SEX, LIES, AND LATIN LOVE POETRY: THE OVIDIAN HEROINE AND THE RECLAMATION OF ABANDONMENT NARRATIVE By IRINA GREENMAN 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 2017 © 2017 Irina Greenman To Beecher Greenman, My Faithful Hero ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my deepest gratitude to the four members of my graduate committee: Dr. Jennifer Rea, of the Department of Classics, committee chair and advisor extraordinaire; Drs. Velvet Yates and Mary Ann Eaverly, of the Department of Classics; and Dr. Marsha Bryant, of the Department of English. It was an amazing opportunity to work with such exemplary women scholars, particularly on a project of this nature. I appreciate their patience, expertise, and support. I thank my parents, Mary Ashby Kimball and Paul Michael Ruden, for supporting me and inspiring me to achieve this level of education and for reminding me that I should never have to settle for less. I believe that the gift of education is the greatest in the world, and my parents have always ensured that mine is the best I could wish for. I thank the many classicists with whom I have eagerly discussed this paper, for their patience and for their thoughtful criticism. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the efforts of Bethany Abelseth and Emily Lewis, spectacular Latin teachers and very dear friends; and all my contemporary members of the Classics Department Writing Group: Miriam Patrick, Rachel Ash, Jennifer Nelson, April Spratley, and Oswald Sobrino. I have had more than my fair share of astounding Latin instructors throughout my education. I extend my deepest gratitude to all of them. I could not have achieved this without my loving husband, Beecher Greenman. He has been my rock and my inspiration, and his unwavering support continues to be vital in everything I do. All translations from Latin into English used throughout this paper are my own, created for this purpose and not previously published in any form, unless otherwise cited. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: GENRE AND INNOVATION OF THE HEROIDES .................... 12 Ancient and Modern Genre Theory: A Comparison ................................................ 19 Genre Theory and Ovidian Studies ......................................................................... 22 Ovid’s Claims About His Own Work ........................................................................ 25 Locating the Heroides within Literary Tradition ....................................................... 30 Rhetoric and Suasoriae .................................................................................... 30 Epistolary Literature ......................................................................................... 31 Mythological Love Stories................................................................................. 32 Roman Amatory Elegy...................................................................................... 33 Ovid’s Claims on Trial ............................................................................................. 35 2 SACRIFICIAL WOMEN: HEROINES OF EPIC ....................................................... 38 Epic-Transplanted Heroides as Set Pieces ............................................................. 40 Penelope’s Letter Within the Odyssey .............................................................. 40 Briseis’ Letter Within the Iliad ........................................................................... 45 Hypsipyle’s Letter Within the Argonautica ........................................................ 49 Dido’s Letter Within the Aeneid ........................................................................ 52 Laodamia’s Letter Within the Iliad .................................................................... 54 Sacrificial Women Speaking Out and Claiming Center Stage ................................. 56 Penelope’s Programmatic Assertion ................................................................ 57 Briseis’ Establishment of Self ........................................................................... 59 Hypsipyle’s Flouting of Expectations ................................................................ 60 Dido’s Practical Rebuke ................................................................................... 61 Laodamia’s Claims of Marriage ........................................................................ 64 A Nod to Expectations: False Displays of Weakness ............................................. 65 Transplantation to Friendlier Soil ............................................................................ 67 3 FATED WOMEN: HEROINES OF TRAGEDY ........................................................ 70 Tragedy-Transplanted Heroides as Monologues .................................................... 73 Phaedra’s Manipulative Skill ............................................................................. 74 Hermione’s Desperate Plea .............................................................................. 77 5 Deianira’s Self-Defense .................................................................................... 81 Canace’s Vicarious Delivery ............................................................................. 84 Medea’s Invective ............................................................................................. 90 Hypermnestra’s Legal Case ............................................................................. 94 Fated Women Speaking Out and Claiming Justice ................................................. 97 Phaedra’s Persuasion for Sexual Equality........................................................ 98 Hermione’s Plea for Help .................................................................................. 98 Deianira’s Position Defense ............................................................................. 99 Canace’s Confessional ..................................................................................... 99 Medea’s Demand for Reciprocity ................................................................... 100 Hypermnestra’s Demand for Justice .............................................................. 101 A Nod to Realism: Discussion of Regret ............................................................... 101 Transplantation to Healthier Soil ........................................................................... 107 4 POWERFUL WOMEN: HEROINES OF LYRIC POETRY ..................................... 110 Lyric-Derived Heroides as Narrative Reinventions and Commentaries ................ 112 Phyllis’ Erudition and Power ........................................................................... 112 Oenone’s Pastoralism .................................................................................... 115 Ariadne’s Epistolography ................................................................................ 117 Sappho’s Lyricism .......................................................................................... 121 Powerful Women Re-Appropriating Narrative ....................................................... 136 Phyllis’ Reclamation from Callimachus’ Aitia .................................................. 137 Oenone’s Reclamation from Greek City Culture ............................................. 137 Ariadne’s Reclamation from Theseus’ Hero-Centrism .................................... 137 Sappho’s Reclamation from Greek Middle Comedy ....................................... 138 A Nod to Tradition: Defeat as Narrative Denouement ........................................... 142 Transplantation to Richer Soil ............................................................................... 148 5 CONCLUSION: GENERIC ENRICHMENT AND NARRATIVE RECLAMATION .. 151 Necessity of Generic Enrichment in the Heroides ................................................. 151 Roman Elegiac Poetry as Multi-Media .................................................................. 154 The Literary Authority of the Heroides .................................................................. 157 Ovid and Feminism ............................................................................................... 158 Success from the Jaws of Failure ......................................................................... 160 APPENDIX A SOURCE TEXTS OF THE HEROIDES ................................................................ 162 B SUMMARIES OF THE EPISTLES ........................................................................ 163 Epistle I: Penelope to Ulixes ................................................................................. 163 Epistle II: Phyllis to Demophoön ........................................................................... 163 Epistle III: Briseis to Achilles ................................................................................. 164 Epistle IV: Phaedra to Hippolytus ........................................................................