Cretan Women: Pasiphae, Ariadne, and Phaedra in Latin Poetry

by Rebecca Armstrong

Overview

In this detailed study of the representations of Pasiphae, Ariadne, and Phaedra in Latin poetry, Rebecca Armstrong investigates both the literary history of the myths (the Greek roots, the interactions between Roman versions) and their cultural resonance. In addition to close readings of the major treatments of each woman's story (in Catullus, Virgil, Ovid, and Seneca), she offers extended thematic explorations of the importance of memory, wildness, and morality in the myths. By extending the net to encompass three women (all from the same ill-fated family), the book gives a clear picture of the complexity and fascinating interconnectedness of myths and texts in Ancient Rome.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199284030
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/27/2006
Series:	Oxford Classical Monographs
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Rebecca Armstrong is Fellow and Tutor in Classics, St Hilda's College, and Department of Classics, Oxford University.

Table of Contents

IntroductionI. Themes1. Ethics and Poetics: Literary and Personal Memory in Representations of Cretan Women2. The Call of the Wild3. Vice and VirtueII. Texts4. Pasiphae in the Eclogues and Ars Amatoria5. Ariadne in Catullus 646. Ariadne and Ovid7. Phaedra from Elegiac Lover to Stoic Anti-Exemplum? Heroides 4 and Seneca, PhaedraConclusion