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"GOODBYE TO ALL THAT" 133
an entire year and proclaiming in me mansuetas non habet ilIa manus.
"against me that woman doesn't have civilized hands."J5 Thus. as in
1.17. Cynthia's withdrawal of her favours results in Propertius' isolation
from civilization and everything that is good in life: withdrawal
from her implies a separation from fame. human warmth and his creative
impulse as a poet.
Thus in 3.16 the reader encounters a scenario not very far removed
from 1.17. where his mistress. poetry and civilization are inextricably
entwined in Propertius' mind. How does he disengage himself from
this state of mind and bring himself and the reader to 3.2 I where
separation from Cynthia does not result in a desolate environment and
an ignoble death?
Between these two poems Propertius has placed four elegies: a
poem to Bacchus. a consolatio and two love elegies. Each of these elegies
has a verbal or thematic link to the preceding one. suggesting that
they should be read as a sequence: in 3.18 there is a reference to Bacchus
(5-6). linking it with 3.17. the hymn to Bacchus. in 3.19 the allusion
to Minos. the judge of the dead (27-8). connects it with 3.18. the
consolatio. and in 3.20 an allusion to a voyage to Africa (4) echoes a
reference to the straits of the Syrtes in the previous poem (7). It is
noteworthy that the love elegies come last in this sequence. Propertius
firstly moves the reader away from the confined and introspective
world of love elegy to the external world and then revisits his relationship
in the light of these outward journeys.
In the two elegies set in the external world (3.17 and 3.18) the balance
of Greek and Roman themes is continued with the first. the poem
to Bacchus. having a Greek setting and the second. the consolatio for
Marcellus. a Roman one. In the first (3.17) Propertius appeals to the
god of wine to help free him from the tyranny of his love (6). the first
time that he professes a wish for escape from love. He speaks of his
love as a fire ablaze within his bones. a curse that only death or wine
will heal (9-10). He promises that if Bacchus cures him he will devote
himself to the god and sing of Bacchus and his legends (13-14. 21-8).
Finally he draws a parallel between his new-found poetic voice and
that of the lyric poet Pindar (39-40).
The journey motif is reiterated in this poem with Propertius' appeal
to Bacchus to give him prosperous sails (da mihi ... vela secunda, 2).
The direction that Propertius travels in this case is towards Horace's
15 Propertius employs only one other instance of this word in his poetry. at
1.9.12. where he describes elegy in opposition to epic: carmina mansuetus levia
quaerit Amor. "civilized Love seeks smooth songs." In this instance as well.
civilization and love are directly linked to Propertius' productivity as a poet.