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Tibullus the Elegiac Vates Acrostics in Tibullus 2.5

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Tibullus the Elegiac Vates Acrostics in Tibullus 2.5 Mnemosyne 71 (2018) 508-514 brill.com/mnem Tibullus the Elegiac Vates Acrostics in Tibullus 2.5 Leah Kronenberg Boston University, Department of Classical Studies [email protected] Received July 2016 | Accepted May 2017 Several scholars have noted Tibullus’ interest in etymological wordplay, but his interest in other types of wordplay, such as acrostics, has not yet been documented.1 In this note, I posit the existence of an intentional, skipped-line acrostic in Tibullus 2.5.16-26 spelling AUDI ME, ‘hear me’, as well as a skipped- line acrostic at the end of the poem (116-122) spelling AMES (‘may you love’). Together, these acrostics emphasize the interwoven themes of Apollonian prophecy and love poetry in this complex poem and endow Tibullus with the powers of a Sibylline vates—the original acrostic poet.2 The initial acrostic appears after the introductory prayer to Apollo and the first mention of his Sibyl: te duce Romanos numquam frustrata Sibylla, Abdita quae senis fata canit pedibus. Phoebe, sacras Messalinum sine tangere chartas Vatis, et ipse precor quid canat illa doce. haec dedit Aeneae sortes, postquam ille parentem Dicitur et raptos sustinuisse Lares nec fore credebat Romam, cum maestus ab alto Ilion ardentes respiceretque deos. Romulus aeternae nondum formaverat urbis Moenia, consorti non habitanda Remo; 1 For etymological wordplay in Tibullus, see Cairns 1979, 87-110; Maltby 1993; Günther 1994; Cairns 1996; Booth and Maltby 2005. For instances of etymological play in Tib. 2.5, see Cairns 1996, 40-41, 46, 51; Murgatroyd 1994, ad 2.5, passim; Maltby 2002, ad 2.5, passim. 2 On acrostics in Sibylline oracles, see Cic. Div. 2.112; D.H. 4.62.6 (citing Varro). See also Vogt 1967, 90-91; Luz 2010, 29-33; Satterfield 2011; Katz 2013, 7-10. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/�5685�5X-��34�338 Tibullus the Elegiac Vates 509 sed tunc pascebant herbosa Palatia vaccae Et stabant humiles in Iovis arce casae. (2.5.15-26) Under your guidance the Sibyl, who sings of the hidden fates in six feet, has never deceived the Romans. Phoebus, permit Messalinus to touch the sacred pages of the prophetess, and you, yourself, I pray, teach him what she sings. She gave prophecies to Aeneas after he is said to have carried away his father and the Lares he had rescued, and nor could he believe that Rome would exist when, in sorrow, he looked back from the deep at Troy and the gods burning. Romulus had not yet formed the walls of the eternal city, in which his companion Remus would not live; but then cows were pasturing the grassy Palatine and humble houses were stand- ing on the citadel of Jove.3 There are several reasons to think that this acrostic is an intentional one. First, the command audi me (‘hear me’) connects to the hymnic context of the poem. Indeed, variations on this phrase are very common in prayers to gods in Greek poetry.4 In particular, Tibullus’ AUDI ME acrostic may allude to the prayer to Apollo in Apollonius’ Argonautica 1.411-424, which begins, κλῦθι ἄναξ (‘hear me, King’, 1.411). As Selina Stewart has shown, this prayer contains within it an acrostic in lines 1.415-419 of Apollo’s cult title AKTIA.5 Tibullus reverses what Apollonius has done by making Apollo’s title Phoebus the first word of his prayer (2.5.1) and including the Latin equivalent of κλῦθι as an acrostic in the prayer.6 In addition, Tibullus’ passage contains several signposting words that di- rect the reader to notice the acrostic. Tibullus begins with words that remind the reader of the Sibyl’s own tendency to use acrostics in her oracles (15-16): te duce Romanos numquam frustrata Sibylla, / abdita quae senis fata canit pe- dibus. Paul Murgatroyd notes one of the possible meanings of abdita in this line: “ ‘obscure in meaning,’ referring to the riddling nature of the prophecy (cf. 3 All translations are my own. I am using the text of Murgatroyd 1994. 4 E.g., κλῦθί μευ (to Apollo, Hom. Il. 1.37, Il. 1.451); κλῦθι (to Apollo, Hom. Il. 16.514); κλῦθί μευ (to Athena, Hom. Il. 5.115); κέκλυτε … μοι (to Gaia, Uranus, and the Titans, [h. Ap.] 334); κλῦθι (to Apollo, A.R. 1.411). 5 Stewart 2010. 6 I would also note that Φοῖβε is thematized as the beginning of Apollonius’ epic (Ἀρχόμενος σέο, Φοῖβε, A.R. 1.1). Thus, by beginning Poem 2.5 with Phoebe, Tibullus may already bring the Argonautica to mind. If so, then he parallels this Apollonian beginning with another refer- ence to Apollonius at the end: as commentators note (e.g., Maltby 2002, 463), sic tibi sint intonsi, Phoebe, capilli (2.5.121) picks up on A.R. 2.708-709. Mnemosyne 71 (2018) 508-514.
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