Lament Scenes in Xenophon of Ephesus: A Study in Self-Fashioning

Abstract

Scholars often exclude Xenophon’s Ephesiaca from consideration with texts of the so-called Second Sophistic due to its style. Recent scholarship, especially by Whitmarsh (2001, 2005, 2011), sees a concern with identity to be an important characteristic of Imperial Greek literature. This thesis analyzes the protagonists’ lament scenes of Xenophon’s Ephesiaca in order to see how Anthia and Habrocomes define their identities and interrogate different facets of their identities. Aelius Theon (Prog. 115–6) provides a useful discussion of different character types which delineates different social antitheses: old men and young men, men and women, slaves and freed people, and people in love and those who have sophrosyne. Habrocomes and Anthia interrogate where they stands in relation to these different strands throughout the novel. Habrocomes defines himself in relation to these various character types frequently in his lament scenes. At 1.4. 1–3, he views himself as being in a military contest with Eros and views his loss in this metaphorical battle as a loss of masculinity, thus defining himself with respect to Aelius Theon’s category of men and women. At 1.4. 4–5 he defines scorning Eros as sophrosyne, thus showing himself to prefer a definition of sophrosyne that is closer to Hippolytus’ than is usually seen in the Greek novel. Throughout the rest of Book 1, where Habrocomes defines sophrosyne on his wedding night and in the oath scene, his definition of sophrosyne becomes gradually closer to the one usually seen in the Greek novel. At 2.1.2–4 he argues that if he were to submit to Corymbus he would be a “whore instead of a man,” which further defines his sophrosyne as an integral part of his masculinity. At 2.4.3–5 Habrocomes defines himself in terms of being a slave vs. a freed person and states that although his body is enslaved, his soul is free. After he is freed, for the rest of the novel, he does not truly view himself as free until he is reunited with Anthia. Anthia’s lament scenes often consist of her finding mechanai to protect her sophrosyne from various pirates and others who fall in love with her. At 1.4.6–7, Anthia laments that Habrocomes does not love her, then she asks a series of rhetorical questions which interrogate how she can make this happen anyway. On her wedding night, she chides Habrocomes for her lack of andreia and takes the initiative in erotic matters. Throughout her lament scenes, Anthia often views sophrosyne as something that she cannot live without and she contemplates suicide as an alternative. Her lament scenes help her construct her sophrosyne and help her remember the reasons why she is being faithful to Habrocomes. In order to protect her sophrosyne, Anthia often must act like a clever slave. For example, she steals money from Perilaus in order to pay Eudoxus to make the poison (3.5.9). Nevertheless, she is able to protect her sophrosyne, and her lament scenes often provide her with the mental resolve needed to defend herself. This thesis demonstrates that the lament scenes are important and integral parts of Xenophon’s novel which help characterize Anthia and Habrocomes. The lament scenes also demonstrate that Xenophon is aware of principles of characterization which come from Theon’s progymnasmata or a similar treatise. Thus Xenophon should be seen as more of a sophistical writer than is usually supposed.