ENG 110 Berrigan Topic: Ovid and Catullus: Roman Love Poetry and the Conceptualization of “Love” Sources: Anderson, William S., (1995). Aspects of Love in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” The Classical Journal, Vol. 90. No. 3. pp 265­269. The intention of the article is to explain the benefits of teaching Ovid and Catullus in Advanced Placement Latin Literature for high school students. The article discusses the differences between Catullan poetry and Ovidian poetry, but mainly how by teaching them together students receive a fuller deeper understanding of the genre of Roman Elegy and enrich their understand of both authors. Personally, this article is helpful because it explains differences in these authors writing which helps me understand where the genre began, with Catullus, and where it concluded, with Ovid (although the genre didn’t really cease, Ovid did come “at the end” of it). Understanding the key differences facilitated my examination of their Wikipedia pages and how to make helpful edits for Wiki readers to receive the crux of whom Catullus and Ovid were as poets. Athanassaki, Lucia. (1992). The Triumph of Love Elegy in Ovid’s AMores 1,2. Materiali e discussioni per l’analisi dei testi classici, No. 28, pp. 125­141. This article explains Ovid’s role in the Roman Elegy genre, and his innovative nature. He learned from predecessors; however, changed the focus of his love poetry. Athanassaki analyzes the writings of Propertius, and others, in comparison to Ovid. Ovid’s writing is consumed by the concept of love and the po­098EW Awer it has over people; even himself and his writing. Unlike his predecessors he plays with the differences between Roman poetry: elegiac and epic. This article is important for making successful edits on Ovid’s Wikipedia page because I am able to expand on how Ovid changed the Elegy genre. Sullivan, J. P., (1961). Two Problems in Roman Love Elegy. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 92, pp. 522­536. J.P. Sullivan deals with two questions in this article, my focus was on the second one: “is the love we find described in Roman elegy different in kind from what we consider “romantic love?” This section illuminates the concept of romantic love in the ancient world, frankly it did not exist. The distinction of romantic love was made between the sexes, meaning romance for the ancients was between homosexual relationships rather than heterosexual. Sullivan defines romantic love as “this new complex of emotions and attitudes, we are told, once stripped of its purely accidental and temporal characteristics, became what is terms ‘romantic love’ and is the foundation of modern Western sexual attitudes.” A major distinction Sullivan makes, while crediting Lewis, is that the ancients always regarded love as a madness or sickness, whereas the modern world does not. On the “Romance” and “Love” pages this idea of love evolving over time is not explicitly talked about. This article will help make edits to these pages to give the historical context of the concept of love a truer meaning and fuller history. It is interesting how romantic love didn’t exist for the Romans; however, the words are clearly derived from the same word. Edits: 1. “ Elegy originates with Propertius and Tibullus; however, Ovid is an innovator in the genre. Ovid changes the leader of his elegies from the poet, to Amor (love). This switch in focus from the triumphs of the poet, to the triumphs of love over people is the first of its kind for this genre of poetry. This Ovidian innovation can be summarized as the use of love as a metaphor for poetry.” This is the edit I made on the “Ovid” page, under the “Works” section on the paragraph about “Amores.” Ovid’s innovative role in the elegy genre was missing from the discussion on this Wikipedia page. He was more than just another poet, he took from predecessors and made major changes to the style of writing love poetry. By explicitly stating how he was inspired by people like Propertius, but still was bold enough in his writing to do something completely new validates his popularity and academic integrity in the genre. 2. “Catullus is the predecessor in Roman Elegy for poets like Propertius, Tibullus, and ​ ​ Ovid. Catullus's focus in his poetry is on himself, the male lover. He writes obsessively about Lesbia; however she is just an object to him. In his writing, the male lover is the important character, and Lesbia is part of his theatrical passion. Catullun love­poetry offers a superb example of why it is not enough in love to focus exclusively on one's own feelings. It is important to note Catullus came at the beginning of this genre, so his work is much different than his predecessors. Ovid is heavily influenced by Catullus; however, he switches the focus of his writing to the concept of love and Amor, rather than himself or the male lover. This opposing views begin to shape the different types of love and controversies in Roman elegiac poetry.” This is the edit I made on the “Poetry of Catullus” page, under the the “sources and organization” section. In this section of the page, Catullus’s topics of his poetry are discussed; however, his motivation or true focus is not unpacked. He came at the beginning of the Roman Elegy genre, and he was still very focused on himself. By the end of the genre Ovid had become more obsessed with the powers of love itself, rather than the power Catullus had over his beloved. This is an important distinction to make on this page about Catullus’s poetry. 3. J.P. Sullivan illuminated a view about romantic love some may not realize. There is a view that the ancient world had no conception of “romantic love” between the sexes but reserved for the passion between homosexual relationships. So the culture believed to have brought us the epitome of romance, one a literary basis, may not true. This is the edit I would’ve made to the Love Wikipedia page in the Ancient Roman (Latin) section. In this part they discuss the different words for love, amor, and words derived from amor. The page claims these words were used for romance; however, there is an opinion that this is not true. If I could edit this page, I would have brought to light this discrepancy and hoped the Wiki Guardians discussed the issue and made the historical context of romantic love more accurate. 4. “Although the prior existence of romantic attachments is attested by ancient love poetry.” This is an edit I would’ve made to the Love page, but this edit would be a deletion of this sentence. After examination of my peer reviewed articles on this topic, a valid case is made for romantic love being an unknown topic to the ancients. The distinction should be made that romantic love was conceptualized and brought to life around the Middle Ages, but romance isn’t really a part of Latin Elegy. The topic I chose had some available Wikipedia pages for me to edit freely, which jives with Poe’s claims on the openness of Wikipedia. However, two of the edits I tried to make were on the Love page, which was locked to all non­members. If all my edits were able to be made, it would be easy to completely agree with all of Poe’s writing in “The Hive,” his article on his personal experience with Wikipedia. However, me along with others in the class struggled with the new addition to locking different pages. This occurrence more bumps heads with Poe’s claims about group knowledge. I researched the topic of Roman Elegy, love poetry, and made edits to the pages of the authors of this genre and also the concepts they write about, love. My articles were written by “experts” in the field and therefore, I believe to be valid information. With these articles I made edits expanding on the influences and motivations of the poets and the history of the conception of love, specifically love poetry. Assessment: Poe discusses the differences in management style arguing for the chosen path of Wikipedia, the bazaar model, “Under the cathedral model source code was guarded by a core group of developers; under the bazaar model it was released on the internet for anyone to see.” (353) He argues for this model because the Wikipedia founders believed, “An “open” online community is one with few restrictions on membership or posting everyone is welcome and anyone can say anything as long as it is generally on point.” (350) This open community idea is successful on the world wide web because “given the right technology, large groups of self­interested individuals will unite to create something they could not produce by themselves.” (351) However, Poe’s essay was written nine years ago, so sadly Wikipedia has changed. All of their good intentions for management and knowledge base on the site have been modified. Pages have the potential to be locked, and membership has become more necessary to be able to edit freely. .