The Lover and the Lena
Propertius 4.5
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9401596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kathryn Gutzwiller (University of Cincinnati, corresponding author), Kathryn J Gutzwiller |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 105-115 |
| Publication date | 1985-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ramus (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0048-671X • E-ISSN: 2202-932X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0048671x00003507 |
| OpenAlex | W2801245601 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 7 |
In Propertius 4.5 the lena (‘procuress’) Acanthis gives advice to nostra arnica (‘my girlfriend’, 63), almost certainly Cynthia, to cultivate rich lovers and avoid the poet who offers only verses. For Georg Luck the purpose of Propertius' ‘caricature’ of Acanthis is a moralizing condemnation of Rome's decadent demi-monde . According to Judith Hallett, ‘Propertius and his ideals are vindicated’ when at the close of 4.5 ‘Acanthis dies penniless and unmourned.’ Gordon Williams remarks on the poem's ‘vividness and drama’, the active effort it demands of the reader, through ‘the gradual revelation of the lena's death and the realization that the poet is actually standing on her grave’. Margaret Hubbard rightly challenges the overly dramatic readings made by many scholars and insists that the point of the poem is not ‘a genre picture of a bawd’ but an expression of ‘the lover's reactions’, his fear of Acanthis' powers conveyed by the lines leading up to her speech (1-20) and his relishing of her death at the poem's close (63-78)
Art · Character (mathematics · Drama · Literature · Luck · Poetry · Revelation · Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,17 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2020 (25) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |