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Magda El-Nowieemy (University of Alexandria, Egypt)
Tibullus’ Reflections on Egypt: Imagological Aspects of Religion
My present study is, in a way or another, a contribution to the field of «literary
representation» that helps as an aid for historiography. My aim is to reveal the kind
of images of Egypt and ancient Egyptian religion evoked by the Roman poet Tibullus
(c. 55–19 BC). That is to say, the way in which Egypt and its religion are perceived
and represented in his poetry.
The Roman poets’ vision of Egypt has aroused a wide range of responses among
historians and literary critics. The most that can safely be said is that the Roman
poets, especially of the Augustan Age, employed this topos on several occasions,
each in his own way, and for his own poetical or political end.
Tibullus has usually been called «a self-centered poet», but this was not to the
extent that his self blinded him to anything else. Egyptian elements re-appear in his
poetry in a variety of forms, which help to keep them in our minds. They cannot be
easily put aside and forgotten by the reader. We are entitled to ask what function
these elements may serve in historiography.
My main concern in this paper is confined to the respectful image of Egypt
Tibullus created in his poetry, quite in contrast with the image the other great
Augustans created.
Tibullus’ reflections on Egypt were, ostensibly at least, set in defiance of the
regime current at the time. He was not — I suppose — the right person to accept
the Augustan demands, and to try to fulfill them in his poetry. His reflections on
the Nile, on Isis, and on Osiris in his poetry were employed to illustrate irresistible
fascination on Tibullus’ part with Egypt.
Секция XII.
Источниковедение и историография Древнего Востока:
к 60-летию кафедры Древнего Востока ЛГУ–СПбГУ
Historiography of the Ancient Orient:
to the 60th Anniversary of the Ancient Orient
Department at St.Petersburg University
