DOCSLIB.ORG

1 Making Love, Making Reality: Propertius, Prosopopoeia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 Making Love, Making Reality: Propertius, Prosopopoeia MAKING LOVE, MAKING REALITY: PROPERTIUS, PROSOPOPOEIA, AND POETRY’S POWER OF CREATION By RANDALL LAWRENCE CHILDREE A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2007 1 © 2007 Randall Lawrence Childree 2 For Lawrence Childree e pluribus unum 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My greatest thanks are owed to my chairman, Timothy Johnson. He was patient with a student whose writing patterns and work habits were, no doubt infuriatingly, very different from his own. All the same he provided encouragement when it was needed, motivation when it was, and new perspectives when they were. His advice on life matters counted no less. I am an improved scholar and person because of his efforts. Robert Wagman, Jennifer Rea, Karelisa Hartigan, and Gareth Schmeling have all contributed to my improvement, sometimes in ways that they probably do not realize. I also have to mention Druscilla Gurahoo, who always had a chair for me, a good story and a smile, and who also provided more than a few relaxing moments when I was exhausted. My friends and fellow students in the department have all meant a great deal to me, but particularly three. I will always owe Dustin Heinen a debt of gratitude: when I was trapped in San Giacomo, he was my only outlet to civilization and the only thing that kept me sane. Jon Zarecki has paradoxically both shown me how much fun it can be to act utterly ridiculous, and modeled what it means to succeed in our profession. Todd Bohlander has been with me for years, sharing random conversations, challenging me to think harder about God, and always willing to give me advice. If I am a reader of elegy, Todd has seen me through a few Cynthias, and I could only have done better by hewing closer to his advice. Then there is the support of my family: my father for checking up on me every day, my mother for restraining herself from doing the same. I would not have been able to come this far without them always believing in me. And I can never express my 4 gratitude enough to my grandmother, Evelyn Childree, and my grandfather, Lawrence Childree, to whom I dedicate this. They gave me the peace that only comes from knowing, without ever the slightest doubt, that someone loves you unconditionally and without end. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 9 2 REMOVING MASKS: FROM PERSONA TO PROSOPOPOEIA .........................12 Remembering the ‘New’ Persona .............................................................................13 Controversial Personae ............................................................................................16 Looking Behind the Mask: The Ancient Evidence ...................................................18 A New Framework: Prosopopoeia............................................................................33 3 FROM REALISTIC ELEGY TO ELEGIAC REALITY .........................................39 Defining Realism ......................................................................................................39 Propertius and the ‘Nude’ Style...............................................................................42 Making the Audience Read ‘Real’............................................................................51 Looking at Propertius, Looking at Gallus ................................................................74 The ‘Real’ Perusine War..........................................................................................81 4 A REAL MYTHOLOGICAL PROPERTIUS ..........................................................92 The Problem with Propertian Myth ........................................................................92 The Knowledge of Myth among the Romans .........................................................100 Propertius as a ‘Real’ Myth ...................................................................................104 Face-to-face with Myth..........................................................................................112 The Failure of Myth ..............................................................................................114 The Propertian Myth.............................................................................................128 5 WRITING ELEGIAC REALITY ..........................................................................136 Book Four: The End of Elegy? ..............................................................................136 Horos and the Drama of 4.1...................................................................................139 Catullus 