Naslov
Purpose and Result Clauses in Aristaenetus' Erotic Letters

Autori
Hajdarević, Sabira

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
Subordination and Insubordination in Post-Classical Greek. Syntax, Context and Complexity

Mjesto i datum
Gent, Belgija, 12.05.2022. - 14.05.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Post-classical Greek syntax ; subordination ; Aristaenetus

Sažetak
The epistolary collection entitled Erotic Letters, attributed (although not unanimously) to Aristenaetus, was written probably around 500 A.D. The Collection consists of 50 fictional erotic letters divided into two books. It is a curious intertextual patchwork of passages taken from various Classical Greek, Hellenistic and even some Roman literary masterpieces: we encounter familiar motifs, allusions, paraphrases and quotations. Aristaenetus lived during the period when even Post-Classical Greek was already giving way to Byzantine Greek. However, in his literary efforts he was an atticist following his Second Sophistic predecessors - Alciphron, Philostratus and Aelian. Therefore, although he used both Classical and Post-Classical texts as sources for intertextual borrowings, his main objective was to write using the syntax of the glorious “Golden age” of Greece (and Greek). Given the inevitable diachronic changes that the Greek language endured between the Classical period and 6th century A.D., it comes as no surprise that Aristaenetus was only partially successful in his objective: besides Classical Greek syntax, in his Letters we encounter numerous “mistakes”, i.e. glimpses into Post-Classical Greek that was used by the author in his everyday life. It is my intention to analyse the patchwork-syntax of Aristaenetus’ collection. Given the theme of the Conference, the focus will be on his subordinate clauses and subordinate strategies: I intend to scrutinize the moods and tenses used and to assess the level of confusion of moods in purpose and result clauses. The most important goal of the paper is to determine the level of Aristaenetus’ overall success in imitating the syntax of the Classical authors. Additional attention will be given to the following aspects: - The paragraphs containing proven intertextual borrowings will be meticulously scrutinized. Given that the subordinate clauses are usual indicators of syntactical complexity of a literary text, I find it important to investigate if purpose and result clauses of Aristaenetus’ collection represent his own contribution or are they merely taken from other authors. Furthermore, it is obvious that quotations verbatim, if taken from a Classical author, should contain no syntactical “mistakes”, but I wonder if Aristaenetus “corrected” the syntax within the borrowings from his Hellenistic colleagues and, if so, was he successful? - Since I am questioning the unity of the Collection itself - my premise is that Books I and II were written by two authors, not one - I intend to conduct separate analyses of Books I and II in order to compare the subordination strategies in purpose and result clauses and the frequency of “mistakes” resulting from them. Any discrepancies found might support my initial thesis regarding the dual authorship of the Collection.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija, Književnost

POVEZANOST RADA