Tibullus book 2
Tibullus book 2 is a collection of six Latin poems written in elegiac couplets by the poet Albius Tibullus. They are thought to have been written in the years shortly before Tibullus's death in c. 19 BC.
The six poems have various themes: Tibullus's ideal depiction of life in the countryside; a birthday poem in honour of a young friend; and his inability to shake off his love for an expensive courtesan called Nemesis. The longest poem is a celebration of the appointment of Messalinus, son of Tibullus's patron Messalla, to an important religious post. It contains a prophecy of the future greatness of Rome, with many echoes of Virgil's Aeneid.
Although the shortness of the book compared with Tibullus book 1 has led some scholars to suppose that it was left unfinished on Tibullus's death, yet the careful arrangement and length of the poems appear to indicate that it is complete in its present form.
All the poems of the book are built according to a chiastic pattern, as Paul Murgatroyd demonstrates in his commentary. Some of the poems also have smaller inner rings contained within the overall pattern.
Structure
The book has a symmetrical or chiastic structure, as follows:The poems are of differing lengths: 90, 22, 84, 60, 122, and 54 lines respectively. If the length of each poem is added to its opposite, the following pattern emerges:
For this reason, although some scholars have conjectured that the book was left unfinished, or that part of poem 6 was lost, it is argued by Helena Dettmer that the book is complete as it is.
Characters
Nemesis and Phryne
By the time Tibullus wrote these poems, Delia had disappeared, and another woman called Nemesis had taken her place. Tibullus says he has been in love with her for a year. She is named after Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution.Like Delia, Nemesis appears to have been a high-class courtesan. Before she will sleep with anyone, she requires gifts. These include, for example, clothes made of Coan silk interwoven with gold threads; a retinue of black slaves; fabrics dyed with north African and Tyrian purple. Green emeralds and pearls are also welcome. Nemesis has a lena called Phryne who arranges encounters with other wealthier lovers and keeps Tibullus waiting outside. So rapacious is Nemesis that at one point Tibullus even contemplates selling his ancestral estate to pay for her.
Nemesis had a sister, of whom Tibullus had been very fond, but it seems that the sister had died after falling out of a high window.
Cornutus
Poems 2 and 3 are both addressed to a certain Cornutus, who in poem 2 is celebrating his birthday and not yet married. The identity of Cornutus is not certain, but may well be the M. Caecilius Cornutus who, according to an inscription of 21 BC, was a member with Messalla of the Arval college, or possibly his son, mentioned in another inscription as an Arval in AD 14.Several scholars have suggested that he is the same as the person mentioned under the pseudonym "Cerinthus" in the poems of Sulpicia and in the Garland of Sulpicia preserved in book 3 of the Tibullan collection: the phonetic similarity of the names, the false etymology linking "Cerinthus" to Greek κέρας 'horn', the equivalent of Latin cornu, as well as the similarity of the situation described in 3.11 and 3.12, in which it appears that "Cerinthus" is about to marry Sulpicia, make this plausible but not certain.
A complication is the similarity of his situation to that of "Cerinthus" addressed in Horace's Satire 1.2.81, to whom Horace gives the advice that it is better to have sex with a freedwoman than a rich aristocratic woman. It is not known if this is the same person. For Maltby, however, who argues that the Sulpicia poems and the Garland were not written in the time of Tibullus but much later, the persona of "Cerinthus" is a literary construct invented on the basis of Tibullus 2.2 and Horace.
Macer
Poem 6 begins by mentioning a certain Macer who is going 'to the camp'. It is generally thought that probably this is the same Macer that Ovid writes to in Amores 2.18, who is a poet engaged in writing an epic about the Trojan war, and who is mentioned again in Ovid's Ex Ponto 2.10.13 as writing a poem in Homeric style. However, the Macer mentioned here is not thought to be the same poet as Aemilius Macer of Verona or the same as Pompeius Macer, another poet who is said to have written tragedies and epigrams in Greek.According to a suggestion made by Leah Kronenberg, Macer might be a pen-name for the poet Valgius Rufus, a friend of Messalla and a member of his circle. In the Panegyricus Messallae 180, it is said that 'no one is nearer to Homer than Valgius' in language similar to that used by Ovid of Macer. Whether the phrase castra sequitur 'he is following the camp' means that Macer was really departing on a military campaign or whether it refers metaphorically to a change to writing epic poetry is unknown.