16 and the Cynthia Poems: Contested Reality ........................................145 Writing Together ...................................................................................................151 6 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................157 LIST OF REFERENCES.............................................................................................159 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ........................................................................................168 6 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy MAKING LOVE, MAKING REALITY: PROPERTIUS, PROSOPOPOEIA, AND POETRY’S POWER OF CREATION By Randall Lawrence Childree August 2007 Chair: Timothy Johnson Major: Classical Studies In this study I argue that the elegies of Sextus Propertius are best understood through the model of prosopopoeia. According to this model, Propertius’ poems are grounded in reality for authenticity and authority’s sake; his poems seek to be imitable and have an effect in society; and the main feature of his poetry is an insistence on the ability of poetry to rewrite and shape that reality. First, the dominant theory in reading elegy, the persona, is examined in light of ancient evidence for audience reactions to biographical or pseudo-biographical forms of writing. Then, in book 1, Propertius uses the techniques of realism to create a credible world, one which transforms his poet-friends (including his predecessor Cornelius Gallus) into mirrors of his own ‘realistic’ style. Propertius continues in books 2 and 3 negotiating the exemplarity granted to myth and reality by becoming a mythical character, an exemplum, himself. With the programmatic 4.1, Propertius predicts modern interpretations of book 4: abandoning the first person voice does not, he argues, necessarily entail a diminution of power. Only by giving Propertius’ elegiac world the legitimacy of reality does book 4 come into focus as poems 4.7 and 4.8 (the Cynthia 7 poems) and 4.3 (Arethusa’s letter to her campaigning husband Lycotas), seen through the filter of Catullus 16, negotiate, even fight, over who, in the end, controls representation. 8 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION In this study I argue that Sextus Propertius is best understood through the rhetorical strategy of prosopopoeia. According to this model, Propertius’ poems are grounded in reality for authenticity and authority’s sake; his poems seek to be imitable and have an effect in society; and the main feature of his poetry is an insistence on the ability of poetry to rewrite and shape that reality. Prosopopoeia is at odds with two main trends in Propertian scholarship. As a result of the first trend—the thorough application of a simplistic persona model to the reading of his poems—Propertius is stuck inside his poems, doomed to interact only with other literature, fictional creations, and generic types. He is limited in his ability to interact with the world around him, a world in flux due to the rise of Augustus and the massive revaluation of Rome’s values and ideals that accompanied his rise to power. But ‘no one puts Propertius in a corner’; and as chapter one shows, the theory of persona is inconsistent with the expectations of both ancient readers and writers. Propertius’ realistic self-presentation instead prompts a biographical reading from his audience. Propertius ensures that his audience will employ a biographical approach through the systematic application of realistic techniques in writing book 1 (this is the argument of chapter 2). These techniques include rejecting artifice (1.2) and setting up the metaphor of voyeurism as a guide for his readers (1.10). At the book’s most starkly historical moment (1.21 and 1.22 on the consequences of the Perusine war), Propertius seizes the power of his realistic poetry and rewrites the painful story of his own youth. 9 Propertius’ realistic technique is tested by the omnipresence of myth in Roman poetry and the prior claim that myth had on exemplarity (chapter 3). Propertius attacks myth on the very grounds of its exemplarity and displays the flaws inherent in using mythological exempla—these exempla simply do not correspond to real experience (2.8, 2.12). Instead, Propertius turns his own story into an exemplum and writes himself into the story of the defeat of Cleopatra as an exemplum for Augustus. The second troublesome trend is due in large part
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Banished to the Black Sea: Ovid's Poetic
