The Lover's Farewell: a Study of the Propemptikon in Greek and Latin Literature.

This discussion is a study of the propermptikon, or farewell poem, from archaic Greek lyric to the time of Statius. Its purpose is to ascertain the origin, development and nature of the propemptikon as a poetic genre, with special attention to the role of the propemptikon in Roman poetry. One general conclusion emerges: although the propemptikon was a form of occasional verse it was seldom composed for recitation at actual departures and its content cannot consistently be interpreted in terms of real life; instead, the propemptikon was essentially used as a vehicle for love poetry. The first half of the dissertation examines the propemptikon in Greek literature. Essential features of the form--the speaker's wish to be remembered and the Traveller's Prayer--appear to have originated in the conventions of Homeric zenia, which can be seen operating in the farewells given to Odysseus by Calypso, Nausikaa and the Cyclops. Distinctive use of these conventions distinguishes two types of farewells in Greek Lyric: the Sympotic Propemptikon, apparently the only type composed for an actual departure, and the Marriage Propemptikon, which was a love poem spoken by a woman who laments the loss of a female companion. In Roman poetry the propemptikon can be divided into four general types, the Itinerary Propemptikon, the Great Man Propemptikon, the Lover's Farewell, and the Curse Propemptikon. The first of these was essentially Hellenistic and consisted of an erudite catalogue of places the parting traveller will visit. The Great Man Propemptikon is an entirely Roman development. Traditional topoi reappear (e.g. the wish to be remembered), but the real focus of the form is on the contrast between poetry and civil war, and the related question of the poet's role in society. The Lover's Farewell seems to be the creation of Propertius who uses the propemptikon to dramatize a crisis in his affair with Cynthia and the influence of his treatment can be seen in later poems. Horace's curse in Epode 10 is a unique example of an inverse farewell. A similar inversion is presented by the Cyclops' curse of Odysseus, but Horace's description of Mevius' wreck incorporates material from other curses which themselves were not propemptic, and seems to treat the voyage metaphorically. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)Ph.D.Classical literatureUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161581/1/8720330.pd