Poem 1 –
Summary of poem 1
- 1 Tibullus calls on those present to bless the crops and fields in the traditional manner. He invokes Bacchus and Ceres and declares that no one must work on this day. No one who has had sexual relations the night before should approach the altars.
- 15 A sacred lamb is going to the altars, followed by worshippers wearing wreaths of olive leaves. He prays to the ancestral gods to bless the farm and the farmers, and keep the crops and livestock safe. Then the farmer will heap logs on the fire and a crowd of home-born slaves will play in front of it.
- 25 Tibullus declares that the omens of the sacrifice are good. He calls for fine wine: it is no shame to get drunk on such a day. Every one should drink to Messalla and celebrate his triumph over the Aquitanians. He calls on Messalla to be present.
- 37 He sings of the gods of the countryside, who taught people how to build houses, plough, construct wagons, plant fruit, water their gardens, make wine, harvest corn, and collect honey.
- 51 It was in the country that farmers first sang rustic songs and held dances for Bacchus, and boys first decorated the Lares with flowers. It was in the country also that women learnt how to spin and weave wool.
- 67 Cupid himself is said to have been born among the herds; now he has grown more skilled and aims his bow at humans! Young men lose their wealth, old men make fools of themselves, girls walk at night to visit their lovers. Happy is he for whom Love is gentle! Tibullus calls on people to pray to the god for their flocks, and for themselves.
- 87 Now Night is coming, and after her the stars. Sleep, silent on dark wings, and dreams follow.
A rural festival
The Messalla mentioned in this poem is Tibullus's patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, who at this period was the "most important literary patron after Maecenas". Among other people in his circle were the young Ovid. Messalla himself wrote memoires, philosophical and grammatical works, and, it seems, bucolic poetry in Greek.
Spyridon Tzounakas argues that this poem is more than a simple description of country life but sets forth Tibullus's poetic ideals as well. There are multiple allusions to Hellenistic epigram, Vergil's Eclogues, Lucretius' De Rerum Natura and Vergil's Georgics and even reference to stock themes of comedy in lines 2.1.73-74, as if Tibullus is seeking to place his poetry in the poetic tradition. There are also references to Horace's Satires; for example, in Satires 1.10.23–24, Horace compares the earlier satirist Lucilius's habit of using Greek words to mixing Falernian and Chian wine ; in this poem Tibullus calls for both Falernian and Chian wine, as if to say that his poetry will take inspiration from both Latin and Greek sources. In lines 2.1.67–71, Tibullus defends his preference to make the countryside a major part of his book of love-poetry by arguing that Cupid first began his activities in a rural setting.
In terms of subject matter and verbal echoes, this poem also has a lot in common with the first poem of book 1, which is also about a rural festival. Helena Dettmer writes:
Structure
The poem as a whole is chiastically patterned, as Murgatroyd shows. For example, in the first section the words Bacche veni, procul, deo, post, nocte, Venus, turba and others are echoed by the same or similar words in the last section, and there are similar verbal echoes linking lines 17–36 with lines 67–80.The song celebrating the countryside in lines 37–66 itself has a chiastic structure, in that the words cano, pellere, compositis, primum, rura, rure, verno, flores, agricola, primum, satiatus, cantavit in the first half are echoed by the same or similar words in reverse order in the second half, making a pleasing balance.
The phrase certo... pede 'with sure foot' which ends the first half of the poem is echoed by incerto... pede 'with unsure foot' which ends the second half.
Poem 2 –
Summary of poem 2
- 1 The poet, acting as priest or vates as in 2.1, calls on the people to be silent and join in a sacrifice to celebrate a birthday; the "Genius" is invited to be present to receive the offerings of perfumed oil, honeyed cake, and wine.
- 9 He tells Cornutus that the god is nodding favourably, and that he should now make a wish. Tibullus predicts that Cornutus has prayed for a faithful love, and that he will prefer this to any amount of land or jewels.
- 17 Tibullus prays that the god of Love will bind Cornutus in the golden chains of marriage, and that these will last till he and his wife are old; and may a crowd of small children play around their feet.