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Virginity as metaphor : reconciling tradition and imperium in Achilles Tatius

University of British Columbia

This thesis investigates Achilles Tatius’s treatment of virginity as a metaphor for Greek tradition in his Leucippe and Clitophon. As one of the five surviving Greek novels from the Second Sophistic period, the text follows the adventures of two lovers who are separated and must weather various hardships across Egypt and Anatolia in order finally to reunite and marry. While previous scholarship on the novel has focused on genre, prose, and narrative elements, the present work approaches the text by centering its analysis on vulnerable populations associated with Artemis and her cult at Ephesus. Such a reading pushes our understanding of the Second Sophistic past usual studies of the philological responses of elite, educated men to upheaval. It instead focuses our attention on marginalized groups who have traditionally been excluded from the historical record and frames processes of cultural interaction and change as a negotiation of agency. In order to do so, this study first explores Achilles Tatius’s construction of Artemis as a goddess defined primarily by her connection to and protection of virgins, as traditionally depicted throughout Greek mythology. By also portraying the goddess in the context of her worship at Ephesus, he simultaneously constructs her as a Panhellenic goddess and the deity of a large and influential cult within the Roman Empire. The next chapter then analyzes Achilles Tatius’s treatment of virginity as a peculiarly feminine concern which both problematizes the institution of marriage and invites readers to consider alternate interpretations of the novel’s ending. Finally, this thesis discusses the Greek practice of asylum, specifically in the context of refuge at the Ephesian Artemisium, and the ways in which the author’s emphasis on virgin asylum seekers both responds to Roman anxieties and depicts the custom in a positive light. Taken together, these three chapters demonstrate how Achilles Tatius’s use of virginity as a metaphor for Greek heritage allows him to frame the reconciliation of Greek tradition with Roman imperium as a negotiation of agency between marginalized groups and power.

Text

2020-05-04

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/74288

Ancient Culture, Religion and Ethnicity

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/