Reproducing Rome: Motherhood in Virgil, Ovid, Seneca, and Statius (Oxford Studies in Classical Literature and Gender Theory)

462 Pages·2015·3.381 MB·English

by  Mairead McAuley

OXFORD STUDIES IN CLASSICAL
LITERATURE AND GENDER THEORY
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Reproducing Rome
Motherhood in Virgil, Ovid, Seneca, and Statius
MAIRÉAD McAULEY
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For Lawrence

Acknowledgements
Thisbookhasbeenalongtimeingestation.IthasspannedaCambridgePhD,
postdoctoral fellowships at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa,
and the University of Johannesburg, a Junior Research Fellowship at King’s
College Cambridge, and a lectureship at University College London. I am
indebtedtoalltheseinstitutionsfortheirsupport.
Along the way my work was delayed, detoured, and eventually stimulated
by the arrival of two sons, not to mention a peripatetic existence straddling
two continents. I am especially grateful to King’s College Cambridge and
University College London for their vital institutional support in this regard.
I alsoneed to thank a number of individuals for stickingwith this seemingly
never-ending labour. First John Henderson inspired and midwifed it as a
PhD—his immense intellectual and personal generosity is mainly to blame
for the fact that this work didn’t end up as another unfinished regret. The
comments of OUP’s anonymous readers helped improve the end product. I
amparticularlygratefultotheserieseditors,especiallyAlisonSharrockforher
always-astute judgements and patient support over its long delays, while her
own work on gender remains a vital intertext. I thank all my colleagues at
UCL,inparticularGesineManuwaldforhersupportandFiachraMacGóráin,
who generously read parts of the manuscript and whose criticisms were
characteristically perspicacious. Others who read and/or offered encourage-
ment over the years include William Fitzgerald, Emily Gowers, Jonathan
Mannering, and Dunstan Lowe. Oliver Schwazer helped proof much of the
typescriptatthelaststages.Iamgratefultoall,andanyerrorsthatremainare
ofcoursemyown.
Inabookaboutorigins,itwouldbehubrisnottoacknowledgeadebttomy
own:I’m deeply gratefulto myparents fortheirfaith in me andmy idiosyn-
cratic choice of career. Others have lifted my game along the way—I’ll
mentionafew.IfeelprivilegedtoknowRachelMalkin,towhomIamgrateful
inmorewaysthanIcanpithilyexpresshere.RowanBoysonhasbeenagreat
friend,amazingcook,andhospitablefellowtravelleralongthebywaysofearly
careeracademia.InSouthAfrica,AndreaDoylehasbeenimportanttomeas
an academic colleague and friend. Both she and John Hilton have supported
mywork,whiletheirowncommitmenttoteachingandresearchingClassicsin
relatively difficult circumstances is humbling and inspiring. I would also like
tothankCliveGreenstoneandKiraErwinforallthosebraais.
Intheend,mygreatestdebtistoLawrenceHamilton.I’vefounditimpos-
sibletocomeupwitharhetoricalencapsulationformyloveandgratitude—he
encouraged,cajoled,andintheendpushedthisbook’scompletionthroughthe
viii Acknowledgements
chaosofpregnancies,childbirth,andfamilylife.Iknowhe’llbegladfinallyto
seethebackofit,butneverthelessI’veputhimatthefront,asitsdedicatee.
Chunks of several chapters have been published elsewhere. Much of
Chapter2 appeared in EuGeSTa 2012; Chapter4’s analysis of Andromache
formed part of an article that appeared in a ‘Seneca’ special issue of the
Canadian Comparative Literature Review 2013; part of Chapter5 was pub-
lished in Helios 2012; a couple of paragraphs from Chapter7 appeared in an
articlewithadifferentfocusinAkroterion2011.Iamgratefultothesejournals
forpermissiontoreprinthere.
Contents
TextsandAbbreviations xi
1. Introduction:SeekingtheMotherinEarlyImperial
RomanLiterature 1
Introduction 1
RomanMotherhoodandModernTheory 16
AugustanMaternities 28
PART I AUGUSTAN EPIC
2. MaternalImpressions:ReadingMotherhoodinVirgil’sAeneid
andGeorgics 55
Misconceptions 55
ReproductionandRepressionintheAeneid 66
atnonCyrene...:MaternalKnowledgeintheGeorgics 94
3. Matermorphoses:MotherhoodandtheOvidianEpicSubject 114
Births 118
Revenge 133
MourningandMaternalPower 142
MaternityandtheOvidianAestheticofExcess 159
PART II SENECA
4. TheTextualMother:Seneca’sConsolatioadHelviamMatrem 169
IntimateTextualRelations 173
MaternalGriefandMaternalVirtus 183
TheMotherMirror 198
5. ThePoliticsofMaternalRepresentationinSeneca’sMedea
andPhaedra 201
RomanMedea 207
PhaedraandMedea 228
6. WheretheUnbornLie:TheUncannyMothersofSeneca’sTroades
(or,WaysofReadingaMotherinSenecanTragedy) 257
MaternalVoicesoftheAftermath:HecubaandAndromache 258
TwoSenecas?PhilosophyandPsychoanalysis 272
ThinkingwithAndromache 280