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THE PROGRAMMATIC POEMS It Is to Be Expected That Ovid Would

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THE PROGRAMMATIC POEMS It Is to Be Expected That Ovid Would CHAPTER TWO THE PROGRAMMATIC POEMS It is to be expected that Ovid would be influenced by his elegiac predecessors in his composition of the programmatic poems of the Amores. Any Augustan poet dedicated to the slender Muse of love elegy faced a difficult problem. On the one hand, there were strong pressures favoring the production of serious, socially significant poetry. Both the Roman ethos and the programs of Augustus tended to move the poet towards becoming a vates in the Vergilian meaning of the term. 1 On the other hand, the influence of Callimachus and the Alexandrian movement directed these same poets to favor the graceful and light over the heavy and pompous. 2 Different poets solved the conflict in different ways. Vergil progressed from bucolics to Roman epic, thus fulfilling the vates role. Horace and Propertius both lingered much longer over their personal, lighter poetry, and both wrote numerous poems defending the decision not to write in a more serious and public-spirited way. 3 Propertius' poems of explanation are ultimately derived from his mentor, Callimachus. The recusatio poem can be traced back to the Aetia preface 19-20, where Callimachus calls epic a µeyix ljiocpeouaixv cxoL~~v, and refuses to write it.4 This basic idea is then developed by the Roman poets into a derogatory statement about 1 See J. K. Newman, The Concept of Vates in Augustan Poetry, Collection Latomus 89 (Brussels, 1967). 1 For a good description of the true meaning of the Callimachean revolu­ tion (not simply long poems vs. short ones), see J. K. Newman, Augustus and the New Poetry, Collection Latomus 88 (Brussels, 1967), "The Alexandrian Background," 31-60. For discussion of direct Callimachean influence on Latin poetry, see M. Puelma, "Die Vorbilder der Elegiendichtung in Alexan­ drien und Rom" MusHel 11 (1954) 101-16; W. Clausen, "Callimachus and Latin Poetry" GRES 5 (1965) 181-96. 3 Eventually both Horace and Propertius did try their hands at "Roman" poetry. Indeed, Carm. III. 1-6 and Prop. 3.1-5 are not only "Roman" but are closely related through imitation. Cf. W. R. Nethercut, "The Ironic Priest: Propertius' Roman Elegies III. 1-5: Imitations of Horace and Vergil" AJP91 (1970) 385-407. 4 The history of the recusatio poem in Rome has been minutely catalogued by W. Wimmel, Kallimachos in Rom, Hermes Einzelschr. 16 (1960). He says of Aet.-pref. 19-20: "fiir den neuen Zwiespalt wie geschaffene" (163). For detail on Callimachus and Propertius, see M. Hubbard, Propertius (London, 1974), "The Quest for Callimachus" 68-115. 8 THE PROGRAMMATIC POEMS their own talents. They decline to sing the praises of Caesar or other famous men because of lack of talent. 5 Callimachean poetry also provided Propertius and other Roman poets with the motif of Apollo warning the poet to keep away from epic and restrict him­ self to lighter genres.6 The invoking of authority figures became a standard theme in Augustan poetry.' Both of these motifs can be found in the Second and Third Books of Propertius. Propertian recusatio poems are uniformly serious, with a particular emphasis on the poet's lack of talent. Three of the six programmatic poems of Books II and III have lack of talent as their theme (2.1, 2.10, 3.9).8 When we look for Propertian in­ fluence on Ovid's programmatic poems, we must bear this in mind. For Ovid is diametrically opposed to his predecessor in both of these ways. Ovid's programmatic poems are predominantly humorous,9 and Ovid never, even under the guise of convention, denigrates his poetic abilities. Yet Ovid was an Augustan poet, albeit a late one, and he could not dismiss the controversy entirely. He was clearly interested in Propertius' poetic reaction to the various pressures. All six of Ovid's programmatic poems show Propertian imitation, some of it quite extensive. It will become clear, however, that Ovid ha~ undertaken his own program of reasons for writing love elegy. At times, his program borrows Callimachean or Propertian motifs but these are inevitably changed to fit his own purposes. Am. I.I, 2.1, 2.18, 3.1, 1.15 and 3.15, read in that order, make the following points: r) Ovid is writing love elegy because of the authority figure, Cupid, and because it is useful to him. Love elegy helps him win the hearts of girls. 2) He has the talent to write anything he wants, including epic which he has written in the past, and tragedy which he will write in the future. 3) The non-serious subject matter of the genre is no hindrance to his reputation. His love elegy has brought him immortality. The Propertian imitations which are skilfully woven 5 Cf. Hor. Carm. 1.6, 2.12, 4.2, Sat. 2.1; Verg. Eel. 6; Prop. 2.1 .17 ff., 3.9. 8 For a full discussion of this motif, cf. Wimmel (supra, note 4) 135-41. 7 E.g., Hor. Carm. 4.15; Prop. 3.3, 4.1.71 ff.; Verg. Eel. 6.3-5; Ov. Am. I. I, 3.1. 8 The other programmatic poems are 2.34, 3.1 and 3.3. Prop. 4.1 is also a programmatic poem. There are no programmatic poems in Book I, although 1.7 and 1.9 contain elements which become important in Ovid's program. 9 A good description of Ovid's humor in his programmatic poems is given by Reitzenstein (see Chapter I, note 9). .
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