Dissertationen zum Thema „Epistolary poetry, latin – history and criticism“

In a critical climate that privileges the hermeneutic position of a reader of a text over the irretrievable intentions of its author, this thesis challenges the status quo by considering the elegist Propertius as his own first reader. Through an exploration of what I have called 'mindful reading' - how Propertius appears to engage intratextually with his own poetic material, recasting parts of it lexically and thematically - alongside his interaction with the works of his peers and predecessors and wider cultural discourses, we, as readers, are able to appreciate how he may have understood aspects of his own poetry at a given moment. This particular mode of reading is encouraged, in part, by the repeated treatment of certain themes and ideas by Propertius, and, most conspicuously, by the inherently repetitive nature of the amorous discourse in which he is implicated with Cynthia. There are seven chapters. (1) A rhythm of intratextual reading is established in the generically important funerary elegies of Book I, setting this against the poet's amatory discourse. An analysis of II.i shows that mindful reading is a phenomenon that occurs between, as well as within, books. (2) Consideration is given to editorial division of the canonically named 'Book II', and the ordering of poems; the latter part of the chapter considers the important programmatic elegy, II.xiii. (3) A close reading of III.i and III.ii, and their response to Propertius' predecessors and contemporaries is considered, particularly through a (re)reading of II.xxxiv. (4) Poems treating lovers' brawls and lucubratio are discussed. (5) Propertius' engagement with Maecenas, and his continued adherence to his poetic creed are explored in III.ix and III.x. (6) The notion that Propertius appears to 'un-write' his amatory discourse with Cynthia through mindful reading in the closing cycle of Book III is treated. (7) The place of Cynthia within Book IV, and the elegist's generic explorations are explored through mindful reading.

The thesis, the topic of which is restricted to the polemical didactic poems, Apotheosis, Hamartigenia and Contra Symmachum 1-2, aims to establish the attitudes of Prudentius to the literary tradition and argues for his relationship with the Latin classical poets. Its main argument is that the hexameter poems as a group can be profitably studied from a stylistic angle, since they show how Prudentius combined, and used with innovation, the styles of several poets, namely Lucretius, Virgil and Juvenal, and in many cases engaged with the literary tradition as a whole. Chapter I surveys, as reflected in the poems, Prudentius' awareness of the political, religious and literary milieu in the Christian Empire of the West in his day. Chapter II examines how Prudentius employed the style of argument and imagery in the D.R.N. to present Christian doctrines on the body and the soul, and to reject pagan superstition. Chapter III shows how with much imagination and respect Prudentius adapted Virgil's phraseology and techniques to give new Christian interpretations of some mythical and historical themes in the Aen., such as the 'Golden Age' and the battle of Actium, and of topics on agriculture from the Georg. Chapter IV argues that, like other fourth century Christian writers, the poet entered into the spirit of Satire and alluded to Juvenal's themes and language in his treatment of the topics of sin and sexuality. Finally, in Chapter V Prudentius' adaptations of the biblical accounts in Gen. 19 and of Ps. 136 are used to demonstrate how allegory, which is a main feature of his poetry, was combined successfully with different classical techniques. In conclusion, the hexameter poems demonstrate that Prudentius did not reject classical poetry on the basis of its content, but used both its themes and poetic techniques in order to merge the ancient with the Christian literary tradition.

This thesis examines how the fortunes of poets and the status of poetry were changing at the end of the sixteenth century in Portugal. Centring on the long-neglected verse epistles in Diogo Bernardes's 'O Lima' (1596), I re-evaluate our sense of what it meant to be a poet when writing verse was not a sure-fire way to earn a living and when lyric poetry was regularly lampooned as trifling and immoral. Bernardes's surprisingly forthright cartas, I argue, offer new insights into the protagonists and procedures of literary patronage in Portugal. I use a combination of close readings and sociological methods to illuminate the practical strategies and rhetorical brinkmanship that Bernardes deployed in his quest for favour and highlight the frustrations and moral dilemmas of seeking the support of powerful, but fickle, patrons. Bernardes was a particularly remarkable writer for having printed his verse during his lifetime, and so I also trace how lyric verse was slowly legitimated as a cultural product during the sixteenth century and offer a case study of how an author's reputation was forged in the collaborative enterprise of print, then re-formed by the work of readers, thereby shedding light on the complex mechanisms of early modern canon formation. Paradoxically, I demonstrate that unequivocal praise of a writer's work can harm, rather than help, their chances of remaining in the canon. Although Bernardes's work is an echo chamber for these deep reverberations from the broader history of literature, this thesis also listens closely to Bernardes's distinctive poetic voice and allows it to speak out. Playful, candid, mercurial, it is a poetic voice that here seeks a wider audience.

