Astyrakaki, Evangelia; (1999) Parthenios, Erotika Pathemata (20-36): A commentary. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.), University College London.

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Abstract

Many scholars dispute as to what extent Parthenios was influential on Roman poets, but only a few focus on Parthenios per se. Thus, there is not yet an English detailed commentary on his prose work, the Erotika Pathemata. However, many reasons make this prose work interesting. Firstly, the work survives in a single manuscript, making thus a critical edition requiring a special attention. Secondly, the thirty-six stories of the Erotika Pathemata have been 'de-hydrated', since the collection was intended to be used as a model for poetry (primarily by Parthenios himself). This de-hydration makes these stories look more like cinematic scenarios, thus making an interpretation equal to a direction. Thirdly, the derived from eros, ranging from incest to necrophilia, is a classic theme and there is a kind of continuity in motifs; this continuity unites somehow this collection not only with Greek and Latin literature but also with other narratives, like the Decameron of Boccaccio or even some urban myths of this century. Yet, there are also great difficulties in commenting on the Erotika Pathemata (20-36). The language consists of a mixture of dialects, and although it has been characterised by scholars as 'Attic koine', dealing with koine is a complex matter. The existence of only one manuscript is restrictive and it can often lead to arbitrariness. In the margins of the manuscript there are some ascriptions to other authors and works and although there is the view that these marginal notes indicate the sources, it will be argued here that they refer to parallels and that they were not written by Parthenios himself. Moreover, a 'rehydration' is attempted in order to demonstrate the narrative techniques of the author, aiming to prove that the collection is not Just a mere copy but bears the signature of Parthenios.

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