MA, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

By examining feminine speech within the corpus of love elegies composed throughout the Augustan period, especially those written by Tibullus, Sulpicia, Propertius, and Ovid, one can determine various stylistic uses of female characters within the entire corpus. In addition to this, while his writings were penned a generation before the others, the works of Catullus will be examined as well, due to the influence his works had on the Augustan Elegists. This examination will begin identifying and detailing every instance of speech within the elegies from a female source, and exploring when, how, and why they are used. The majority of the elegies in which these instances occur are briefer, more veristic in nature, although longer, more polished examples exist as well; both types are examined. Except for Sulpicia, these poets are male and present the majority of their elegies from a masculine point of view; this influence is also examined.

Committee: Jennifer Larson Dr. (Advisor); Brian Harvey Dr. (Committee Member); Sarah Harvey Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies; Gender Studies; Language

MA, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies

In this paper I explore Vergil's depiction of his female figures in the light of the optimistic and pessimistic debate. I argue that Vergil depicts his female characters as controlled by furor, as juxtaposed to Aeneas' virtus, in order to use his female characters as a narrative and symbolic foil who work to prevent the success of Aeneas' mission. Specifically, I argue that Vergil uses elegiac and tragic conventions and adapts the depiction of females from his literary predecessors Homer, Apollonius, Callimachus, and Catullus (amongst others) to create a female figure that is representative of furor and the East, so that Aeneas' rejection of these figures symbolically represents the triumphs of Augustus and Rome. I further argue that any sympathy and ambiguities Vergil ascribes to these female characters, while they allow the reader to connect to these characters and the literary work on more than one level, still serve the political purpose of creating a more realistic connection between Aeneas and Augustus, who was facing the task of needing to reinvent himself to a Roman people he had recently disenfranchised from their land and whom he had fought in a violent civil war.

Committee: Jennifer Larson (Advisor); Sarah Harvey (Committee Member); Brian Harvey (Committee Member) Subjects: Classical Studies