PYTHAGORAS ........................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 4 THE VISCERAL TEXT AND ITS LEGACY ................................................................................ 90 4.1 THE METAMORPHOSIS OF VISCERA ....................................................................................................... 90 4.2 VISCERAL RECEPTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 94 4.3 LUCAN’S VISCERA: ROMAN CIVIL WAR .................................................................................................. 96 4.4 SENECA’S VISCERA: DOMESTIC