Mythology and aetiology in the fourth book of Propertius

• Grant number: 23/00761-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: August 01, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Martins
• Grantee: Letícia Rodrigues Ferreira
• Supervisor: Stephen John Harrison
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Oxford, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/08756-6 - Mythology and elegiac genre in Propertius: a correlation, BP.IC

Abstract

When I was trying to understand the dynamics between mythology and the elegiac genre in Propertius' elegies - the main objective of the ongoing research in Brazil -, the relationship between mythology and aetiology in Propertius' fourth book became evident. In this sense, it is important to investigate not only aetiological elegy, but also the importance of mythology in this type of production. We should remember that a large part of the aetiological narratives in Propertius, as well as in other ancient poets, uses mythological expedient to explain the causes of customs, rites, traditions, monuments, or names. This object of studies points, above all, to the fourth book of Propertius. Therefore, we should focus on two purposes: (1) to understand Propertian aetiological elegy; and (2) to examine the way in which aetiological mythology develops in book four. From this, it will be possible (3) to correlate aetiological and mythological subject matters. (AU)