The Ideal of Lucretia in Augustan Latin Poetry
| atmire.migration.oldid | 977 | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Toohey, Peter | |
| dc.contributor.author | Waters, Alison | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-05-07T16:47:34Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-11-12T08:00:14Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2013-05-07 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2013 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This study concerns the figure of Lucretia as she is presented by the Roman historian Livy in the first book of Ab Urbe Condita, where she is intended as an example of virtue, particularly in terms of her attention to woolworking. To find evidence for this ideal and how it was regarded at the time, in this study a survey is made of woolworking references in the contemporary Augustan poets Vergil, Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid. Other extant versions of the Lucretia legend do not mention woolworking; Livy appears to have added Lucretia’s devotion to wool, a tradition in keeping with Augustan propaganda. Woolworking has come to be thought of as a praiseworthy concern of Roman matronae, with Lucretia often cited as an example. Evidence for the laborious nature of the task makes it seem unlikely that high status matronae would willingly work wool. The poets studied here do not in general present woolworking in a positive way. References to wool, especially those of Ovid, are more humorous than respectful. In the Heroides Ovid presents the task as a laborious reality. He also casts doubt on the possibility of distinguishing matronae by ideal costume. Ovid appears to suggest a possible “new” woman, neither matrona nor meretrix. A return to the ideal is seen in Vergil’s Aeneid. Here, after civil upheaval, Dido with her gold weaving is presented as the opposite of the desired Roman matrona who, like Lucretia, is associated with plain wool. Such wool by its nature is in keeping with the surroundings found by Aeneas at his true destination, Pallanteum. The ideal matrona with her wool and costume seems implicit in the Aeneid, though she might well remain an ideal rather than a reality in Augustan society. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Waters, A. (2013). The Ideal of Lucretia in Augustan Latin Poetry (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28172 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/28172 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11023/705 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Graduate Studies | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Calgary | en |
| dc.publisher.place | Calgary | en |
| dc.rights | University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. | |
| dc.subject | Language and Literature | |
| dc.subject | Literature--Classical | |
| dc.subject.classification | woolworking | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | ancient | en_US |
| dc.subject.classification | Rome | en_US |
| dc.title | The Ideal of Lucretia in Augustan Latin Poetry | |
| dc.type | doctoral thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Greek and Roman Studies | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Calgary | |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | |
| ucalgary.item.requestcopy | true |