ティブッルス第2巻第6歌における死のモチーフについて

Abstract

In 2.6.29-40, Tibullus appeals for Nemesis' pity by reminding her of her young dead sister, then goes so far as to make a macabre picture of the bloodstained ghost. In this passage it is difficult to see his true motive for bringing up the death of Nemesis' sister. D. F. Bright keenly observes that Nemesis' sister is an emotional basis for a last-minute appeal, just like Delia's mother in 1.6, and that Tibullus combines such an appeal with the motif of death recurrent in the Nemesis poems to make it effective for harsh Nemesis, And he says, "The result is the dead sister who compels Nemesis into leniency not by her power to persuade, but by the fear she stirs and the punishment she implicitly threatens." However, I think the picture of the dead sister not only frightens Nemesis but performs another function. The motif of death appears recurrently throughout this poem. The poet professes his wish to abandon love (9.15-6), though he cannot attain it. To abandon love is death to a love poet, but for Tibullus death will be the only way left in the future to be released from the restraints of Amor. The phrases in 45 and 51 (lena necat miserum, tunc morior curis) show metaphorically that the poet's present state in which love's fulfillment is hindered is an unfortunate death for him. And the poet suggests the course he should have taken in the past (21 iam mala finissem Ieto). It is his suicide, to which the death of Nemesis' sister corresponds as an untimely death (29 immature ossa). Therefore her death symbolizes mors immatura with which the poet always meets. On the other hand, many expressions concerning words, too, can be found in this poem. The poet confesses the feebleness of the words declared or sworn by him (11-4). Dire imprecation and abominable words (17-8, 53) indicate the harmfulness of words. The procuress' lines (47-50) recall the falsehood of Hope's promises (20, 27). All these expressions are related to the negative aspect of words, and this aspect must also be projected in 34 (mea cum muto fata querar cinere). The poet who cannot depend on words with Nemesis complains of his fate to Nemesis' dead sister who speaks no words. As a result she tries to take nonverbal measures. Therefore the horrifying picture of Nemesis' sister is also the poet's miserable state which is shown not verbally but visually.