This study provides a synoptic account of the development of Latin elegiac poetry from the first century BC to late antiquity. It focuses primarily on a group of texts from the fifth and sixth centuries AD in which elegy once again becomes a medium for sustained poetic lamentation, four hundred years after the death of Ovid, its most famous exponent. These texts are Rutilius Namatianus, De Reditu; Orientius, Commonitorium; Dracontius, Satisfactio; and the elegiac collection of Maximianus. Each work is interpreted in the context of the radical historical changes that were taking place in this period. The study makes particular reference to the influence of Ovid, as it analyses the distinctive formal and narrative modalities by which these poets present a variety of subject matter. It advances the hypothesis that each of the four elegies presents the experience of a traumatic loss or break. As well as providing detailed examination of these important primary texts, this study also invites re-evaluation of the elegiac works of the Augustan period, which have long been canonical in Classics. In so doing, it indicates the potential for a highly developed criticism of previously neglected works of Latin poetry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:535348 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Fielding, Ian |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/35236/ |
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