Tibullus book 1 is the first of two books of poems by the Roman poet Tibullus (c. 56–c.19 BC). It contains ten poems written in Latin elegiac couplets, and is thought to have been published about 27 or 26 BC.Murgatroyd (1977), p. 118.
Five of the poems (1, 2, 3, 5, 6) speak of Tibullus's love for a woman called Delia; three (4, 8 and 9) of his love for a boy called Marathus. The seventh is a poem celebrating the triumph in 27 BC of Tibullus's patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, following his victory in a military campaign against the Aquitanians. In 1, 5, and 10 he also writes of his deep love for life in the countryside and his dislike of war, a theme which both begins and ends the book.
The elegies of Tibullus are famous for the beauty of their Latin. Of the four great love-elegists of ancient Rome (the other three were Cornelius Gallus, Propertius, and Ovid), the rhetorician Quintillian praised him for being "the most polished and elegant".Quintillian, 10.1.93. Modern critics have found him "enigmatic"Keith (2004). and psychologically complex.Miller (1999), p. 181.
The structure of book 1 Book 1 of Tibullus has ten poems, the same number as Virgil's Eclogues and Horace's Satires 1, which were published within the same decade. The average length of the poems in book 1 (c. 81 lines) is nearly exactly the same as the average length of Virgil's Eclogues (c. 83 lines).The ten poems of book 1 have 78, 98(?), 94, 84, 76, 86(?), 64(?), 78, 84, and 68(?) lines respectively. Uncertainty over the text makes the exact number of lines difficult to calculate in some of the poems.
R. J. Littlewood (1970) argues that the poems are not randomly arranged but symmetrically as follows:Littlewood (1970), p. 663.A different, non-symmetrical scheme is offered by Powell, B. B. (1974). "The ordering of Tibullus book 1". Classical Philology, 69(2), 107–112.
1 – Introduction 2 – Separation from Delia 3 – Separation from Delia 4 – Genre poem (Priapus' advice) 5 – Delia's infidelity 6 – Delia's infidelity 7 – Genre poem (ode to Messalla) 8 – Marathus' infidelity 9 – Marathus' infidelity 10 – Conclusion
Helena Dettmer (1980) agrees with this analysis, and in addition finds concentric patterns hidden in the number of lines in each poem; for example, poems 1 + 10 = 4 + 7 = 146/148 lines; 2 + 8 = 3 + 9 = 176/178 lines.Dettmer, H. (1980). "The arrangement of Tibullus Books 1 and 2". Philologus, 124(1–2), 68–82. A similar symmetrical arrangement is found in poems 1–9 of Virgil's Eclogues, with a similar arithmetical pattern of lines.Eclogues 1 + 9 = 4 + 6 = 150/149 lines, and 2 + 8 = 3 + 7 = 181 lines: Steenkamp, J. (2011). "The structure of Vergil's Eclogues"; p. 113. However, the significance of such arithmetical patterns, if they are not a coincidence, is unknown.
Tibullus's style General characteristics Julia Gaisser writes: "Tibullus does not develop his ideas in a smooth forward progression of narration or description. Rather, he composes a series of separate and more or less self-contained episodes or sections whose important relation is not necessarily to each other but to a main theme. It is a part of Tibullus' skill to connect these sections by subtle transitions and by recurring motifs and images. The arrangement of ideas in the elegies often seems to violate the laws of both logic and simple time sequence. The connection between sections is not always obvious; the poet's thoughts range from present to future to past and back again in defiance of chronology." She characterises Tibullus as "a master of the vignette, skilled in the presentation of vivid and memorable scenes within the compass of a very few lines."Gaisser (1971b), p. 202.
His style has been called "immediate, unpretentious, but deceptively simple".Rodney Dennis, quoted in Damer (2014), p. 443.
Maltby (1999) points out several features of Tibullus's linguistic style. He notes how Tibullus compared with Propertius adopts a purity of style, avoiding diminutives such as "little eye" and compound words such as "linen-wearing", and only rarely using Greek borrowings. Seneca the Elder reports that Tibullus's patron Messalla was a stickler for pure Latin: (Contr. 2.4.8), Maltby (1999), p. 389. which may explain these preferences. Occasionally, however, Tibullus varies his style, for example in the speech of Priapus in elegy 4, which he introduces with mock-epic language and adds to the humour by using rather pompous language in the speech itself, as though Priapus were a professor.Maltby (1999), p. 389–390.
Although on the whole Tibullus avoids Greek vocabulary, he does adopt some Greek mannerisms, such as "echoic" verses in which a word or phrase is repeated within the same couplet (e.g. 1.4.61–2).Maltby (1999), p. 382.
Putnam (2005) notes Tibullus's clever use of assonance and alliteration, for example, where fic ... fec... fac and til ... cul ...cil ... quel make a pleasing sound:Putnam (2005), p. 127. Tibullus 1.1.39–40. "The ancient farmer first made for himself earthenware cups, and fashioned them from easily worked clay."
Hoffer (2007) notes that there are also several places where Tibullus uses adjective interlacing to good effect, for example 1.7.16, 18, and 22.Hoffer (2007), p. 315. An example is: Tibullus, 1.7.22. "The fertile Nile abounds with water even in summer"
Verbal and thematic echoes A notable feature of Tibullus's poetry is the repeated use of the same words, phrases, and motifs in more than one poem, or sometimes within the same poem. The closest connections are found between the first and last poems (1 and 10) and again between the two central poems (5 and 6), where in each pair a series of echoes in vocabulary or theme link the two poems together. But links are also found connecting other pairs of poems in the collection.Dettmer (1980) and Booth (1996). For example, the description of the powers of a witch comes in both 2 and 8; a lovers' quarrel in both 6 and 10; the old lady guarding Delia and keeping her chaste occurs in both 3 and 6. Phrases such as 'black death', 'clear water', 'swift wheel', 'remove the fastenings' occur in more than one poem. In some cases these verbal echoes enable the reader to discover extra layers of meaning in the poems, as with the inhabitants of Tartarus in poem 3, who are shown by the intratextual links to be persons who have thwarted Tibullus's love life.Paul (2023).
