Women Poets In Ancient Greece And Rome

257 Pages·2005·1.19 MB·English

by  Ellen Greene

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Women Poets in
Ancient Greece
and Rome
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Women Poets in
Ancient Greece
and Rome
Edited by
Ellen Greene
UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS : NORMAN
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Also by Ellen Greene
Reading Sappho: Contemporary Approaches(Berkeley, 1996)
(ed.) Re-reading Sappho: Reception and Transmission(Berkeley, 1996)
The Erotics of Domination: Male Desire and the Mistress in Latin Love Poetry
(Baltimore, 1998)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Women poets in ancient Greece and Rome / edited by Ellen Greene.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0–8061–3663–4 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0–8061–3664–2 (pbk. : alk.
paper)
1. Greek poetry—Women authors—History and criticism. 2. Latin
poetry—Women authors—History and criticism. 3. Women—Greece—
Intellectual life. 4. Women—Rome—Intellectual life. 5. Women and
literature—Greece. 6. Women and literature—Rome. 7. Women in
literature. I. Greene, Ellen, 1950–
PA3067.W66 2005
880'.09—dc22
2004062023
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of
the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council
on Library Resources. ∞
Copyright © 2005 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing
Division of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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For my sister
DEBRA
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
Ellen Greene xi
1. Sappho’s Public World
Holt Parker 3
2. Corinna’s Poetic Metisand the Epinikian Tradition
David H. J. Larmour 25
3. The Power of Memory in Erinna and Sappho
Diane J. Rayor 59
4. Dico ergo sum: Erinna’s Voice and Poetic Reality
Elizabeth Manwell 72
5. Homer’s Mother
Marilyn B. Skinner 91
6. Nossis Thêlyglôssos: The Private Text and the Public Book
Marilyn B. Skinner 112
7. Playing with Tradition: Gender and Innovation in the
Epigrams of Anyte
Ellen Greene 139
8. Sulpicia and the Art of Literary Allusion: [Tibullus] 3.13
Carol U. Merriam 158
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viii CONTENTS
9. Sulpicia and the Rhetoric of Disclosure
Barbara L. Flaschenriem 169
Appendix: Greek and Roman Women Writers 192
List of Abbreviations 197
Bibliography 199
Notes on Contributors 219
Index 223
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Acknowledgments
This book was a long time coming. I first had the idea for it in
1996 while I was working on my two Sappho volumes. It was then
that I became committed to making a contribution to the small but
growing body of scholarship on Greek and women poets. I am
extremely grateful to John Drayton, Director of the University of
Oklahoma Press, for his unwavering enthusiasm and support. Jennifer
Cunningham and Julie Shilling, Associate Editors at the Press, have
been very helpful as well. I also want to thank Paul Allen Miller and
David Larmour for their belief in this project in its early stages. Pro-
fessor Miller’s insights and unfailingly perceptive readings helped to
make this a better book. I owe a deep dept to Marilyn Skinner, whose
pioneering work on women poets in Ancient Greece has inspired
much of my own interest in the poets represented in this volume.
I could not have completed the work for this project without
the help of the University of Oklahoma. The Department of Classics
and Letters, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Office of
Research Administration provided invaluable moral and financial
support. In particular, I am grateful to my department chair, John
S. Catlin, for always supporting my professional endeavors.
On a more personal note, I am deeply appreciative of the con-
stancy, affection, and lively companionship of my partner, Jim. This
book is dedicated to Debra—my sister, best friend, and the mother
of my beloved nephew, Justin.