Ephemeris Ephemeris

Volume 4 Article 9

2003

Miles Amoris and Ovidian Metaphor Miles Amoris and Ovidian Metaphor

Nate Emmerson Denison University

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/ephemeris

Part of the Ancient Philosophy Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons,

and the History of Religions of Western Origin Commons

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Emmerson, Nate (2003) "Miles Amoris and Ovidian Metaphor," Ephemeris: Vol. 4 , Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/ephemeris/vol4/iss1/9

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classical Studies at Denison Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ephemeris by an authorized editor of Denison Digital Commons.

Latin Literature

Miles Amoris and Ovidian Metaphorby Nate Emmerson

Throughout all three books of'Ovid's Amores, he revisits many commonthemes in various poems. An importantone of such themes Ovid employs is ametaphor comparing Amor to a general, andthe lover to a soldier in his army. AsStephen Harrison points out, Ovid wittilyreminds us that love elegy can also bedescribed as war.1 This theme of milesamoris spans the three sections of theAmores, and is employed via an interestingdualism: the poet becomes both theconquered, having been defeated by Amor,as well as the conqueror, bearing thestandard of and triumphing over women inthe name of love. Poems 1.9, 2.12, and 3.11of the Amores exhibit the quandary thispresents the lover/poet. Ovid's militarylanguage when describing the escapades ofthe lover and the obligation he has to Amorexecute the metaphor, and provide bothsides of the coin simultaneously. Poem 1.9explores the similarities between the tworoles. Poem 11.12 develops the extendedmetaphor on the side of the lover astriumphant by comparing the narrator'svictory over Corinna with various militaryvictories. Poem III.ll demonstrates theother half of the analogy, with expressionsof the lover's having been conquered andheld captive by the same one in whosecastra he serves.

Ovid begins poem 1.9 with a clearstatement of love's military aspect, saying"every lover serves as a soldier, and Cupidhas his own fortresses" (militat omnis amans,et habet sua castra Cupido)2. Ovid repeats thefirst three words again,3 placing further

Stephen Harrison, "Ovid and Genre: Evolutions ofan Elegist" pp.79-94 in The Cambridge Companionto Ovid, ed. Philip Hardie, Cambridge UniversityPress 20022 Amores 1.9.13 Am. 1.9.2

importance on the fact that each loverserves two roles: the one of the amator andthat of the miles. Ovid continues to explainthe similarities in the two roles: "the agewhich is suitable for war is also suitable forVenus" (quae bello est habilis, Veneri quoqueconvenit aetas).* Another similarity isvigilance: "both [the lover and soldier]watch through the night, each takes his reston the ground; one guards his mistress'sdoors, the other his general's" (pervigilatambo, terra requiescit uterque; / ille foresdominae servat, at ille duds).5 Lover andsoldier will also overcome any obstacle inorder to achieve their goals: a long march(longa via), mountains and rain-floodedrivers (mantes duplicataque nimbo flumina),thick snow (congestas nives), swollen wind(tumidos Euros), frosts of the night (frigoranoctis), snow, and rain (denso mixtas perferetimbre nives).6 Lovers and soldiers must bothbe watchmen—a soldier looking over hisfortress or camp for enemies, and a loverconstantly vigilant for rivals to his affection(mittitur infestos alter speculator in hastes, / inrivale oculos alter, lit hoste, tenet).7 The wallsof cities are besieged by a soldier, and thelover acts similarly with the doors of hismistress (ille graves urbes, hie durae limenamicae / obsidet; hie portas frangit, at ille fores).8Each uses the element of surprise: thesoldier attacks when the enemy sleeps, andlovers take advantage of their mistresses'slumber (saepe soporatos invadere profuithastes / cadere et arniata vulgus inerme manu. ..nempe maritorum somnis utuntur amantes / etsua sopitis hostibus arma movent).9 Even theirpatron gods exhibit similar characteristics:

"Am. 1.9.35 Am.1.9.7-86 Am. 1.9.11-161 Am. 1.9.17-188 Am. 1.9.19-209 Am. 1.9.21-22, 25-26

34

Latin Literature

Mars, of the soldiers, and Venus, of thelovers, are both described as precarious(Mars dubius, nee certa Venus).10

Although the lover exhibits all thesequalities just as a soldier, his work is stilllove, not war. He does not indulge in theactivities of actual warfare, but has to adoptthe same methods in his own particularfield." The two fields, however, arecertainly not mutually exclusive. Eventhough the lover goes forth alone (non egomilitibus venio comitatus et armis),12 he stillemploys similar tactics: the lover, like thesoldier, must fight to win.13 Ovid goes on inthe poem to give examples of famouswarriors who were also lovers. Achillesexperienced passion at the death of hisenamored captive, Briseis (ardet in abductaBriseide maestus Achilles). Hector went tobattle from the arms of his wife,Andromache (Hector ab Andromachesconplexibus ibat ad arma). The famouswarring king Agamemnon fell for the verydaughter of the king whom he foughtagainst (summa ducum, Atrides visa Priameidefertur / Maenadis effusis obstipuisse comis).Even the god of war, Mars, fell victim toAmor, having been found making love toVenus (Mars quoque deprensus fabrilia vinculasensit: notior in caelo fabula nulla fuit).uThese masters of both war and love exhibitthe aforementioned qualities, and utilizethem in both roles. Ovid ends the poem bycomparing love to military service yetagain: he says that love has turned himfrom leisure to fitness, much like armytraining (qui nolet fieri desidiosus, amet),15

completing the analogy.

