COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). MEN, MARRIAGE AND MISTRESSES Ovid’s Use of Myth in the Ars Amatoria Jacqueline Diack MEN, MARRIAGE AND MISTRESSES: OVID'S USE OF MYTH IN THE ARS AMATORIA by JACQUELINE DIACK (NÉE DUTTON) 909603005 THESIS submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR LITTERARUM ET PHILOSOPHIAE in LATIN in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR: PROF J.L.P. WOLMARANS CO-SUPERVISOR: PROF W.J. HENDERSON Submission date: October 2018 NASO MAGISTER ERAT Ovid Ars Amatoria II: 744 & III: 812 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are owed to my supervisor, Professor Hansie Wolmarans, for his patience and insight. His knowledge and shared interest in mythology have provided sound guidance and motivation throughout this undertaking, which has proved to be both interesting and challenging. Gratitude is also owed to my co-supervisor, Professor Bill Henderson, who told me in my second year at the University of Johannesburg (then RAU) that an undergraduate degree offers the one opportunity in life to indulge our every educational whim; a conversation that led me to major in Latin. I would also like to acknowledge the people who graciously carried heavy books, second- hand books, books with explicit titles, and even books in foreign languages, back home to South Africa in their luggage. Without them my book collection would have been a considerably less impressive ‘love affair’ with Ovid. Lastly and most importantly, I owe an immense debt of gratitude to my family. To my husband, Warren Diack, I offer thanks for his support and patience, without which I could not have completed this dissertation. For the time I took for writing from occasions that would have been spent with them, I especially thank my children, Mina and Cora. In memoriam, I hope my father finally understands why Latin. iv ABSTRACT Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love) consists of three books. The first teaches the young male lover the where and the how of winning over a desired mistress. The second explains how to keep her once he has successfully charmed her. Finally, the third combines the advice of Books I and II and contextualises it for a female audience. In this newly established genre of erotodidactic poetry, Ovid retells nine Greco-Roman myths at length: the rape of the Sabine women, Pasiphae and the bull, Ariadne and Bacchus, and Deidamia and Achilles in Book I; Daedalus and Icarus, Ulysses and Calypso, Helen and Menelaus, and Venus and Mars in Book II; and Procris and Cephalus in Book III. The aim of this study is to establish how Ovid uses these myths to critique, maintain or restructure male-female amorous relationships within Roman patriarchal society. To date, such a study has not been done systematically. The method used to explore this problem was to establish the extratextual context of the Ars Amatoria (biography of Ovid; the Leges Iuliae about marriage, the literary background and intended audience). Each mythical digression was then analysed by reconstructing the traditional version(s), and comparing them with Ovid’s retelling (intertextual and intratextual analyses). In this way an account was given of Ovid’s creativity and perspective on how men and women should love each other. The results of the research may be summarised as follows. Ovid’s disenchantment with the traditional system of arranged marriages probably stems from his own experience. His first marriage was arranged and brought two people together totally unsuitable for one another. His second wife left him for reasons unknown, while his third wife fulfilled her duties quite well. Ovid did not pursue a military career, but rather promoted the idea of being a soldier of love. The Leges Iuliae were promoted by the Emperor Augustus to maintain the social fabric of the ruling classes in the Roman Empire. Adultery was a punishable offence and the laws did not promote fulfilling liaisons between males and females attracted to one another. Adultery therefore continued unabated and Ovid pretended to aim his advice at v the lower classes, the poor, in order not to seem to promote transgression of the Leges Iuliae. It is hypothesised that the popularity of his ideas spread at recitationes of his books, and that this was the reason for his being exiled by the Emperor. The honour-shame code of behaviour, regulating marriage, is heavily criticised by Ovid. The Trojan war was started to avenge patriarchal values of shame, not to rescue an abducted dear wife. To promote his ideas of mutual choice and pleasure in male-female relations, Ovid created the new genre of erotodidactic poetry, containing elements of epic as well as Roman love elegy. In making use of these ancient myths, Ovid did it in such a way as to entertain his male and female audience, supplying a rationale for their life-styles which included extra-marital affairs, and establishing his own authority. Furthermore, he retold the myths in such a way as to use them as exempla to charter a brave new basis for relationships as being based on love and fulfilment. To form a successful liaison and to maintain it, necessitates skill. In this way he debunked typical ‘myths’ associated with male-female affiliations, and replaced them with new perspectives. Ovid denies that women need to be controlled by men and that deception and violence are acceptable to do so. Instead, he proposes persuasion by the skilful use of words. The view that women like to be raped was widespread. Ovid denies this even when making use of myths which are about rape. He argues that rape is illegal and without art. Typical of a male patriarchal vision is the idea that desire in women becomes abnormal and excessive if not under male control. Ovid deconstructs this notion. He does argue that women are forced by society to hide their desire behind modesty, and that the male lover should take the initiative. He should, however, be able to distinguish this desire from true disinterest. The misconception that success in love is dependent on physical beauty and sexual prowess is also discredited. Being educated, being able to use words well, tell stories, and understand the female psyche, are more important in the long run. The typical emotions of lust and jealousy should be controlled in service of self-control and the use of skill. To maintain a relationship requires hard work. Finally, Ovid forcefully condemns the belief that the use of love potions and magic spells are successful in awakening and maintaining a love interest. The skilled art of seduction on many levels is what really counts. vi The carrier of these outdated values would have been elegy. Ovid therefore openly criticises the traditions of the elegiac genre, opting for a more transformative erotodidactic alternative. Ovid has been unfairly judged as being a promoter of illicit affairs, but he was actually paving the way for enlightened 21st century views of male-female relationships, as being based upon mutual fulfilment on a bodily and intellectual level, as well as the acceptance of these relationships as basically and possibly transitory. vii NOTE ON THE TEXTS In quoting the Latin text of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria I have used the Loeb Classical Library’s Ovid: The Art of Love and Other Poems (translated by Mozley 1979: 11-175). I have retained the v as it appears in the source rather than replace it with the consonantal u. For the spelling of Greek names I have generally used the Latinised forms, for example, Hercules rather than Herakles. Where differing Greek and Roman names for a character occur, such as in the case of Odysseus (Greek) and Ulysses (Latin), I have used the Latin name, except in instances where the author uses the Greek name in the primary source. All English translations provided are my own, unless otherwise stated. When referring to the works of ancient authors I have used the abbreviations in Lewis and Short’s A Latin Dictionary (1879). Where not available, I have referred to the abbreviations list in the Oxford Classical Dictionary (Hornblower & Spawforth 2003). I have maintained the traditional Roman numeral system when numbering books written by ancient authors, but have numbered poems and chapters of books using the Western Arabic numeral system. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS AFFIDAVIT .............................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. v NOTE ON THE TEXTS ..........................................................................................................................