This dissertation studies the Elysian Fields, the Furies, and Tartarus in the Augustan elegists (Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid) and in several pseudepigraphic elegies (the Corpus Tibullianum, the pseudo-Ovidian Consolatio ad Liviam, and the pseudo-Vergilian Elegiae in Maecenatem). I ask three guiding questions: 1. Does there exist a trademark “elegiac” afterlife, distinct from the afterlife in epic poetry? 2. Can we speak of a “Propertian” underworld, as opposed to a “Tibullan” or “Ovidian” Hades? 3. How do the attitudes of the love elegists, both collectively and individually, change over time?
I argue that the love elegists constantly negotiate and renegotiate genre, poetics, and changing social circumstances through such literary set pieces as Elysium, the Erinyes, and the prisoners of Tartarus (Tantalus, Ixion, Sisyphus, Tityos, and the Danaids). Chapter 1 demonstrates how the gates to the Elysian Fields — explicitly open to men and women in Tibullus, implicitly open only to women in Propertius, and evidently open only to birds in Ovid — close slowly over time. Chapter 2 proves that the Eumenides have a metaliterary function in the elegies of Propertius. Just as the Furies enforce a strict family hierarchy and maintain the natural order of the universe, so too do the sisters keep Propertius and Tarpeia in their proper generic spheres. Chapter 3 discusses the antagonistic attitude Tibullus harbors towards Tartarus and the sympathetic mindset Propertius has adopted. Tibullus understands the prisoners as mirror images of the various roadblocks that stand between him and romantic satisfaction. Propertius, meanwhile, sees the inmates as allies in love. Chapter 4 focuses specifically on Tartarus in Ovid’s elegies, with special interest in the poet’s changing treatment of the same myths before and after exile. Chapter 5 studies pseudepigrapha as early and important reception of the eschatological ideas advanced in Augustan love elegy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48666 |
| Date | 27 April 2024 |
| Creators | Paul, Joshua M. |
| Contributors | Uden, James |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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