    BANISHED TO THE BLACK SEA: OVID’S POETIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRISTIA 1.1 A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of The School of Continuing Studies and of The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Studies By Christy N. Wise, M.A. Georgetown University Washington, D.C. October 16, 2014 BANISHED TO THE BLACK SEA: OVID’S POETIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRISTIA 1.1 Christy N. Wise, M.A. Mentor: Charles A. McNelis, Ph.D. ABSTRACT After achieving an extraordinarily successful career as an elegiac poet in the midst of the power, glory and creativity of ancient Rome during the start of the Augustan era, Ovid was abruptly separated from the stimulating community in which he thrived, and banished to the outer edge of the Roman Empire. While living the last nine or ten years of his life in Tomis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, Ovid steadily continued to compose poetry, producing two books of poems and epistles, Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto, and a 644-line curse poem, Ibis, all written in elegiac couplets. By necessity, Ovid’s writing from relegatio (relegation) served multiple roles beyond that of artistic creation and presentation. Although he continued to write elegiac poems as he had during his life in Rome, Ovid expanded the structure of those poems to portray his life as a relegatus and his estrangement from his beloved homeland, thereby redefining the elegiac genre. Additionally, and still within the elegiac structure, Ovid changed the content of his poetry in order to defend himself to Augustus and request assistance from friends in securing a reduced penalty or relocation closer to Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Carlos Castaneda – a Separate Reality
    “A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with don Juan” - ©1971 by Carlos Castaneda Contents • Introduction • Part One: The Preliminaries of 'Seeing' o Chapter 1. o Chapter 2. o Chapter 3. o Chapter 4. o Chapter 5. o Chapter 6. o Chapter 7. • Part Two: The Task of 'Seeing' o Chapter 8. o Chapter 9. o Chapter 10. o Chapter 11. o Chapter 12. o Chapter 13. o Chapter 14. o Chapter 15. o Chapter 16. o Chapter 17. • Epilogue Introduction Ten years ago I had the fortune of meeting a Yaqui Indian from northwestern Mexico. I call him "don Juan." In Spanish, don is an appellative used to denote respect. I made don Juan's acquaintance under the most fortuitous circumstances. I had been sitting with Bill, a friend of mine, in a bus depot in a border town in Arizona. We were very quiet. In the late afternoon, the summer heat seemed unbearable. Suddenly he leaned over and tapped me on the shoulder. "There's the man I told you about," he said in a low voice. He nodded casually toward the entrance. An old man had just walked in. "What did you tell me about him?" I asked. "He's the Indian that knows about peyote. Remember?" I remembered that Bill and I had once driven all day looking for the house of an "eccentric" Mexican Indian who lived in the area. We did not find the man's house and I had the feeling that the Indians whom we had asked for directions had deliberately misled us. Bill had told me that the man was a "yerbero," a person who gathers and sells medicinal herbs, and that he knew a great deal about the hallucinogenic cactus, peyote.
    [Show full text]
  • Star Channels, May 20-26
    MAY 20 - 26, 2018 staradvertiser.com LEGAL EAGLES Sandra’s (Britt Robertson) confi dence is shaken when she defends a scientist accused of spying for the Chinese government in the season fi nale of For the People. Elsewhere, Adams (Jasmin Savoy Brown) receives a compelling offer. Chief Judge Nicholas Byrne (Vondie Curtis-Hall) presides over the Southern District of New York Federal Court in this legal drama, which wraps up a successful freshman season. Airing Tuesday, May 22, on ABC. WE’RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY. Are you passionate about an issue? An event? A cause? ¶ũe^eh\Zga^eirhn[^a^Zk][r^fihp^kbg`rhnpbmama^mkZbgbg`%^jnbif^gm olelo.org Zg]Zbkmbf^rhng^^]mh`^mlmZkm^]'Begin now at olelo.org. ON THE COVER | FOR THE PEOPLE Case closed ABC’s ‘For the People’ wraps Deavere Smith (“The West Wing”) rounds example of how the show delves into both the out the cast as no-nonsense court clerk Tina professional and personal lives of the charac- rookie season Krissman. ters. It’s a formula familiar to fans of Shonda The cast of the ensemble drama is now part Rhimes, who’s an executive producer of “For By Kyla Brewer of the Shondaland dynasty, which includes hits the People,” along with Davies, Betsy Beers TV Media “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Donald Todd (“This Is Us”) Away With Murder.” The distinction was not and Tom Verica (“How to Get Away With here’s something about courtroom lost on Rappaport, who spoke with Murder”).