This dissertation comprises two parts: Part I, which discusses use of second person pronoun in contemporary American poetry; and Part II, The Museum of Coming Apart, which is a collection of poems. As confessional verse became a dominant mode in American poetry in the late 1950s and early 60s, so too did the use of the first-person pronoun. Due in part to the excesses of later confessionalism, however, many contemporary poets hesitate to use first person for fear that their work might be read as autobiography. The poetry of the 1990s and early 2000s has thus been characterized by distance, dissociation, and fracture as poets attempt to remove themselves from the overtly emotional and intimate style of the confessionals. However, other contemporary poets have sought to straddle the line between the earnestness and linearity of confessionalism and the intellectually playful yet emotionally detached poetry of the moment. One method for striking this balance is to employ the second person pronoun. Because "you" in English is ambiguous, it allows the poet to toy with the level of distance in a poem and create evolving relationships between the speaker and reader. Through the analysis of poems by C. Dale Young, Paul Guest, Richard Hugo, Nick Flynn, Carrie St. George Comer, and Moira Egan, this essay examines five common ways second person is employed in contemporary American poetry-the use of "you" in reference to a specific individual, the epistolary form, the direct address to the reader, the imperative voice, and the use of "you" as a substitute for "I"-and the ways that the second-person pronoun allows these poems to take the best of both the confessional and dissociative modes.

Orientador: Isabella Tardin Cardoso
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: O presente trabalho apresenta uma tradução anotada do livro V da obra Metamorfoses do poeta latino Públio Ovídio Naso, acompanhada de um estudo introdutório que versa basicamente sobre esses aspectos selecionados para nossa análise: a coesão e coerência das narrativas presentes no livro; o caráter épico, bem como as implicações desse caráter para a sua construção poética; o papel que desempenha o espaço, isto é, de que modo o cenário em que se desenrolam as histórias influencia a construção dessas narrativas; e a presença constante da metadiegesis, entendida como a reflexão que faz o vate, e as personagens a quem ele cede a voz, sobre a própria arte do fazer poético
Abstract: The current work presents an annotated translation of Ovid¿s Metamorphoses, book V, followed by an introductory study that deals with the following selected aspects: the cohesion and coherence between the narratives that constitute this book; the epic character, as well as the implications of this feature to the poetic construction of the poem; the role space plays, i.e., how the setting in which the stories take place affects the construction of these narratives; and finally, the constant presence of metadiegesis, understood as the poet¿s reflection ¿ as well as the reflection of the characters to whom he gives his voice ¿ on the art of poetry making itself
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

Orientador: Marcos Aurelio Pereira
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: Este trabalho versa sobre o mito de Orfeu, narrado pelo poeta romano Ovídio em sua obra as Metamorfoses. Focamo-nos no aspecto artístico dessa personagem, que freqüentemente é considerada o poeta, cantor e músico arquetípico. A seção da obra em que ela se insere como voz predominante é o livro X, do qual também propomos uma tradução, em prosa, ao final da dissertação. Nossa leitura considerou também a forma como a mesma personagem é apresentada em outro poeta romano, Virgílio, na seção final da obra Geórgicas. Como Ovídio dialoga de perto com a versão de seu antecessor, tal consideração se nos mostrou inevitável. O objetivo final é perceber a importância de se levar em conta o aspecto artístico da personagem para entendê-la no contexto do livro X das Metamorfoses, no qual Orfeu desponta como figura principal e dominante.
Abstract: This is a work on the mith of Orpheus, as narrated by the roman poet Ovid in his master piece Metamorphoses. We have focused on the artistic aspects of this character, who is often considered the archetipical poet, musician and singer. It is the dominant voice of Book 10, of which we offer a translation, in prose, at the end of this dissertation. Our readings have also taken into consideration the way this character is presented in another ronam poet, Vergil, in the final section of his work The Georgics. Considering Ovid dialogs closely to his antecessor, such consideration has presented itself unavoidable. The final goal is to aprehend the importance of taking into consideration the artistic aspects of the character in order to understand it in context of Book 10 of Metamorphoses, where Orpheus is the main dominant figure.
Mestrado
Linguistica
Mestre em Linguística

