The gendered characterization of the Propertian lover-poet does not fit comfortably into either the role of a traditionally masculine elite male Roman or that of an effeminate elegiac lover. This dissertation argues for a lover-poet whose gender role draws on and reacts to elements from both of these pre-existing roles with the end result of a character that disidentifies with Roman gender roles and exists outside of the binary oppositions that they provide. The lover-poet’s characterization is intimately bound to that of his elegiac puella, usually identified in the poetry as Cynthia, and as such the focus of this dissertation is on the poems in which the lover-poet and Cynthia interact. Propertius explores tensions inherent in the gendered roles and relationships of elegy through his exposure of the limits of elegiac fides and his interaction with non-elegiac fides as part of the language of Roman social relations. These tensions are further exposed through his use of women’s speech, which depicts women as critical of both the elegiac scenario and of mainstream Roman values. Propertius uses the common elegiac trope seruitium amoris to consider issues of freedom, speech, and patronage both within and without the elegiac world and differs from the other Latin love poets in his presentation of his puella as possessing a measure of mastery. He also uses the equally common trope militia amoris to portray the elegiac world as morally superior to that of traditional militia, including epic poetry and contemporary conquest and empire-building. The existence of similar themes and critiques in the non-Cynthia poems, especially those that ostensibly praise Augustus, suggests the importance of further investigation into the connection between Propertius’ construction of masculinity and the social, cultural, and political change of the Augustan era.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35931 |
| Date | 09 August 2013 |
| Creators | Racette-Campbell, Melanie |
| Contributors | Keith, Alison |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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