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GOETTING, CODY WALTER, MA DECEMBER 2019 LATIN the VOICES of WOMEN in LATIN ELEGY (67 Pp.)

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GOETTING, CODY WALTER, MA DECEMBER 2019 LATIN the VOICES of WOMEN in LATIN ELEGY (67 Pp.) GOETTING, CODY WALTER, M.A. DECEMBER 2019 LATIN THE VOICES OF WOMEN IN LATIN ELEGY (67 pp.) Thesis Adviser: Dr. Jennifer Larson By examining feminine speech within the corpus of love elegies composed throughout the Augustan period, especially those written by Tibullus, Sulpicia, Propertius, and Ovid, one can determine various stylistic uses of female characters within the entire corpus. In addition to this, while his writings were penned a generation before the others, the works of Catullus will be examined as well, due to the influence his works had on the Augustan Elegists. This examination will begin identifying and detailing every instance of speech within the elegies from a female source, and exploring when, how, and why they are used. The majority of the elegies in which these instances occur are briefer, more veristic in nature, although longer, more polished examples exist as well; both types are examined. Except for Sulpicia, these poets are male and present the majority of their elegies from a masculine point of view; this influence is also examined. THE VOICES OF WOMEN IN LATIN ELEGY A thesis submitted To Kent State University in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Cody Goetting December 2019 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials Thesis written by Cody Walter Goetting B.S., Bowling Green State University, 2013 B.S., Bowling Green State University, 2013 M.A., Kent State University, 2019 Approved by ________________________________, Advisor Dr. Jennifer Larson ________________________________, Chair, Department of Modern and Classical Languages Dr. Keiran Dunne ________________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. James L. Blank TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. iv Method and Terms .................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................... 3 Catullus ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Propertius ................................................................................................................................ 17 Tibullus .................................................................................................................................... 26 Ovid .......................................................................................................................................... 34 Sulpicia ..................................................................................................................................... 45 Epistles and Longer Elegiac Speeches .................................................................................. 53 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 59 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 62 TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Method and Terms While it may be tempting to assume that everything the elegists wrote about actually happened, and particularly happened to themselves, to do so would be to fall into the biographical fallacy. As such, throughout this essay a distinction will be made between the poets themselves, and their narrating characters: the term ‘narrator’ refers to this character (likewise amator/amatrix), while the term ‘poet’, or their name refers to the actual poet. This distinction is important, as not only are there differences between the poets and their characters, but the world of elegy is different from the real world as well. In addition to this, the term puella refers specifically to the young women that the amatores courted, who are the subject of many of the elegies as well as the source of much of the feminine speech within them. This topic deserves some exploration as well, as there are several different types of feminine speech within the elegies. The first type is direct speech, which is closest to the women themselves, where a female character’s speech is directly recorded. This type encompasses those instances where the narrator relays exactly what the woman said, which accords the women the most agency over their speech. This is referred to as either direct speech, or directly quoted speech. As an example, one may examine a brief bit of dialogue in which Cynthia, the topic of many of Propertius’ elegies, directly accosts him, in 2.15.8: dixit ‘sicine, lente, iaces?’ (She said, ‘So, lazybones, sleeping again?’)1. Note that the poet introduces her 1 The Latin text is taken from the appropriate Loeb Classical Library texts; all translations, unless otherwise noted, are my own work. 1 speech by a direct verb of speaking, which, while not always present, indicates that these were her exact words. The next type is a level removed, where the narrator indirectly reports what the woman said, typically through one of the grammatical constructions of indirect speech, most commonly an infinitive-plus-accusative construction. At this stage, the narrator is still reporting what the woman said with some faithfulness to her actual words, although they are now introducing some of their own interpretations onto the exact words. This allows the female character still some degree of agency, as her words still form the basis of the construction, however now the typically male narrator is introducing elements of their interpretation onto them as well. This type is referred to as indirect speech, indirect quotation, or indirectly reporting. For an example of this, one can look to Catullus’ 72.1-2, Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum, Lesbia, nec prae me velle tenere Iovem (‘Once you used to say that you knew only Catullus, Lesbia, and that you did not want Jupiter himself over me’). Note that now the narrator is no longer trying to exactly reproduce what the woman said verbatim, instead indirectly focusing on reproducing her meaning, as well as the grammatical construction. The final type is the furthest removed from the source, where the narrator merely reports on what was said, using their own words to describe it. This allots the narrator the greatest amount of agency, relative to the puella, whose original voice is almost completely silenced in favor of the narrator’s interpretation This method is therefor also the least reflective of actual speech from the puella. This method is referred to as paraphrase. Again one may look to the opening of one of Catullus’ Carmina, in this case 92.1, Lesbia mi dicit semper male nec tacet umquam de me (Lesbia is always saying bad things about me, nor is she ever silent when it comes to me). While at times similar to indirectly reporting the speech of a puella, this method 1 requires even less attention to detail on the part of the narrator. Note that now the narrator does not provide any indication of what those statements might have been, only referring to their general topic. In addition to these methods, there is one additional way that the audience can glean some of the content of female speech. At times, the narrator will begin a dialogue (or indeed, a monologue) heavily focused on his own words; while this does not report any of the speech of the woman, one can begin to see some of the things that she brought up by the topics that the narrator addresses in turn. This of course affords almost complete agency to the narrator, as the female character’s voice is never heard. Likewise, the audience cannot be completely sure of her words, as the narrator may have chosen to ignore certain comments, or to interpret them in a radically different manner than they might have been intended. As such, this can only broadly be considered a category of feminine speech, as no speech from a female source is ever actually presented, it can still be useful in examining the general topics that women present within the elegies. This method is referred to as implicit speech when it occurs. Numerous examples of this can be seen in Ovid’s Amores 1.4, where the narrator is constantly instructing and reacting to the actions of his puella, however she is given no form of a speaking part, while the narrator monologues throughout the entire elegy. All three of these classes of feminine speech in the Augustan elegies will be examined, as well as this supplemental category, although each elegist uses them to different degrees. This difference is also examined, as each type of speech carries with it a different weight and tone. At times the elegists prefer one category to another, and the potential reasons for this are explored as well, such as why the tone they are trying to achieve is best arrived at by the particular method of feminine speech they utilize. 2 Literature Review As a genre, it is widely known that Roman love elegy presents an inverted picture of gender roles, as compared to the traditional Roman relationship in the first century B.C.E. and A.D. As opposed to the actual historical situation, women are presented in positions of power over their male lovers, primarily but not always solely due to their erotic influence over them. However, it has been noted by Sharon James that even in this inverted elegiac world, the relationships still
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