    [Show full text]
  • An Examination of Stylistic Elements in Richard Strauss's Wind Chamber Music Works and Selected Tone Poems Galit Kaunitz
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 An Examination of Stylistic Elements in Richard Strauss's Wind Chamber Music Works and Selected Tone Poems Galit Kaunitz Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC AN EXAMINATION OF STYLISTIC ELEMENTS IN RICHARD STRAUSS’S WIND CHAMBER MUSIC WORKS AND SELECTED TONE POEMS By GALIT KAUNITZ A treatise submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2012 Galit Kaunitz defended this treatise on March 12, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Eric Ohlsson Professor Directing Treatise Richard Clary University Representative Jeffrey Keesecker Committee Member Deborah Bish Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the treatise has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This treatise is dedicated to my parents, who have given me unlimited love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members for their patience and guidance throughout this process, and Eric Ohlsson for being my mentor and teacher for the past three years. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi Abstract
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Authors 297
    T Ancient authors 297 is unknown. His Attic Nights is a speeches for the law courts, collection of essays on a variety political speeches, philosophical ANCIENT AUTHORS of topics, based on his reading of essays, and personal letters to Apicius: (fourth century AD) is the Greek and Roman writers and the friends and family. name traditionally given to the lectures and conversations he had Columella: Lucius Iunius author of a collection of recipes, heard. The title Attic Nights refers Moderatus Columella (wrote c.AD de Re Coquinaria (On the Art of to Attica, the district in Greece 60–65) was born at Gades (modern Cooking). Marcus Gavius Apicius around Athens, where Gellius was Cadiz) in Spain and served in the was a gourmet who lived in the living when he wrote the book. Roman army in Syria. He wrote a early first centuryAD and wrote Cassius Dio (also Dio Cassius): treatise on farming, de Re Rustica about sauces. Seneca says that he Cassius Dio Cocceianus (c.AD (On Farming). claimed to have created a scientia 150–235) was born in Bithynia. He popīnae (snack bar cuisine). Diodorus Siculus: Diodorus had a political career as a consul (wrote c.60–30 BC) was a Greek Appian: Appianos (late first in Rome and governor of the from Sicily who wrote a history of century AD–AD 160s) was born in provinces of Africa and Dalmatia. the world centered on Rome, from Alexandria, in Egypt, and practiced His history of Rome, written in legendary beginnings to 54 BC. as a lawyer in Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Don Juan Et Cyrano Pour La Saint-Valentin
    Pour diffusion immédiate Don Juan et Cyrano pour la Saint-Valentin Mercredi 12 février, 20 h Jeudi 13 février, 10 h 30 Grand Théâtre de Québec Québec, le 30 janvier 2020 – Afin de célébrer en beauté la Saint-Valentin, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec propose un concert où la musique côtoiera la poésie et le théâtre, mercredi 12 février à 20 h et le jeudi 13 février à 10 h 30 au Grand Théâtre de Québec. Pour illustrer les œuvres de Wagenaar et Strauss interprétées par l’Orchestre, le remarquable comédien Emmanuel Bilodeau donnera vie aux célèbres vers d’Edmond Rostand et Tirso de Molina. Il nous livrera avec ferveur des extraits de Cyrano de Bergerac et le poème Don Juan, qui a inspiré Strauss pour composer son œuvre. Le charismatique violoncelliste Julian Steckel interprétera le Concerto de Dvořák, œuvre ultime d’une beauté et d’une sobriété exquises. Le concert du 12 janvier sera dédié à la mémoire de M. François Magnan. Julian Steckel Depuis sa moisson de prix au Concours international de l'ARD à Munich, en 2010, le violoncelliste allemand Julian Steckel s'est taillé une place de choix au sein du monde musical. On ne compte plus les orchestres importants qui l’ont invité à se produire comme soliste. En savoir plus. Prélude Dès 19 h, assistez au prélude qui sera animé par Irène Brisson. Cette rencontre vous permet d’approfondir la démarche de création et de poser un regard éclairé sur le contexte historique dans lequel les œuvres ont été composées. Le prélude sera suivi d’un préconcert où vous pourrez entendre des musiciens de la relève du Conservatoire de musique de Quebec ou de la Faculté de musique de l’Université Laval.
