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Giovanni Pontano , Ad uxorem ( De amore coniugali III 2)

2018; Loescher; Volume: 195; Issue: 651 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1484/j.gsli.5.129770

0017-0496

J. C. Butcher,

Historical and Religious Studies of Rome

The present essay sets out a detailed analysis of Giovanni Pontano’s Ad uxorem, an elegy included in the collection entitled De amore coniugali. Alongside linguistic, metrical, stylistic, allegorical and structural observations, it hones in on the representation of Pontano’s wife and children, on mythology and on symposiac and divinatory features. It furthermore examines from a comparative perspective the major influences: Horace’s Carmina, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid’s Heroides and exile poetry, as well as Statius’ Silvae. In addition, it pays attention to analogous passages elsewhere in Pontano, both within the same conjugal canzoniere and in the lyric collections Parthenopeus, De tumulis, Hendecasyllabi and Eridanus. Ad uxorem stems from the need for self-consolation, from Pontano’s desire to give vent to his nostalgia for his family during the Christmas festivities; the poetic medium proves to be an effective antidote to emotions of grief.