Issues of Unity in Ovid’s <i>Tristia</i>

Name: Issues of Unity in Ovid’s Tristia
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Author: Helena Dettmer
ISBN: 978-1-4331-7742-2

Dettmer, Helena

Title: Issues of Unity in Ovid’s <i>Tristia</i>

Issues of Unity in Ovid’s Tristia

by Helena Dettmer (Author)

History & Political Science

Summary

In his 1995 Teubner edition, J. B. Hall separates Tristia 1.5, 1.9, 3.4, 4.4, 5.2, and 5.7 into two poems. One reviewer of Hall’s edition is highly critical of the editor for not justifying the separation of these poems despite the fact the divisions have manuscript support. Because of the sorry state of the textual transmission of Ovid's Tristia, it is sometimes difficult to determine the beginning and end of an individual poem if that poem resumes thematically and verbally where the previous poem concludes. The aim of this study is to show that definitive evidence can be offered to justify division of these six elegies into two poems. Structure combined with theme serves as an analytical tool that defines the beginning and end of the twelve literary pieces under consideration and highlights their artistry. Resolution of the issue of unity enhances our interpretation of the independent poems and our understanding of the complex interplay among poems within each poetry-book. The careful and often brilliant craftsmanship of the poems and of the books in which they appear reaffirms that Ovid’s repeated deprecation of the quality of his literary work composed during his period of exile in the Black Sea region is simply a pose to attract sympathy and support from his Roman audience.

Excerpt

Cover
Title
Copyright
About the author
About the book
This eBook can be cited
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Preface
chapter one Introduction
Background
Manuscripts of the Tristia
Ring-Composition Structure
Consecutive-Ring Structure of Tristia 5.10
Ring-Composition Structure of Tristia 5.10
Ring Structures of Latin Poetry-Books
Linear Structure of Poems within Poetry-Books and Run-On Poems
chapter two Tristia 1.5 and 1.9
Tristia 1.5a (1–44)
Tristia 1.9a (1–36)
Tristia 1.5a and 1.9a as Thematic Counterparts
Tristia 1.8
Tristia 1.5b (45–84)
Tristia 1.9b (37–66)
Tristia 1.5b and 1.9b as Thematic Counterparts
Ring-Composition Structure of Tristia Book 1
chapter three Tristia 3.4
Tristia 3.4a (1–46)
Tristia 3.4b (47–78)
Tristia 3.4a and 3.4b as Consecutive Paired Poems
Ring-Composition Structure of Tristia Book 3
Verbal and Thematic Parallels Common to Books 1 and 3
chapter four Tristia 4.4
Tristia 4.4a (1–54)
Tristia 4.4b (55–88)
Identity of the Addressee of Tristia 4.5
Tristia 4.4a and 4.5 as Thematic Counterparts
Metaphorical Interpretation of Tristia 4.4b
Ring-Composition Structure of Tristia Book 4
chapter five Tristia 5.2 and 5.7
Tristia 5.7a (1–24)
Tristia 5.7b (25–68)
Tristia 5.7b.25–42
Tristia 5.7b.43–64
Tristia 5.7b.25–42, 64–68
Tristia 5.7a and 5.7b as Consecutive Paired Poems
Tristia 5.10
Tristia 5.7a, 5.7b, and 5.10 as Thematic Counterparts
Tristia 5.2a (1–44)
Tristia 5.2b (45–78)
Tristia 5.2b and 5.11 as Thematic Counterparts
Interlocking-Ring Structure of Tristia Book 5
chapter six Conclusion
Structural Analysis
Ovid’s Attitude toward Augustus
Multiples of Five in Latin Poetry-Books
Ovid’s Ordering Principles of the Epistulae ex Ponto 1–3
Appendix A: Catullus 8
Appendix B: Text and Translation
Index

←142 | 143→

CHAPTER SIX

Conclusion

Prior to his relegation, Ovid was a celebrity; he was, after all, the greatest living Latin poet of his day. The comparison of his fall to that of Icarus seems apt (Tr. 1.1.90; 3.4a.22); Ovid’s shocking statement in Tr. 5.10 that in Tomis he is the barbarian (37) illustrates the depths of his degradation. As an exile, he has become a persona non grata. Despite repeated requests for assistance, it seems clear that none of his influential friends will intercede on his behalf and that his wife appears too timid to be a strong advocate. Ovid is doomed to spend the remainder of his life separated from family, friends, and his beloved Rome. Despite his emotional trauma and his resentment toward Augustus for his lack of clemency, Ovid manages to maintain a high level of artistry in his Tristia. The poetry is original: Ovid adapts themes from his pre-exilic love poetry and repurposes them to his exilic circumstances. The poetry is imaginative: Ovid skillfully varies recurring themes throughout this series of independent books. The poetry is carefully crafted: Ovid integrates his poems through circular structures that often are complex and intricate.←143 | 144→

Structural Analysis

Structural analysis supports Hall’s separation of Tr. 1.5, 1.9, 3.4, 4.4, 5.2, and 5.7 into two poems. Ring patterns define the beginning and end of these twelve literary pieces. In addition, Ovid appears to be experimenting with the intersection of theme and form in Tr. 3.4b and 5.7b. The consecutive-ring structure of Tr. 3.4b elegantly reflects the poem’s subject of Ovid’s separation from wife, country, and friends. Ovid occupies lines 47–52, his wife and Italy lines 53–62, and his friends lines 63–78. The interlocking-ring structure that integrates the poem, however, ties Ovid to his dear ones and beloved homeland by the slimmest of threads; the repetition of a single noun (either locus or nomen) connects Ovid to the chief principals in the second and third parts of the poem.¹ The organization of Tr. 5.7b, on his life with the barbarians, is made up of two distinct ring structures (lines 25–42 and 43–63/64), with the final lines of the poem rounding off the piece. Instead of creating a comprehensive ring-composition arrangement to unify the entire poem, Ovid joins the closing lines to lines 25–42 to give prominence to the section on his linguistic isolation. Ovid’s point is to suggest that his learning Sarmatian in order to be understood by the natives and his forgetting his Latin threaten his Roman identity.²

Details

Pages: XVI, 190
Publication Year: 2021
ISBN (PDF): 9781433176982
ISBN (ePUB): 9781433176999
ISBN (MOBI): 9781433177002
ISBN (Hardcover): 9781433177422
DOI: 10.3726/b17956
Language: English
Publication date: 2021 (June)
Published: New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2021. XVI, 190 pp., 37 b/w ill.
Product Safety: Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Helena Dettmer (Author)

Helena Dettmer received her PhD from the University of Michigan. She serves as Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa. Her previous publications include: Horace: A Study in Structure and Love by the Numbers: Form and Meaning in the Poetry of Catullus.