    [Show full text]
  • Listening Guide: Richard Strauss' Symphonic Poem Don Juan 1
    Listening Guide: Richard Strauss’ Symphonic Poem Don Juan 1. Strauss’ Don Juan is a hugely exciting piece with which to open a program. It is approximately 17 min. long, and can be enjoyed simply for its energy, its recurring dominant melodies, its ever-shifting moods and its remarkable orchestration. If you have only a little time to preview this piece, just keep these qualities in mind and listen to one of the more popular performances that have been uploaded to YouTube. 2. Of course, I urge you to take the next step in preview listening by remembering Deb Shuster’s definitions of “program music” and of “symphonic poem.” • Program music: A musical composition that aims to portray in musical terms the events, characters &/or scenes that usually originate in a poem or a story. In this case, Strauss drew upon the story of Don Juan, which is a tale of a fictitious character, whose amorous adventures, his larger than life energy, and his indifference to societal norms made him the hero-villain of numerous plays, novels, and poems from the 1660’s to the 1900’s. Strauss draws on a version of Don Juan by Hungarian /Austrian/German author Nikolaus Lenau, written in 1844. Lenau’s Don Juan is more of a philosopher living a disillusioned, aimless, and unsatisfying life. He has many amorous adventures in a search a for meaning and perfect beauty, but he finally realizes that he has harmed many and that his searching may be futile. In a duel with the brother or father of one his former lovers, he drops his sword and embraces death.
    [Show full text]
  • Don Juan This Outline Serves As a Listening Guide, Or “Road Map,” Through a Work Being Performed Today
    Listen4 listening guides A brief guide to listening to Richard Strauss’s Don Juan This outline serves as a listening guide, or “road map,” through a work being performed today. The intention is to help you follow along and enjoy it in more depth. We welcome you to email us with your reactions at [email protected]. Now ... let the music begin! Richard Strauss composed what is considered his first major masterpiece, Don Juan, in 1888 when he was just 24—the age of many of the Aspen Music Festival and School’s students. It is a “tone poem” for orchestra, meaning that the work is one continuous composition meant to convey a story, poem, or idea to the listener. Orchestral musicians love to play Strauss’s tone poems because every instrument has a chance to shine. It is hard to believe Don Juan lasts only about twenty minutes, so full is it with drama, passion, tenderness, and bravura parts for every member of the orchestra. Fittingly, Strauss met the love of his life, Pauline de Ahna, shortly after starting work on this piece and completed it during their romance, which led to a life-long marriage. Second section: 1 First section: Listen as the As the music quiets down, the opening flourish in the strings 2 woodwinds play along with a high violin rushes through the wind section solo, conveying Don Juan’s great interest and back to the strings. This in all things feminine. Starting simply, the figure begins not on the first passion is ratcheted up with increasingly beat, but just slightly after, higher entrances by the horns.
    [Show full text]
  • And Anti-Augustan Readings of Propertius Book Four Matthew Angelosanto Union College - Schenectady, NY
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2011 The olitP ical Properties: Pro- and Anti-Augustan Readings of Propertius Book Four Matthew Angelosanto Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Poetry Commons Recommended Citation Angelosanto, Matthew, "The oP litical Properties: Pro- and Anti-Augustan Readings of Propertius Book Four" (2011). Honors Theses. 934. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/934 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i The Political Propertius: Pro- and Anti-Augustan Readings of Propertius Book Four By M. Angelosanto ********* Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Department of Classics UNION COLLEGE March, 2011 ii ABSTRACT ANGELOSANTO, MATTHEW The Political Propertius: Pro- and anti- Augustan readings of Propertius Book Four. Department of Classics, March 2011. ADVISOR: Stacie Raucci Propertius was a Roman elegist writing during the early years of Augustus’ reign as emperor. His fourth and final book of elegies has long confounded scholars due to its drastic shift in subject matter from love elegy to aetiology. So, too, did the poet’s political stance seem to change: vehemently anti-Augustus in his earlier books, a number of poems in his fourth seem to extol both the sociopolitical climate of Augustan Rome as well as the emperor himself.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparison of Focus and Audience Between Seneca's Natural
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 5-2014 Comparison of Focus and Audience Between Seneca’s Natural Questions and Pliny’s Natural History Joshua Ely East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Intellectual History Commons, and the Oral History Commons Recommended Citation Ely, Joshua, "Comparison of Focus and Audience Between Seneca’s Natural Questions and Pliny’s Natural History" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2368. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2368 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Comparison of Focus and Audience Between Seneca’s Natural Questions and Pliny’s Natural History _____________________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of History East Tennessee State University _____________________________ In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History _____________________________ by Joshua J. Ely May 2014 _____________________________ Dr. William D. Burgess Jr, Chair. Dr. Brian Maxson Dr. John Rankin Keywords: History of Antiquity, History of Science, Rome, Pliny, Seneca, Natural History, Natural Questions ABSTRACT Comparison of Focus and Audience Between Seneca’s Natural Questions and Pliny’s Natural History by Joshua Ely Around 65 AD, the Ancient Roman philosopher Seneca wrote his only text concerning Natural Phenomenon: Natural Questions.
