[B-Greek] One man one woman

Yancy Smith Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
Thu Dec 8 14:56:35 EST 2005


> The term meant "faithful to one's spouse", as we now know from  
> epigraphical
> evidence. It has been found on the tombstone of women.
> Ann Nyland
>

I am interested in the epigraphical evidence to which you refer, Ann.  
Could you elaborate? Note also Carl Conrad's past posts on the thread  
"Married only once." He writes:

> I don't really like to make absolute and apodictic assertions, but  
> I really
> do think that in terms of that cultural climate, I think that is  
> highly
> likely. I haven't really studied this TOPOS in Hellenistic  
> literature, but
> I do know that UNIVIRA is a very proud epithet on a matron's tomb
> inscription, and I have in mind a powerful poem (Propertius 4.11)  
> about a
> Roman lady Cornelia who died rather young leaving her husband with two
> teen-aged children; in the poem she addresses her husband and  
> children, who
> must be imagined as kneeling at her tomb, and claims UNIVIRA for  
> herself
> while also suggesting the probability that her husband will never  
> remarry,
> so devoted is he to her. While this poem is heavily colored by  
> rhetoric, I
> personally think that it has to reflect a strong cultural  
> admiration for
> marital devotion that cannot seriously contemplate remarriage after  
> the
> death of a spouse.


MIAS GUNAIKOS sounds a lot like "UNIVIRA" (which appears on tombs  
describing females) and probably means "married only once." I suggest  
you check out the citations in Ceslas Spicq, _Les Epitres Pastorales_



Yancy Smith
Y.W.Smith at tcu.edu
Brite Divinity School
Texas Christian University






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