M. Catherine BOLTON Propemptic Elements in the Heroides

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an aspect of the Heroides which has been overlooked by most recent commentators. The Heroides were composed in the form of fictional letters and have been found to contain elements of epic, elegy, bucolic and tragedy. I do not suggest that Ovid was writing what we might term a propemptikon with the Heroides, but I propose that we add one more aspect to the list of elements: propemptic poetry. Even a quick reading of the Heroides will show that these are not propemptic poems. Yet it is possible to discern how Ovid manipulated certain elements of a good-bye poem into his epistles, particularly the recollection of past shared events. This is all to say that elements of the Heroides are strongly reminiscent of early examples of propemptic poetry, and what might appear to be unnecessary and excessive details, and other scholars have seen them as such, may instead be reminiscent of another tradition. The identification of such elements emphasizes the complexity of Ovid's Heroides and suggests further poetic influences.

One of the many complaints levelled against the Heroides bymodern commentators is the lengthy review of past events, events which would be well known to the addressee of the letter (Vessey, CQ (1969) 352). For example, Deianira in Heroides 9 spends most of her letter to Hercules reviewing his Labours, which we could safely assume were well known to Hercules himself. There are as many reasons for these quasi-historical accounts as there are letters, among them the women's establishment of identity, of self-value, and the allocation of blame and responsibility.

The language of blame in these letters is often sharp (perfide, scelerate, improbe) and although this type of language is reminiscent of elegiac poetry, it also forms part of the vocabulary of a schetliastic propempticon. These and other elements provide for a complex interpretation. On one level, we are confronted with the familiar complaints of the elegiac lover with respect to broken vows and promises, but this is overcast with the lover's attempt to dissuade the traveller from departing, using anger and censure as tools of persuasion. This mimics the techniques of the propemptikon and indicates Ovid's productive use of its rudiments.

Having written his own rendering of a good-bye poem in Amores 2.11 and 2.16, Ovid transfers some of these ideas into the Heroides. Once we have recognized this fact, it makes some sections of the letters, which have been described as redundant, excessive, and inappropriate, suddenly become appropriate, purposeful and feasible.