Orientador: Paulo Sergio de Vasconcellos
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: Como todo e qualquer texto, os epigramas do poeta latino Marco Valério Marcial (c. 38 d.C.- c. 104) são formados pela absorção e assimilação de outros textos, com os quais dialogam e aos quais aludem das mais diversas formas e por meio dos mais diferentes mecanismos. Tais alusões ou intertextos, ao incorporarem, aos textos de Marcial, elementos temáticos ou formais trazidos dos textos aludidos, geram novos significados nos epigramas do autor, tornando a sua leitura mais rica e instigante. Paralelamente, a leitura dos textos aludidos ¿ os modelos ¿ também é enriquecida e influenciada. Nosso recorte, no presente trabalho, contempla o estudo dos intertextos que relacionam os epigramas de Marcial com as obras dos poetas latinos Catulo, Virgílio e Ovídio, buscando mostrar como se dá a incorporação, pelo poeta de Bílbilis, dos elementos emprestados dos textos desses autores e como tais elementos enriquecem com novos sentidos a leitura de todos os textos envolvidos
Abstract: Like any text, the epigrams of the Latin poet Martial (c. A.D. 38 ¿ c. 104) are composed by the absorption and assimilation of other texts, with which they dialogue and to which they allude in very different ways and in very different mechanisms. When these allusions or intertexts incorporate into the Martial¿s texts elements of form or content brought from the texts alluded, they create new meanings in the poet¿s epigrams, so that reading grows richer and gripping. At the same time, the reading of the texts alluded ¿ the models ¿ is also enriched and influenced by the epigrams. In this thesis, we study the intertextual relationships between the Martial¿s epigrams and the works of the Latin poets Catullus, Virgil and Ovid; then, we try to show how the poet from Bilbilis incorporated into his texts borrowed material from those authors and how that material enriches the reading of all texts involved with new meaning
Doutorado
Linguistica
Doutor em Linguística

Landscape in Roman literature is manifest with symbolic potential: in particular, Vergil and Ovid respond to ideologically loaded representations of abundance in nature that signal the dawn of the Augustan golden age. Vergil's Eclogues foreground a locus amoenus landscape which articulates both the hopes of the new age as well as the political upheaval that accompanied the new political regime; Ovid uses the same topography in order to suggest the arbitrary and capricious use of power within a deceptively idyllic landscape. Moreover, for Latin poets, depictions of landscape are themselves sites for poetic reflection as evidenced by the discussion of landscape ecphrases in Horace's Ars Poetica. My thesis focuses upon the depiction and refiguration of the locus amoenus landscape in the post-Augustan epics of the first century AD: Lucan's Bellum Civile, Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, Statius' Thebaid and Silius Italicus' Punica. Landscape in these poems retains the moral, political and metapoetic force evident in the Augustan archetypes. However, I suggest that Lucan's Neronian Bellum Civile fundamentally refigures the landscapes of Latin epic poetry, inscribing the locus amoenus with the nefas of civil war in such a manner that it redefines the perception of landscape in the succeeding Flavian poets. Lucan perverts the landscape, making the locus horridus, a landscape of horror, fear and disgust, the predominant landscape of Latin epic; consequently, the poems of Valerius, Statius and Silius engage with Lucan's refiguration of landscape as a means of expressing the horror of civil war. In the first part of my thesis I examine archetypal landscapes, including those of the Augustan poets and Lucan's Bellum Civile. Taking an approach which engages with literary reception theory and the concept of the â horizon of expectationâ as a framework within which literary topographies can be understood as articulating a response to the thematics of civil war, in the second part of my thesis I demonstrate the manner in which landscapes represent a coherent and paradigmatic response to Lucan's imposition of his civil war narrative within the literary landscape of Roman literature.

