My study focusses on the laments expressed by Ariadne and Dido in the poems of Catullus, Vergil and Ovid. My study examines the evolution of the character type of the lamenting woman from its Greek origins and portrayal to its presentation in Catullus 64, Aeneid 4 and Heroides 7 and 10. The scholarship and theories of Elizabeth Harvey, Rebecca Armstrong, Bridgitte Libby, Laurel Fulkerson and Sharon James were essential for my understanding and interpretation of these poems. I also consider the implications of male poets writing ventriloquized female voices. Over the course of three chapters, I argue that each of these authors contributes to the development and establishment of a new Romanized theme of the seduced and abandoned lamenting woman and character type. It is evident in each depiction of Ariadne and Dido that the authors build on the standard characterizations in Greek epic and tragedy, and that from these models a new type of lamenting woman emerged. With this project I intend to make a contribution to our understanding of the issues involved in the poetic portrayal of male and female voices in the context of the classical literary tradition of lamenting. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / The aim of this thesis is to examine the motif of the lament of abandoned women in Latin poetry. My study focusses on the laments expressed by the characters of Ariadne and Dido in the ancient poems of Catullus, Vergil and Ovid. My study examines the evolution of the character type of the lamenting woman from its Greek origins and portrayal to its presentation in Catullus 64, Aeneid 4 and Heroides 7 and 10. Over the course of three chapters, I argue that each of these authors contributes to the development and establishment of a new Romanized theme of the seduced and abandoned lamenting woman and character type. With this project I intend to make a contribution to our understanding of the issues involved in the poetic portrayal of male and female voices in the context of the classical literary tradition of lamenting.

Liberalitas forms one of the central frameworks for defining social bonds within Roman society, and was part of how Roman poets constructed the world. This is most explicitly evident in the poets’ references to “patrons” and benefactors, but it extends much further. The poets worked within a broad framework of social conventions and expectations which must be understood in order to see how their poetry uses and responds to the concepts associated with liberalitas. Cicero’s de officiis and Seneca’s de beneficiis are therefore useful, as they offer idealised, prescriptive views of liberalitas in Roman society. Many scholars have investigated the relationships between poets and their patrons, including Peter White, Barbara Gold, James Zetzel, and Phebe Lowell Bowditch. I argue that any true understanding of the role of liberalitas in Roman poetry must also comprehend its importance in other areas. This dissertation focuses on the poetry of Catullus, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, and Virgil in the Eclogues. The introduction addresses traditional liberalitas as defined by Cicero and Seneca in their works on benefits and duties. Chapter one illustrates how Catullus, Horace, and Tibullus display ideals similar to those of Cicero and Seneca and use the conventions of liberalitas for praising and blaming members of their social groups. Chapter two addresses the problems of status raised by liberalitas and investigates the strategies used by Catullus, Horace, Propertius, and Tibullus to mitigate these problems and further their social, literary, and aesthetic aims. Chapter three demonstrates how the love poets used and redefined the terminology and ideology of liberalitas to construct an obligation on the part of their beloveds to reciprocate the gifts given by the poets but reject the gifts given by rival lovers. Finally, Chapter four examines the role of liberalitas in formulating and expressing a poetic program in Virgil’s Eclogues, which points to its function in mediating the connection between ‘real-life’ political and social concerns and the literary preoccupations of Roman poets. The various applications of this concept demonstrated in these four chapters present the study of liberalitas as a useful and productive tool in the investigation of the poetry of this period.

Liberalitas forms one of the central frameworks for defining social bonds within Roman society, and was part of how Roman poets constructed the world. This is most explicitly evident in the poets’ references to “patrons” and benefactors, but it extends much further. The poets worked within a broad framework of social conventions and expectations which must be understood in order to see how their poetry uses and responds to the concepts associated with liberalitas. Cicero’s de officiis and Seneca’s de beneficiis are therefore useful, as they offer idealised, prescriptive views of liberalitas in Roman society. Many scholars have investigated the relationships between poets and their patrons, including Peter White, Barbara Gold, James Zetzel, and Phebe Lowell Bowditch. I argue that any true understanding of the role of liberalitas in Roman poetry must also comprehend its importance in other areas. This dissertation focuses on the poetry of Catullus, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, and Virgil in the Eclogues. The introduction addresses traditional liberalitas as defined by Cicero and Seneca in their works on benefits and duties. Chapter one illustrates how Catullus, Horace, and Tibullus display ideals similar to those of Cicero and Seneca and use the conventions of liberalitas for praising and blaming members of their social groups. Chapter two addresses the problems of status raised by liberalitas and investigates the strategies used by Catullus, Horace, Propertius, and Tibullus to mitigate these problems and further their social, literary, and aesthetic aims. Chapter three demonstrates how the love poets used and redefined the terminology and ideology of liberalitas to construct an obligation on the part of their beloveds to reciprocate the gifts given by the poets but reject the gifts given by rival lovers. Finally, Chapter four examines the role of liberalitas in formulating and expressing a poetic program in Virgil’s Eclogues, which points to its function in mediating the connection between ‘real-life’ political and social concerns and the literary preoccupations of Roman poets. The various applications of this concept demonstrated in these four chapters present the study of liberalitas as a useful and productive tool in the investigation of the poetry of this period.