    [Show full text]
  • Orpheus and Eurydice in the Middle Books of the Faerie Queene The
    Orpheus and Eurydice in the Middle Books of The Faerie Queene The commendatory sonnet by ‘W. S.’ appended to the first edition of The Faerie Queene hails Spenser as the ‘Brittayne Orpheus,’ and modern critics have thought the author was onto something. Thomas Cain in 1971 made the case that Spenser ‘use[s]...the Orpheus- figure to assert and assess his own role as poet’ across his works; more recently Patrick Cheney has talked about Spenser’s ‘Orphic career’.1 In Spenser criticism at large, the idea that Spenser wants to present himself as another Orpheus is frequently mentioned, though rarely discussed in much detail. Given all this attention to the importance of Orpheus in Spenser’s self-presentation, it is remarkable that an extremely curious feature of Spenser’s treatment of the Orpheus-myth has received so little comment, and its implications for our understanding of Spenser’s conception of his own role and powers remain unexplored. It concerns his treatment of Orpheus’ greatest exploit, his katabasis in the attempt to recover his wife Eurydice from the Underworld. In the version best known today, the episode ends in tragic failure: though Orpheus with his enchanting song succeeds in charming the gods of the Underworld to consent to Eurydice’s return, he breaks the condition imposed on him that he should not look back at her before they are both safely again in the upper world, and so loses her a second time, and irrevocably. Spenser refers to the myth several times across his works, but consistently presents Orpheus’ attempt as successful, and Eurydice as restored to life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Arrangement and the Language of Catullus' So-Called Polymetra With
    proceedings of the British Academy, 93, 335-375 The Arrangement and the Language of Catullus’ so-called polymetra with Special Reference to the Sequence 10-11-12 H. D. JOCELYN Summary. It is contended that the order of the first 61 of the items transmitted under the name of ‘Catullus Veronensis’ shows signs of a conscious design, whether by the author or by some editor, that item 61 should be placed with its predecessors rather than with the seven ‘long’ poems which follow, that the widely used term ‘polymetrum’ is a thoroughly confusing misnomer, that metrical pattern requires the division of the 61 items into three distinct groups - ZmyphppaTa in ‘Phalaecian’ verse, L“apPoi, and p+ - and, most importantly, that even where they take up apparently similar themes the pih~distin- guish themselves in verbal style markedly from the ‘Phalaecian’ Z7riyphppa.ra and only a little less markedly from the L“apPoi. In order to illustrate this last point the lyric item 11 is compared in systematic detail with the two ‘Phalaecian’ epigrams which precede and follow it in the transmitted collection. Discussion of each feature of items 10,ll and 12 centres on its relationship with what third- and second-century BC poets might have written and with what first-century speakers of Latin might have said. The character of our record of the Latin of the two centuries following 240 BC makes a degree of tentativeness inevitable. The three groups of the 61 items in question take us to a linguistic world distant from that of items 62-68.
    [Show full text]