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Definingthe(Latin)epyllion:somerecapitulations
21
sincetheyhavethepointincommonthattheyareeachamixtureofdiferenttypesof
poetryindiferentproportions.”38Whatisessentialistoindicatethatwiththewhole
varietyofmeansthatanepyllionpoetmayuseanddoesusecertaingenresandstrate-
giesareexploitedmorefrequentlyand,sotospeak,morezsystematically,
.Itshouldbe
emphasizedthattheseareinparticularelementsdeterminingthezsentimental,orpathos-
arousingcharacterofawork.Tereforethepresenceofthelyriczinclusions,39and,onthe
otherhand,theuseofthetragicformsandmotifs.Here,theinfluenceofelegyhasbeen
ofenpointedoutasthefactorbehindthezlyricization,oftheepos,typicaloftheepyllion.
Infact,presumablyformostoftheancients,evenfortheancientzliterarytheorists,
,the
elegyandtheepyllionseemedquiteclose:worthmentioningistheopinionofParthenius
ofNicaeawho,dedicatinghisEroticaPathematatoGallus,assertedthatsimilarstories,
treatingusuallyofunhappyorunnaturalloves,wereaptbothforepicandelegiacverse.40
Asregardsthetragicelements,itcanbearguedthattheirexploitationwithinthe
miniatureepic,especiallytheLatinone,ispreciselyzsystematic,inthesensethatthey
ofenshapetheoverallcompositionofapoem.41Teobservationwasmadeasearlyasin
1944byLawrenceRichardsonwhoevenproposedtointerpretthestructureoftheepyllia
inthelightoftheAristotelianPoetics,notsuggestingthoughadirectinfluencebutrather
theknowledgeof“theoriginalstandardsastheywereadaptedandrevisedbyAristotle,s
successors.”42Richardson,sanalysesareprobablytooaccurate,oreventoosophisticated
atcertainpoints,nonethelesssomeofhisremarksareworthquoting.
Firstofall,relevantiswhathewritesabouttheabove-mentioneddivisionoftheac-
tionintoscenes.Richardsonjustlystressesitstragicorigin,butheisalsoveryrightnot-
ingthatanepyllionauthorusuallymakesaselectionofonlyafewscenesandfocuseshis
38Allen1940:16.
39Temosttypicalexamplesofzlyricinclusions,withintheepyllionarethelengthyspeeches
oftheprotagonists,especiallythefemaleones(likethesongofCarmeintheCiris).AsPerutelli
(1979:55-64)shows,inCatullus,scarm.64,thelyriccoloringcanevenbefoundinthenarratorial
voiceofthepoem.
40ItwasalreadyHeinzewhoarguedforthezsentimentalization,andzlyricization,oftheepyl-
lionresultingfromtheinfluenceofthesubjectiveelegy.Teproblemoftherelationshipsbetween
thetwogenreswasamplydiscussedbyPinotti1978.Shefocusesontherelationshipbetweenthe
elegyandtheepyllioninviewoftheancientauthorsandquotes(p.16)thisparticularlyinteresting
passageofParthenius,sdedicationtoGallus.Whatshenotesisthatbothelegistsandepyllionists
willinglydefinetheirworksaslusus,alightplay.Sheconcludes,however,(p.18-19):“Indefinitiva,
nellaconsiderazionedegliantichi,igeneridell,epillioedell,elegiasembranovicini:Questete-
stimonianze,tuttavia,nonrisolvonoilproblemadeirapportifraiduegeneriinambientealessan-
drino,dovemancanoidatipersostenere,comefacevaHeinze,laprioritàdell,elegiasoggettivaela
suaazionesulformarsidiuneposliricizzato;sipotràalmassimoipotizzareun,influenzareciproca
fradueformeletterarieancorainelaborazione,l,elegianarrativo-etiologicaincuilapresenzadel
poetasifasentiresempredipiùaccantoalmito,el,epilliocheliricizzal,epos.”
41Richardson(1944:22)givestheexampleofCatullus,scarm.64treatingofthestoryofAri-
adne.Asheargues,thestorybehindthispoem“isbynaturemoreepicthandramatic,andwith
shifingsceneandepisodicactionmoreanarrativethanatragedy;Catullushaschangedthe
aspectofthestoryandorganizedanepicintoatragedy.”
42Richardson1944:76.