This thesis investigates the twelfth-century Latin poem entitled Urbanus magnus or 'The Book of the Civilised Man', attributed to Daniel of Beccles. This is a poem dedicated to the cultivation of a civilised life, aimed primarily at clerics although its use extends to nobility, and specifically the noble householder. This thesis focuses on the text as a primary source for an understanding of social life in medieval England, and uses the content of the text to explore issues such as the medieval household, social hierarchy, the body, and food and diet. Urbanus magnus is commonly referred to as a 'courtesy text'. This thesis seeks to understand Urbanus magnus outside of that attribution, and to situate the text in the context of twelfth and thirteenth-century England. Thus far, scholarship of courtesy literature has focused on later texts such as thirteenth-century vernacular 'courtesy texts' or humanist works as exemplified by Erasmus's De civilitate morum puerilium. This scholarship looks back to the twelfth century and sees texts such as Urbanus magnus as 'early Latin courtesy texts'. This teleological view relegates such earlier texts to positions at the genesis of the genre and blindly assumes that they belong to the corpus of 'courtesy literature'. This neglects both their individual importance and their respective origins. This thesis examines Urbanus magnus as a didactic text which contains elements of 'courtesy literature', but also displays moral and ethical concerns. At the heart of the thesis is the question: should Urbanus magnus be considered as part of the genre of courtesy literature? This question does not have a simple answer, but this thesis shows that some elements and sections of Urbanus magnus do conform to the characteristics of courtesy literature. However, there are further sections that reflect other literary traditions. In addition to morals and ethics, Urbanus magus reflects other genres such as satire, and also reveals social issues in twelfth-century England such as the rise of anti-curiale sentiment and resentment of upward social mobility. This thesis provides an examination of Urbanus magnus through the most prevalent themes in the text. Firstly, it explores the dynamics of the medieval household, along with issues such as social mobility and hierarchy. Secondly, it focuses on the depiction of the body and bodily restraint, covering topics such as speech, bodily emissions, and sexual activity. Thirdly, it discusses food and diet, including table manners, food consumption, and dietary effects of foodstuffs. The penultimate chapter looks at the manuscript dissemination of the text to investigate the different uses which Urbanus magnus found in subsequent centuries. The delineation of Urbanus magnus as part of the genre of courtesy literature ignores the social, cultural, and literary impact on the creation of the text. In response, this thesis has two aims. The first is to minimise the notion of genre, and treat Urbanus magnus as a text in its own right, and as a product of the twelfth century. The second shows that Urbanus magnus reflects both continuity and change in society in England following the Norman Conquest.

The Thesis analyses and evaluates how Gavin Douglas (Eneados, 1513) has refocused Virgil's Aeneid, principally by giving more emphasis to the serial particularity inherent in the story, loosening the narrative structure and involving the reader in its retelling. Chapter I pieces together (from the evidence not merely of what Douglas explicitly says, but of what his words imply) what for him a "text" in general is, and what accordingly it means for a translator or a reader to be engaged with it. This sets the scene for what follows. The next four Chapters look in turn at how he re-expresses important (metaphysical) characteristics of the story. In Chapter II his handling of time is discussed, and compared with Virgil's: the Chapter sets out in detail how Douglas consistently refocuses temporal predicates, foregrounding their disjunctiveness and making them differently felt. In Chapter III spatial position and distance are analysed, and Douglas' way of dealing with space is found to display parallels with his treatment of time: networks are loosened and nodal points are accentuated. In Chapter IV the way in which he presents individuals is compared with Virgil's, and a similar repatterning and shift reveals itself: Douglas provides his persons with firmer boundaries. Chapter V deals with fate, where Douglas encounters special difficulties but maintains his characteristic way of handling the story. The aim of these four Chapters is to characterise formally how Douglas concretises and vivifies the tale of Aeneas, engaging his readers throughout in the retelling. Finally, Chapter VI looks at certain general principles of translation theory (notably connected with the ideas of faithfulness and accuracy) and argues for a way in which Douglas' translation can be fairly experienced by the reader and fairly evaluated as a lively retelling which (albeit distinctive) is fundamentally faithful to Virgil.

