Abstract
Most intertextuality in classical poetry is unmarked, that is, it lacks objective signposts to make readers aware of the presence of references to existing texts. Intergeneric relationships can pose a particular problem as scholarship has long privileged intertextual relationships between works of the same genre. This paper treats the influence of Latin love elegy on Lucan’s epic poem, Bellum Civile, by looking at two features of unmarked intertextuality: frequency and distribution. I use the Tesserae project to generate a dataset of potential intertexts between Lucan’s epic and the elegies of Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid, which are then aggregrated and mapped in Lucan’s text. This study draws two conclusions: 1. measurement of intertextual frequency shows that the elegists contribute fewer intertexts than, for example, another epic poem (Virgil’s Aeneid), though far more than the scholarly record on elegiac influence in Lucan would suggest; and 2. mapping the distribution of intertexts confirms previous scholarship on the influence of elegy on the Bellum Civile by showing concentrations of matches, for example, in Pompey and Cornelia’s meeting before Pharsalus (5.722-815) or during the affair between Caesar and Cleopatra (10.53-106). By looking at both frequency and proportion, we can demonstrate systematically the generic enrichment of Lucan’s Bellum Civile with respect to Latin love elegy.
Highlights
Systematic collections of elegiac references, no less analysis of these references, in epic poetry remain a desideratum in Latin literary criticism
Lists of potential intertexts can be compiled much more using Tesserae’s web based tool ([http1]), which allows for the quick gathering of evidence for potential intertextuality between two texts, shifting scholarly labor from detection to analysis
3.2 Tesserae Search Results Tesserae describes itself as a framework for “detecting allusions” in Latin poetry
Summary
Systematic collections of elegiac references, no less analysis of these references, in epic poetry remain a desideratum in Latin literary criticism. Even within the epic genre, there are two works of traditional philological research which stand out for treating influence in a systematic and comprehensive manner, namely [Knauer, 1964] (with its subtitle “mit Listen der Homerzitate in der Aeneis”) and [Nelis, 2001]. [Coffee et al, 2012] remarks that traditional scholarly methods have avoided these kinds of comprehensive treatments of intertextuality because of the massive scholarly labor involved. Lists of potential intertexts can be compiled much more using Tesserae’s web based tool ([http1]), which allows for the quick gathering of evidence for potential intertextuality between two texts, shifting scholarly labor from detection to analysis
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