Abstract
Ausonius, a Roman poet of the fourth century AD, who lived in Gaul, was a controversial figure in Late Roman literature. He was compared to Cicero and Virgil by his contemporaries, but harshly criticized by the scholars of the nineteenth century. His life was also extraordinary: a humble grammar teacher, he became the tutor of a Roman emperor, later attained the rank of consul, and finally revealed himself as a poet.
One of Ausonius’ most famous works is Cupid Crucified, which is the main subject of this article. The poem, written in flawless hexameter, tells an allegorical story whose heroines are the ghosts of mythical women who crucify Cupid in the underworld and torture him with the very same weapons that brought about their death in their unrequited love.
At first glance, it seems that the poem is hardly different from those of Ovid or Virgil, but once you analyze it thoroughly it becomes clear that it was created in the twilight of the Roman Empire, with a deity on a cross and symbols of death (argumenta leti), not unlike those in the iconography of Christian martyr saints. However, the scene which at the start of the poem might seem to be almost a medieval forest pervaded with the mystical Celtic spirit turns out to be the classical underworld of the Aeneid. In his poems, Ausonius skilfully used and alluded to classical works, and he can rightfully be considered not only a poet, but also a gifted scholar.
A translation of the poem in Lithuanian accentual hexameters is appended to the article.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
-
Arnaldo di di Benedetto,
Un’introduzione al petrarchismo cinquecentesco
,
Literatūra: Vol. 48 No. 4 (2006): World Literatures
-
Dirk Weidmann,
“And I Tiresias have foresuffered all…” – More than allusions to Ovid in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land?
,
Literatūra: Vol. 51 No. 3 (2009): the Classics
-
Vigmantas Butkus,
Die Komödie “Der Gestiefelte Kater” von Ludwig Tieck: die Gestalten der romantischen Ironie
,
Literatūra: Vol. 49 No. 4 (2007): World Literatures
-
Inga Bartkuvienė,
Disbelief about the time. Timelessness in the late works of Paul Celan
,
Literatūra: Vol. 61 No. 4 (2019): Literature
-
Jovita Dikmonienė,
Anagnorisis in Aristotle’s Poetics: problems of definition and classification
,
Literatūra: Vol. 61 No. 3 (2019): Studies of Ancient Culture and Its Reception
-
Brigita Speičytė,
‘TILL SAMOGITIANS ARE ALIVE...’: THE TESTIMONY OF THE 1830–1831 REBELLION IN SAMOGITIA
,
Literatūra: Vol. 55 No. 1 (2013): Lithuanian Literature
-
Rita Tūtlytė,
The Poetry of Janina Degutytė. A Dialogue with Tradition: The Aspect of Imagery
,
Literatūra: Vol. 60 No. 1 (2018): Literatūre
-
Liucija Černiuvienė,
Rūta Jakutytė,
Michel Houellebecq in Lithuanian: The Paradoxes of Translation
,
Literatūra: Vol. 61 No. 4 (2019): Literature
-
Mantas Tamošaitis,
Augustine’s critique of representation in arts: Confessions
,
Literatūra: Vol. 61 No. 3 (2019): Studies of Ancient Culture and Its Reception
-
Audronė Kučinskienė,
Cicero’s attitude to Greeks and their culture
,
Literatūra: Vol. 48 No. 3 (2006): the Classics