Orientador: Paulo Sergio de Vasconcellos
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: Este trabalho de pós-graduação propõe a tradução latina-portuguesa e a análise lingüística e literária do livro I d¿Os Amores de Ovídio. Essa análise visa principalmente o(s) discurso(s) que compõem o volumen: acreditamos que o discurso elegíaco, típico da poesia amorosa da época de Augusto, seja em si mesmo um lugar de encontro e confronto de diversos discursos, entre eles o épico (o bélico), o cômico, o amoroso e o trágico. Através de nossa análise, demonstramos que Ovídio deixou manifesta essa mistura discursiva, tão própria da elegia em seus Amores ¿ a todo o momento vemos que, para o poeta, o amor e a guerra constituem milícias importantes, ora distintas, ora semelhantes. Dessa forma, podemos entender que o poeta, através de sua postura n¿Os Amores, tenta valorizar aquele que se dedicava ao amor (entenda-se a poesia amorosa) em vez dos assuntos militares e da vida pública. Podemos dizer, também, que o(s) discurso(s) que ele utiliza para compor Os Amores revelam o quanto a vida militar (e sua violência peculiar) e seu discurso se encontravam presentes nas mais distintas esferas da vida romana. Finalmente, também podemos dizer que essa obra demonstra, claramente, que nenhum discurso é isolado em si mesmo, mas que é permeado por muitos gêneros e tipos de discursos
Abstract: This post-graduating work proposes the translation from Latin to Portuguese and the linguistic and literary analysis of the book one from Ovid¿s Loves. This analysis aims, especially at discourses that integrate the volumen: we believe that the elegiac discourse, typical of the love poetry of Augustan age, is in itself a point of meeting and confrontation of many other discourses, and among them, the epic (warlike), the comic, the love and the tragic discourses. Through our analysis, we demonstrate that Ovid let evident this blend of speeches, so usual in the elegy of his Amores ¿ all the time we can see that, for the poet himself, love and war are significant armies, sometimes distinct, sometimes similar. Thus, we can see that the poet, in the posture his persona adopts in the Loves, tries to valorize that one who dedicates himself to love (and to the poetry of love) instead of military matters and public life. We also can say that the discourses in the Loves show how the military life (and the violence inherent to it) and his peculiar speech were present in the most distinct areas of private life from the Roman Empire. At last, we can also say that this work shows, clearly, that no speech is isolated in itself, but that it is permeated by a lot of genres and types of discourses
Mestrado
Mestre em Linguística

Vergil’s Georgics was published in 29 BCE, at a critical point in the political life of Octavian-Augustus. Although his position at the head of state had been confirmed by victory at Actium in 31, his longevity was threatened by his reputation for causing bloodshed during the civil wars. This thesis argues that Vergil, in the Georgics, presents a defence of Octavian against criticism of his past, in order to safeguard his future, and the future of Rome. Through a complex of metaphor and allusion, Vergil engages with the weaknesses in Octavian’s public image in order to diminish their damaging impact. Chapter One examines the way in which the poet invokes and complements the literary tradition of portraying young men as destructive, amorous creatures, through his depiction of iuvenes in the Georgics, in order to emphasise the inevitability of youthful misbehaviour. Since Octavian is still explicitly a iuvenis, he cannot be held accountable for his actions up to this point, including his role in the civil wars. The focus of Chapters Two and Three of this thesis is Vergil’s presentation of the spring season in the Georgics. Vergil’s preoccupation with spring is unorthodox in the context of agricultural didactic; under the influence of the Lucretian figure of Venus, Vergil moulds spring into a symbol of universal creation in nature, a metaphor for a projected revival of Roman affairs under Octavian’s leadership which would subsequently dominate the visual art of the Augustan period. Vergil’s spring is as concerned with the past as it is the future. Vergil stresses the fact that destructive activity can take place in spring, in the form of storms and animal violence; the farmer’s spring labor is characterised as a war against nature, which culminates in the horrific slaughter of oxen demanded by bugonia. In each case destruction is revealed as a necessary prerequisite for some form of creation: animal reproduction, increased crop yield, a renewed population of bees. Thus, the spring creation of a new Rome under Octavian will come as a direct result of the bloodshed of the civil wars, a cataclysm whose horrors are not denied, but whose outcome will ultimately be positive. Octavian is assimilated to Jupiter in his Stoic guise: a providential figure who sends fire and flood to Earth in order to improve mankind.

