J. C. Yardley Phd Thesis
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SHARED THEMES IN THE ROMAN ELEGISTS J. C. Yardley A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 1976 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15497 This item is protected by original copyright SHARED THEMES IN THE ROMAN ELEGISTS J.C. Yardley Ph.d. Thesis University of St. Andrews 1976 ■jHBHHHS’ ProQuest Number: 10171093 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10171093 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 o % t s The work embodied in this thesis is my own and has not been accepted in any previous application for a higher degree® The work in this thesis was completed under the supervision of Professor G.W. Williams, sometime Professor of Humanity in the University of St. Andrews and now Professor of Latin at Yale University. Professor Williams is currently in Australia and not available to certify the thesis. In his absence I have seen the thesis and the candidate and can certify that the 4 I conditions of the Resolution and Regulations of Ordinance G V C (Higher Study and Research) have been fulfilled. Signed: R.M. Ogilvie, D.Litt.,F.J3.A., F.S.A., F.S.A. Scot Professor of Humanity r SHARED THEMES IN THE ROMAN ELEGISTS J.C. Yardley ABSTRACT The thesis is a detailed analysis of a selection of poems on similar themes by the Roman elegists in an attempt to estimate the originality of each poet in his treatment of each theme. The literary history of the themes prior to their occurrence in elegy is also considered. The study opens with a discussion of two ’’generic”themes, the paraclausithyron and the pro pern pti con (’’generic” here being used in the sense of classification in terms of the poems’ content). It is demonstrated that while the elegists were certainly aware of the Greek komastic tradition and the many topoi associated with it, they are also distinctively Roman and individualistic in their handling of the theme of the exclusus amator (in particular in their employment of religious language in the address to the door). The section on the propernpticon concerns Prop.l8 and Ovid Am.2.11, and again it is argued that while both poets were aware of the generic conventions deriving from Greek literature, (those of the ’’schetliastic propempticon”) they have made a traditional form serve their own purposes, Propertius "dramatising” the situation (Cynthia at 1.8.26 is persuaded not to leave) and Ovid flippantly exaggerating and cleverly manipulating the topoi of the genre. The second chapter focusses on three themes which seem to have strong connections with comedy. The first is the rixa or lovers’ quarrel in Abstract which violence is inflicted by the one party of the love affair on the other. The girl’s violence is enjoyed by her lover because it is interpreted as an indication of her passionate love for him, while the lover’s violence is a source of regret to him. Comic precedents for both attitudes are produced. Next under discussion is the soldier-rival, based on the character of the miles gloriosus, of comedy but adapted to suit each elegist’s purposes. The third comic theme is the affair with the ancilia, found in both Propertius and Tibullus but given a very different treatment by each of them. This is perhaps inspired by the comic situation in which the husband is suspected by his carping wife of having an affair with her ancilla. Three themes frequently occurring in Greek epigram are discussed in the third chapter. First under consideration is the figure of the irrisor amoris, the man who mocked love only to fall in love himself; variations on this theme by Tibullus (l.8.7lff. and 1.2.87ff.) and Propertius (l.9»lff«) are examined in detail.. There follows an analysis of Tihullus 1.2.25ff«j Prop.3.l6.11ff• and Ovid Am.l.6.13ff adaptations of the epigrammatic motif of divine protection for the lover when he comes to his girl at night (but extended by Tibullus and Propertius to the claim that the lover enjoys divine protection at all times). The last epigrammatic theme discussed is that of the poet's attraction to several different types of girls/boys (Prop. 2.22A, 2.25.41ff$ Tib.l.4.11ff; Ovid Am.2.4,2.10.). Abstract The fourth chapter is devoted to three illustrations of the elegist's obsequium his willingness to attend the girl in sickness^ to hunt with her or go on a long journey with her. These, it is demonstrated by examples from Greek prose works on Friendship, are