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130 JACQUELINE CLARKE
philosophy should not be taken with a great deal of seriousness. It is
not until elegy 17 that he first professes a wish for escape from love. JO
It is between 3.16 and 3.21, therefore, that Propertius' struggle to
free himself from both Cynthia and love poetry becomes most evident."
These two poems are strategically placed within the collection. Indeed,
in several respects they could be said to mirror one another in
reverse. The first describes a journey Propertius makes to Tibur ter
wards his mistress (2), the second a journey he will make to Athens
away from his mistress (I). In the first Propertius states that his union
with his mistress will enable his death (21 -2); in the second he claims
that his separation from his mistress will ensure that his death is not
disgraceful (34). Most significantly the first describes a journey within
Italy, the second one to Greece. The setting of these two poems is part
of the interesting balance between Greek and Roman in Book 3: for
instance elegy 13 castigates the behaviour of Roman women. while
elegy 14 praises the behaviour of Spartan women. In addition the fact
that Propertius associates his departure from his mistress with a journey
to Greece echoes his call upon Greek models at the beginning of
the book and symbolises his move from the introspective Roman
10 E. Courtney. "The structure of Propertius Book 3," Phoenix 24 (1970) 48. Hubbard
(above, n. 2) 114 suggests that it is in elegy 9 that Propertius first indicates
that he will abandon love poetry for a Roman Aetia. But scholars such as Baker
(above. n. 7) 334 argue that this is just another recusatio and that Propertius' intention
to change his poetic style is made conditional upon the unlikelihood of
Maecenas giving up his career. Indeed the poem is too ambiguously phrased and
too vague in expression to be viewed as a clear declaration to break from love
poetry.
II Previous scholarship does not seem to have treated these six poems as a
group. although Man (above. n. 3) 266 does group elegies 16-20 together as
"poems on various themes," and A. Woolley includes them as part of a larger
grouping from 14-22: "The structure of Propertius Book IlL" BICS 14 (1967) 80. The
tendency is to treat 3.21 (a journey to Athens) with 3.22 (a return to Rome), and it
is true that these poems have themes in common that will be dealt with at the end
of this paper. But. as will be demonstrated. 3.21 also has many themes in common
with 3.16 and can be viewed as an answer to the dilemmas set forth in that poem.
Furthermore, as we will see, the four elegies that come between this pair have
verbal and thematic links with one another. encouraging the reader to think of
them as a group and read them in a linear progression. See H. Jacobson. "Structure
and meaning in Propertius Book III," ICS I (1976) 160. who argues that the
structure of Book 3 is mainly a linear one in which the meaning of any individual
poem is defined and developed by the poem or poems which immediately follow.
Butrica (above, n. 4) g8 supports a linear reading with the argument that this is
virtually demanded by the form of the ancient bookroll.