The application of persona theory to the poetry of Horace is a well-established method of critical analysis, but in Horace’s love poems we can also distinguish various erotic voices. The Odes and Epodes of Horace feature several distinct sexual personae as the speakers of the poems. Horace the Lothario is a witty, didactic, slightly detached expert on love and erotic behavior. Horace the Excluded Lover is a gloomy failure at love who desires someone he cannot have. Horace the Ephebophile seeks as the object of his erotic desire a young man generally older than traditional Roman pederasty would suggest, but this desire is coded and suppressed. Horace the Moralist, possibly in ironic relation to the other three, attacks loose sexual morals and praises Augustus for returning chastity and monogamy to Rome. Finally, the sexual personae of some of Horace’s poems defy simple categorization and must be analyzed more closely in order to explain the nature of the speaker. This methodology, the division into sexual personae, allows us to give a fresh critical appraisal to Horace’s erotic poetry.
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A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
All the poems of Catullus and Tibullus and the first three books of Horace's Odes are investigated tor structures of parallelism and inverse paralelism (chiasmus) and thus the extent to which these devices were used is determined. Such structures are demonstrated for the first time for several poems. Sometimes additions or modifications are made to the structural analyses of other scholars, and sometimes their findings are confirmed. The notion that inverse parallelism was seldom used by Roman authors is dispelled. The freedom with which these devices were used, resulting in a great variety of deviations from strictly symmetrical structures, is demonstrated Both common and idiosyncratic features in the use of the devices by the three authors are shown. Several poems of each author are discussed to illustrate that the demonstration of a structure of parallelism or inverse parallelism is in itself an interpretative act, which can at the same time serve as a basis for further interpretation. In particular it is shown that structures of inverse parallelism often, if not always, iconically reflect the meaning of the poem (hence the title of the thesis) This ability or structures of inverse parallelism to reflect the meaning of the poem may partly account for the fact that they are used more frequently than are structures of parallelism. In the poems discussed structures of inverse parallelism iconically reflect the ideas of reversal, cyclical movement, non-progression/deadlock, balance and/or contrast and enclosure, as well as combinations of the above, such as a spiral (both progression and non-progression) or the combination of reversal and nonprogression. Continuity between the structural methods of Greek and Roman authors is demonstrated, and a theoretical framework is provided, which answers the questions how such structures can be determined, and what purposes, both practical and poetic, they serve. A literary-critical awareness of inverse parallelism in Antiquity is demonstrated. St. Augustine, especially, has a fairly developed theoretical frame of reference on the subject, in his De Genest ad Litteram
Andrew Chakane 2019

Latin erotic poetry is an important genre recording surviving examples of male friendship. This report argues that a specific group of poems involving the poet and his powerful friend should be identified and studied separately as a sub-genre. Drawing examples largely from Horace, Catullus and Propertius, I argue that homosocial erotic poetry exploits the same repertoire of generic conventions as erotic poetry, but reshapes some of them for different functions. To articulate the erotic emphasis and the generic concern of this report, Eve Sedgwick’s notion of “homosocial desire” (1985) is introduced. The concept of homosociality is useful in revealing how male desire in our sub-genre has an erotic tinge and functions to foster the social bond of male friendship, but precludes the homoerotic possibility. Chapter One introduces the important terms and methodology chosen for this study, while Chapters Two to Four define and describe three distinctive features of the sub-genre. Chapter Two is devoted to showing that sermo amatorius, the “love speech” often featured in romantic relationships, can be assimilable to the structure of male homosocial relations. Chapters Three and Four examine how the sub-genre reshapes the recusatio and the topos of wealth to negotiate the tension of desire between the poets and their powerful friends. Ultimately, this report argues that male homosocial desire motivates the sub-generic conventions and thereby the seemingly disparate poems constitute a coherent sub-generic classification.
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This thesis examines the influence of Parthenius' doctrine of erotika pathemata on the Neoteric epyllion. His influence on Cinna has been readily acknowledged, but except for a few incidental and tentative references, little has been made of his role in determining important features of Neoteric poetry; in fact, many Leading scholars in the field fail even to mention him. A survey of the evolution of the epyllion in the Hellenistic world shows a radical transformation of the Callimachean type by Euphorion and Parthenius", in the late Alexandrian era. It is clearly the late Alexandrian epyllion that became popular with the Neoterics, as the relevant works of Catullus and, what can be conjectured about the nature of the lost Neatenc epyllia suggest. There is a marked bias towards tragic love-stories, sensational and bizarre, often metamorphic and with ample scope for emotional analysis and a subjective treatment. These features closely parallel the tenor of Parthenius', summary of 36 love-stories in the Erotika Pathemata, his only wholly extant work. While the collection was dedicated to Comelius Gallus well after most of the Neoteric epyllia were written, it is safe to assume that Parthenius preached his doctrine from the time of his arrival at Rome, as his widely acknowledged influence on Cinna's Zmyrna, perhaps the first Latin epyllion, seems to suggest. This thesis cannot pretend to defend Ross' extravagant claim that "without Parthenius' timely arrival there could have been no New Poetry"; but it can attempt to illuminate Parthenius' central role in establishing the nature of the Neoteric epyllion. This study has been undertaken, then, in the belief that Parthenius' influence on the Neoterics and on the creation of a new genre at Rome warrants closer scrutiny than has so far been attempted. Thus, it seeks to provide an alternate basis for the analysis of poems like 63 and 64, and heralds a possible shift from the emphasis on the autobiographical approach, which, though undoubtedly valid, has been belaboured in recent years to the point of excess. Abbreviated title: Erocika Pathemata and the Neoteric Epyllion.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