instances of the duties to be expected of a friend in Hellenistic Friendship Literature. These Freundschaftsdienste have been transformed by the elegists into examples of the lover's devotion. Chapter five is devoted to the themes of the girl’s sickness (Prop. 2.28, (Tib.) 3»10j> Ovid Am. 2.13)^ and her preoccupation with cosmetics (Prop.1.2, 2.l8c; Tib.1.8.9-16; Ovid Am.l.14, Ars_.3«101ff., RA 343ff«)« The former (which may derive ultimately from Callimachus) receives very different treatment from the three poets, though certain topoi recur in the poems, demonstrating a degree of inter-borrowing amongst the three. (The view that these similarities are due to the poems belonging to the genre soteria is countered in some detail)• The treatment of the latter theme by Propertius may reveal comic influence, but its widespread occurrence in Greek literature of various genres precludes certainty. The conclusion attempts to draw together some of the threads of the discussion (which suggests throughout that while the elegists know and use Greek literature they are by no means servile imitators) by Abstract examining in detail Propertius 4.7 in which a number of different literary traditions are combined and used effectively by the poet. CONTENTS Introduction................................... ................................................... 10 ■ | 1,, Two Generic Themes . .. ............................«, ® o . 20 The Paraclausithyron and the Excluded Lover...................... .... 21 The Lover’s Farewell . • • ............................................................. .... 74 2. Three Comic Themes » » « ...............................95 The Lovers ’ Quarrel 105 The Soldier-Rival 132 The Affair with the Maid 142 3. Three Epigrammatic Themes...................... .... • . • • ...................... 153 The Irrisor Amoris................................... .... ............................................ 155 The Lover Under Divine Protection at Night ..................................... 167 The Attractions of Different Girls •••••••• .................... 179 4. Three Themes of Friendship Literature .................. ...... 197 The Lover's Sick-Visiting ...................................................................... 199 Hunting Together • • • .......................................................................... 208 Travelling Together .................. • » ............................... 222 5. • Illness and Cosmetics .................. • ••«•••••••••• 240 The Sickness of the Girl .......................................................................... 241 The Mistress and Cosmetics • <>•••................................«.<>. 256 Contents 60 Conclusion ............................................ 273 Appendix 1. Features of the rixa in elegy................................... » 287 Appendix 2. Copia in Propertius 1.9<>15« •• • •••«•••• 289 Appendix 3* The Attractions of Different Girls: Matrix Analysis of the Poems’ Motifs ....................................... 293 Notes........................................................................................................................ 294 Index Locorum 379 Select Bibliography (Note: This is not a complete bibliography but a list of works referred to with some frequency. Abbreviations for these works appear in brackets. For other works referred to bibliographical information is given with the citation.) A Editions of the Elegists Andre, J. : Tibulle : Elegies livre 1, Paris 1965. (Andre). .Barsby, John : Ovid : Amores Book 1, Oxford 1973. (Barsby Am l). Brandt, Paul : P. Ovidi Nasonis Amorum Libri Tres, Leipzig 1911.(Brandt Am). Po Ovidi Nasonis De Arte Amatoria Libri Tres, Leipzig 1902.(Brandt Ars). Breguet, Esther : Le Roman de Sulpicia : Elegies IV 2-12 du Corpus Tibullianum, Geneva 1946. (Breguet Sulpicia). Butler, H.E. and The Elegies of Propertius, Oxford 1933. Barber, E.A. (Butler and Barber). Camps, W.A* : Propertius ; Elegies Book 1, Cambridge 1961. Book 2, 1967. Book 3, 1966. Book 4> 1964, (Camps 1,2,3,4) Enk, P.J. : Properti Elegiarum Liber 1, Leiden 1946. (Enk l). Properti Elegiarum Liber Secundus, Leiden 1962.(Enk 2). Fedeli, Po : Properzio Elegie, Libro IV, Bari 1965. (Fedeli). Munari, F.: P. Ovidi Nasonis Amores, ed. altera, Florence 1955.(Munari). Nemethy, Geyza : Albii Tibulli Carmina, Budapest 1905. (Nemethy). Postgate, J.P. : Select Elegies of Propertius, London l88l. (Postgate). Putnam, M.C.J. : Tibullus