Women Without Faces: Exemplary Control in Ovid's Amores 2

Abstract

A critical analysis of the second book of Roman poet Ovid’s work of erotic elegies, Amores. Through a close reading of several crucial poems in book 2 of this work (2.17, 2.4-5, 2.2-3, and 2.7-8) and the application of modern literary and gender theories, such as the idea of gender performativity as proposed by Judith Butler, I argue that the poet implies the closure of erotic elegy as a genre of Roman literature, poising Amores as the ultimate gendered product of its genre. This is achieved by the poet through his characterization of himself and his beloved puella, which is coloured primarily by his use of mythical exempla that are applied to his poetic scenarios to persuade the reader and ensure both the narrator’s (the amator’s) erotic success and the poetic success of the author. Ovid subverts generic expectations and tropes to show both his literary erudition and to separate himself from his predecessors, allowing him to exert control over his poetics and the amator’s puella, who, for Ovid, is first and foremost a vaguely characterized poetic construct that enables his poetic success.