The medieval planctus is a Latin lament, composed in great numbers on Biblical themes as well as for the death of political figures or the destruction of cities. It appeared in both monophonic and polyphonic form, and had counterparts in a number of vernacular languages. The manuscript Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana Pluteo 29.1, known as the Florence manuscript, contains eight monophonic planctus in the memory of well-known public figures of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. This thesis will examine these compositions as a collection. The monophonic repertoire of the middle ages has been examined in a relatively limited fashion; the florid Latin repertoire, which includes these planctus, has been studied hardly at all. This thesis will provide a musical analysis based upon the text, to prove that the underlying compositional basis for these widely disparate pieces was the same. The planctus span a period of seventy years, and differ greatly in length, textual structure, and musical form. However, as this work will demonstrate, despite their differences, they follow essentially the same inner logic. The analyses contained in the thesis are based upon study of both the syntax and poetry of the text, and seek to discover the relationship of the music to these textual aspects. Various facets of the music (cadence structure, melodic outline, ambitus, and mode) are included in the study. In the process of this study, other facts about the planctus also come to light: the importance of pitches grouped into melodic phrases; mode as an expressive tool rather than a restrictive set of parameters; and the presence of various forms of descriptive composition, or word-painting, often considered not to exist in medieval music. The thesis draws conclusions regarding these aspects of the music, and how they are all used to the greater expression of the texts. The results of this analysis conclude that the eight planctus, while differing in surface characteristics, are the outcome of a single compositional approach, that of the text as a departure point for the music.

This thesis examines the violent punishments undergone by various martyrs in Prudentius’ Peristephanon. In particular, it explores how the poet’s depiction of this violence and suffering might affect readers of the collection. Four poems (poems II, III, IX and XI) are studied from the point of view of the emotions they are likely to evoke in the reader. The question of whether different types of readers might undergo different emotional experiences while reading these poems arises as a result of the proposed study. The first chapter of this thesis thus examines the nature of emotions, focussing on their sources and composition. This examination suggests that an individual’s emotional experience can be influenced both by biological factors and by social and cultural environment. With this in mind, an examination follows of various aspects of Roman society and culture which were likely to influence the ways in which its citizens, in particular, reacted to the violent scenes in the poems. We will also consider how our own specific cultural milieu may influence modern readers to sometimes react differently to Roman readers. In particular, it is proposed that most readers of the Peristephanon will react with varying shades of disgust and horror. These two emotions are thus used as a framework for discussing reader reactions to the poems. Disgust and horror are understood in a very broad sense, allowing for different varieties of these emotions, which at times even give rise to contradiction and paradox. The remaining chapters of the thesis are devoted to examinations of the four chosen poems which explore the various ways in which they might evoke horror and disgust among both Roman and modern readers. Often, there is considerable overlap between these two groups. These examinations provide a way of understanding why these poems are so striking, and have impacted so strongly on readers through the ages.
Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