In Book II of the Amores, Oviddevelops the comparison in poem 12, whichtells of the victory of a lover who hasemerged victorious in his conflict with awoman, like a soldier on the winning sidedoes in a battle.16 He begins with anexclamation of victory (tie triwnphales circummea tempora laurus),17 and says that he hasconquered (vicimus).18 Immediatelyfollowing, Ovid informs the reader that it isnot a military battle of which he speaks, buta battle with a woman, and the result is thatshe is in his embrace (in nostro est, ecce,Corinna sz'nu).19 Even though the battle wascompletely devoid of blood (in qua,quaecumqiie est, sanguine praeda caret),20 Ovidcontinues the analogy to military matters—he goes on to declare himself better than theGreeks conquering Troy, as he was alone inhis endeavors (as in poem 1.6, "soluseram"21), whereas it took all the Greeks tenyears to bring down the city:

Pergama cum caderent hellosuperata bilustri,ex tot in Atridis pars quotalaudis erat?at mea seposita est et ab omnimilite dissorsgloria, nee titulum munerisalter habet.22

Ovid points to another aspect of the heliumamoris: similar cause (nee belli est nova causame/).23 Women are, he says, the cause ofboth love and many wars. He cites severalwomen: Helen, whose kidnapping causedthe Trojan War, Hippodameia, feelings forwhom caused the battle between thecentaurs and the Lapiths, and Lavinia,whose engagement to Aeneas caused the

w Am. 1.9.2911 "Variations on a Military Theme in Ovid's'Amores'", Elizabeth Thomas, Greece & Rome, 2ndSer., Vol. 11, No. 2. (Oct., 1964), pp. 151-165.12 Am. 1.6.3313 Thomas, 16014 Am. 1.9.33-4015 Am. 1.9.46

6 Thomas, 161"Am. 11.12.118 Am. 11.12.219 Am. \\.\2.220 Am. 11.12.621 Am. 1.6.3422 Am. 11.12.9-1223 Am. 11.12.17

35

Latin Literature

conflict between the outcast Trojans and thenative Latins:

. . .nisi raptafuissettyndaris, Europae pax Asiaeque

foret.femina silvestris Lapithaspopulumque biformemturpiter adposito vertit in arma

mew;femina Troianos iterum novabella movereinpulit in regno, iuste Latine,

fuo;24

Ovid even points to animals, such as bulls,which fight over females of the species (vidiego pro nivea pugnantes coniuge tauros)25 toshow the feminine root to conflict, whetheramorous or militant.

Even though the lover's victory isbloodless in this case, it is clear that this isnot always true. In poem 1.8, Ovid's victoryis not a "sanguine praeda caret" as in 11.12,but has come through violence (nam furor indominam temeraria brachia movit; / flet meavesana laesa puella manu).26 This followsmore closely with the mythological exemplain 11.12, in that not only does war break outover the women in his examples, but thereis also warfare with most of them, in thatthey are victims of violence.27 Both love andwar spill blood, and the lover in 11.12misleads the audience by claiming abloodless conquest.

While poem 11.12 deals with thelover's role as a soldier of love, III.llillustrates the other half of the dualismpresented in the bellum amoris analogy—thelover as someone having been conquered bylove himself. As usual, Ovid comes right

out in the first couplet and states thesituation: the lover has been defeated by hismistress's vices (vitiis patientia victa est)2S

and reflects on his servitude. He claims tohave slipped his chains (fugique catenas)29

and thinks himself free from the servitiumamoris, a common theme throughout allRoman elegy. However, Amor is not soeasily defeated. Rather, the lover is againconquered, and again becomes one of theprisoners mentioned in 1.2, followingCupid's triumphant procession (Mens Bonaducetur manibus post terga retortis / et Pudor etcastris quidquid Amoris obest).30 Though hisheart is pulled both ways, by love and hate,love ends up winning (luctantur pectusqueleve in contraria tendunt / hac amor hac odium,sed, puto, vincit amor).31 Love has conqueredthe lover to such an extent that while hefeels an aversion to his mistress in his mind(nequitiam fugio. . . aversor morum crimina),32

he cannot pull himself away (fugientemforma reducit. . .corpus amo).33 Thus Amorproves himself the better soldier: the loverwas unable to overcome his master; eventhough his Mens Bona demanded release, heremained ducetur manibus post terga retortis.

The bellum amoris metaphor,comparing a lover to a soldier, runs throughmany poems of Latin elegy. In particular,Ovid's Amores exhibit the metaphor withunique focus and elegance. Poem 1.9establishes the comparison as valid bystating the qualities both the miles and theamator share. The poems in the second twobooks, 11.12 and III.ll, look specifically atthe two sides of the miles amoris: the formerdiscussing the lover as a member of thecastra amoris, and latter referring to the loveras victus amore. Ovid's treatment of the

-^ Am. 11.12.17-2225 Am. 11.12.25

Am. 1.7.2-3" Leslie Cahoon, "The Bed as Battlefield: EroticConquest and Military Metaphor in Ovid's Amores,"Transactions of the American PhilologicalAssociation (1974-), Vol. 118. (1988), pp. 293-307.

28 Am. II 1. 11 .129 Am. I I I . 11.330 ̂ w. 1.2.31-32

32Am. 111.11.33-34Am. I I I . 11 . 37-38

3 Am. 111.11.37-38

36

Latin Literature

metaphor stands out, and he gives validityto his claim that militat omnis amans.

37