[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
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list