Sulpicia and the Roman Elegy
Characters:
Theme: Sulpicia and the Roman Elegy
Competencies
Competence in Linguistic Communication
Multilingual Competence
Personal, social and learning to learn competence
Competence in cultural awareness and expressions
Subjects and year by Educational System
Spain > Latin > 4th ESO > The present of the Latin civilization
Enunciation
Read and comment on the first fragment of the elegy of the Roman poet Sulpicia, who lived in the 1st century BC.
Epistula I
Tandem venit amor, qualem texisse pudori
quam nudasse alicui sit mihi fama magis.
Exorata meis illum Cytherea Camenis
attulit in nostrum deposuitque sinum.
Exsolvit promissa Venus: mea gaudia narret,
dicetur si quis non habuisse sua.
Non ego signatis quicquam mandare tabellis,
ne legat id nemo quam meus ante, velim.
Sed peccasse iuvat, vultus componere famae
taedet: cum digno digna fuisse ferar.
“Al fin me llegó el amor, y es tal que ocultarlo por pudor,
antes que desnudarlo a alguien, peor reputación me diera.
Citerea, vencida por los ruegos de mis Camenas,
me lo trajo y lo colocó en mi regazo.
Cumplió sus promesas Venus: que cuente mis alegrías
quien diga que no las tuvo propias.
Yo no querría confiar nada a tablillas selladas,
para que nadie antes que mi amor lo lea,
pero me encanta obrar contra la norma, fingir por el qué dirán
me enoja: fuimos la una digna del otro, que digan eso”.
López, Aurora (1994). No solo hilaron lana. Escritoras romanas en prosa y verso, p. 83. Madrid: Ediciones Clásicas.
1- Read the fragment and its translation.
2- What type of verse was characteristic of the elegy? What verses was it made up of?
3- What is the motive of her poem? What could she be ashamed of? Would this be the correct position for a young Roman woman?
4- Who does she hold responsible for her situation?
5- What words would reflect her craft as a writer?
6- In what other verse does she express that she does not care about rumours?
7- If love for Roman women was limited to family and marriage, explain why was Sulpicia transgressive.
8- Did you like her verses? Why don't her figure and work appear in manuals and textbooks?
Observations and context
Sappho's poetry was a stimulus for a long list of women who, until the 4th century AD, captured their voices in various styles, both in Greek and Latin. From Roman times, mentioning only the poets of whom minimum testimony remains, we find Sulpicia "the elegiac poetess", Melinno, Herennia Procula, Claudia Trophime, Sulpicia "the satirist", Julia Balbilla, Caecilia Trebulla, Damo, Terentia, Theosebia and Aconia Fabia Paulina.
Description
Commentary on a fragment of the Roman poet Sulpicia.