Overlooking the Mediterranean, the holiday resort of Baiae is the privileged space of oblivion and transgression, testified by Propertius’ elegy 1,11. In his verses, using the usual heartfelt inflection, the elegiac lover expresses querelae because he fears his beloved’s betrayals; Baiae, in fact, is a place of strong temptation even for the castae puellae. The famous town is depicted by Propertius as a world without boundaries, in which it is easy to indulge in ‘uninhibited’ behaviour; from the elegy 1,11 emerges the image of the ancient Baiae as an anthropological space emancipated from the rigid schematism imposed by the Urbs and in constant ferment, even if in pleasure and otia.
A pereant Baiae, crimen Amoris, aquae! (Prop. 1, 11, 30). Amori e tradimenti in uno scenario mediterraneo
Dimundo
2020-01-01
Abstract
Overlooking the Mediterranean, the holiday resort of Baiae is the privileged space of oblivion and transgression, testified by Propertius’ elegy 1,11. In his verses, using the usual heartfelt inflection, the elegiac lover expresses querelae because he fears his beloved’s betrayals; Baiae, in fact, is a place of strong temptation even for the castae puellae. The famous town is depicted by Propertius as a world without boundaries, in which it is easy to indulge in ‘uninhibited’ behaviour; from the elegy 1,11 emerges the image of the ancient Baiae as an anthropological space emancipated from the rigid schematism imposed by the Urbs and in constant ferment, even if in pleasure and otia.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
