DOI

10.1353/clw.2014.0040

Abstract

This paper argues that Tibullus’ practice of altering the gender of his intertextual references destabilizes gender as a biological, social, and even grammatical category in his elegies. In 1.8, Tibullus draws on images of women’s adornment from Callimachus, Philitas, and Propertius to create the opening image of the puer Marathus. In 2.6, Tibullus draws from Catullus’ lament for his brother in carmen 101 as he describes Nemesis’ dead young sister and demonstrates his technical skill in manipulating the flexibility of grammatical gender in Latin.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2014 The John Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in Classical World 107:4 (2014), 493-514.

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