Abstracts in Afrikaans and English
Aangesien die konsep van kleur vaag en abstrak is, verskil die ervaring én beskrywing daarvan van individu tot individu en van kultuur tot kultuur. Aldus word die waarneem van kleur dikwels ʼn persoonlike en subjektiewe ervaring. In die geval van historiese tale, egter, is die uitdaging om kleurbeskrywing korrek oor te dra, nie sielkundig of esteties van aard nie, maar kultureel, aangesien daar onderliggend aan hierdie tale ʼn unieke linguistiese sisteem gekoppel is. So byvoorbeeld moet die ontleding van Latynse kleurwoorde en die toewysing van relevante betekenismoontlikhede op ʼn besondere wyse aan die Afrikaanse idioom geanker word, sonder om die uniekheid van elk van hierdie tale in te boet. Dit is gevolglik die taak van die navorser om moderne wetenskaplike beskouings oor kleuraanwending met sensitiwiteit en oordeelkundig op die antieke kleursisteme toe te pas. Die bestudering van kleur en kleurgebruik in die Oudheid was vir ʼn lang tyd in omstredenheid gehul. Navorsing in hierdie verband het aanvanklik slegs op die tegniese en argeologiese aspekte van kleurproduksie en -gebruik in die Griekse en Romeinse kuns en argitektuur gefokus. Daarenteen is teoretiese kwessies oor die funksie van kleur in die non-tegniese, estetiese letterkunde selde aangespreek, veral weens die invloed van linguisties-semantiese en kleur-psiogologiese vraagstukke. In hierdie proefskrif val die kollig op Vergilius se keuse en aanwending van dié kleurterme wat beide eksplisiet en implisiet in die Georgica voorkom. Aangesien ʼn sinvolle analise van hierdie digter se kleurgebruik nie tot die Georgica beperk kan word nie, moet die ooreenstemmende terme nie net in sy Eclogae en Aeneïs nie, maar ook in die werke van sy voorgangers, die digters Lucretius en Catullus, betrek word. Uit ʼn beperkte omvang selekteer en gebruik Vergilius kleurwoorde met ʼn delikate presisie van betekenis. Hoewel die stelselmatige ontleding van hierdie terme se betekenismoontlikhede kontekstueel beperk is, toon hierdie benadering in watter mate Vergilius innoverend en verbeeldingryk voorkom. Hierdie inligting dien vervolgens as parateks vir die studie wat volg: Vergilius se gebruik van kleurterme deur die verloop van die vier boeke van die Georgica met die fokus op die letterkundige impak en literêre effekte wat deurgaans as ‘eg Vergiliaans’ beoordeel kan word. . Sou hierdie kleurterme geïgnoreer of net nie raakgelees word nie, kan die leser nie daarop aanspraak maak dat die Georgica waarlik verstaan word nie. Dit is dus die doel van hierdie navorsing om die leser toe te rus met middele tot die vind van ʼn dieper insig in en groter waardering vir hierdie werk as uitnemende poësie.
Since the concept of colour is vague and abstract, the perception of colour differs from individual to individual and from culture to culture to become a highly personal and subjective experience. In the case of historical languages, however, the description of colour is challenging. Conveying colour description correctly is not a psychological or aesthetic exercise, but cultural, as each language has a unique underlying linguistic sensitivity. Consequently, in this dissertation which is written in Afrikaans, the analysis of Latin colour words must be anchored to the Afrikaans idiom in such a unique way as not to detract from the differences in cultural feel between these two languages. Therefore, and in spite of obvious differences, it is the task of the researcher to apply modern scientific views discerningly and sensitively to any ancient colour system. The study of colour and its application in antiquity has long been controversial. Initially research on these aspects of Greek and Roman societies focused only on the technical and archaeological aspects of colour production and its application in their art and architecture. In the wide array of theories regarding linguistic-semantic issues, colour-psychology and also colour aesthetics, theoretical issues regarding the function of colour in non-technical (‘literary’) works were rarely addressed, This dissertation focuses on those colour terms which Vergil uses both explicitly and implicitly in the Georgica. A meaningful analysis of this poet's use of colour must of necessity also include the application of the corresponding terms in his Eclogae and Aeneid, as well as those in the works of his poetic predecessors, Lucretius and Catullus. Selected from a limited range, Vergil applies colour words with a delicate precision of meaning. Although the systematic analysis of these words indicates a range of meaning which can be contextually limited, this approach highlights Vergil’s innovative and imaginative use of colour. With these findings as basis the focus shifts to the consecutive use of colour terms throughout the four books to indicate extraordinary and innovative literary effects which can only be described as ‘thoroughly Vergilian’. If these colour strategies were to escape the reader’s attention, it would result in a poorer understanding of the poem. It is therefore the purpose of this research to equip readers with strategies that will lead to a greater appreciation of the Georgics as exceptional poetry.
Classics and World Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (Klassieke Studies)