An example of words repeated within a poem is 'with loose fold' (1.6.18) and (1.6.40). The first refers to the loose, revealing clothing of Delia, the second to the foppish dress of her would-be suitor.Gaisser (1971a), p. 208. In the same poem 'trust me' (1.6.23) is picked up by (1.6.37), in both cases making the suggestion that the husband should entrust Delia to Tibullus. In poem 9 with 'clear water' (1.9.12) Tibullus expresses the hope that the gifts given to Marathus will be turned into water, while with (1.9.50) he hopes that his own poems will be washed away with water.
Chiastic structures Tibullus's poems are generally chiastically structured (a technique also known as ring composition or inverse parallelism), and the poems can be divided into sections forming a pattern such as ABCDC'B'A'.Van der Riet (1998); Murgatroyd (1994), Tibullus: Elegies II. Oxford, pp. 283–291. Sometimes the corresponding sections are linked thematically; but often the chiasm is shown by verbal echoes. For example, in poem 1.5, the words in the first eight lines are matched by in the last eight lines.van der Riet (1998), pp. 117–118.
Sometimes individual sections within the poems are also chiastically structured, with their own internal verbal links. An example is the last section of 1.8 (lines 67–78), where 'you should cease' in 67 and 'they hate disdainful behaviour' in 69 are matched in reverse order by 'he hates disdainful behaviour' in 75 and 'you cease' in 77.
Parallel writing Tibullus also occasionally uses parallel writing, again employing verbal echoes. Thus poems 1.1 and 1.10 have a dozen points of contact, in more or less the same order in both poems; and the same is true of poems 1.5 and 1.6. An example of such links is and in lines 1 and 2 of poem 1.5, and also in lines 2 and 3 of poem 1.6.Dettmer (1980). In book 2, poems 2.2 and 2.5, despite being of different lengths, are also parallel.Dettmer, H. (1980). "The arrangement of Tibullus Books 1 and 2". Philologus, 124(1–2), 68–82; pp. 78–82.
Characters Delia Delia is thought to be a pseudonym. Apuleius states that her real name was Plania;Apuleius, Apologia 10. if this is correct (which is not certain), there is a word play with the Greek word (dēlos), which is the equivalent of Latin "clear, plain". Like Catullus's Lesbia she takes her pseudonym from a Greek island: but the name , "the Delian", has a further resonance, since it is used in Latin poetry (for the first time in Virgil, Eclogue 7.29) for the beautiful goddess Diana, who was said to have been born on the island of Delos, and who was not only famed for her beauty but is also the sister of Apollo, the god of poetry. Propertius's pseudonym for his girlfriend has the same meaning, since Cynthus is a mountain on Delos where Diana and her brother Apollo were born.Maltby (2012), p. xvii.
Delia is described as having a "husband" in poem 1.2.43, but it appears from 1.6.67 to 68 that she does not wear the headband and long dress usual for respectable married Roman women. It is likely therefore that she was only the husband's concubine not his wife, and that her status was that of a freedwoman. In poem 5 she is said to have a "rich lover" (, 1.5.47)), while in poem 6 she has a lover she is concealing from Tibullus in the same way that she conceals Tibullus from her husband (1.6.5–8). If so, she may be thought of as being a courtesan such as Philocomasium in Plautus's Miles Gloriosus, Phronesium in Plautus' Truculentus, or Thais in Terence's Eunuchus, all of whom have a rich soldier lover as well as a less well off young lover. From poem 6 we learn that Delia has a mother who takes Tibullus's side, secretly opening the door and letting him into the house at night when the husband is asleep (6.57–64). Delia is not kept in seclusion, but attends dinner parties at which both Tibullus and the husband are present (1.6.15–30). She wears jewelled rings (1.6.25–26) and a décolleté style of clothing at dinner parties (1.6.18). In 1.5.43–44, she is described as having tender (i.e. delicate) arms and blond hair.
Tibullus's dream is to persuade Delia to come and live with him on his ancestral farm, but it appears he was unsuccessful, since in poem 5 she takes up with a rich lover (), and after poem 6 her name is not mentioned again.
Marathus It is thought that Marathus is also a pseudonym. In Greek, (marathos; both "a"s are short) means "fennel". The name is suitable for a slave or freedman (one of Augustus's freedmen had this name).Booth (1996), p. 246. Although various suggestions have been made about the choice of name, none has proved certain.Maltby (2012), p. xix. In the view of some scholars, Marathus was possibly not a real person but a literary fiction, allowing Tibullus to explore love from a different angle. He is said to have fallen in love with a girl called Pholoë, presumably also a courtesan, who visits him at night apparently escorted by Tibullus (1.8.55–66, 1.9.42). Despite his falling for a girl, he is depicted as very effeminate, wearing make up and constantly rearranging his hair, trimming his nails, and changing his clothes (1.8.9–12), as well as prone to burst into tears (1.8.67, 1.9.37).
Marathus turns out to be unfaithful to Tibullus. Unlike Catullus's Iuventius, who falls for the handsome but impecunious Furius,Catullus 23, 24. Marathus, like Delia, takes up with an older, richer man, to Tibullus's indignation and fury.