Francesco Cabras

Jan Kochanowski’s amorous Foricoenia: Ovidian models

The purpose of this article is to find Classical references in Jan Kochanowski’s amorous foricoenia, as yet not systematically studied. Scholars have focused on the meaning of the title Foricoenia (Szatyńska-Siemion) or on the ancient references (e.g. the presence of Terence in some epigrams or the translations from Greek, studied by Głombiowska), but have not studied the amorous epigrams as a whole.
At the beginning the author indicates some topoi that are common to elegiac poetry (recusatio or the heroes treated like elegiac lovers). Firstly, the author shows that Kochanowski uses elegiac material and topoi in his epigrams, presenting to the reader a little epigrammatic Ars Amatoria, based on Ovid’s model. Secondly, he argues that even when Kochanowski translates epigrams from Greek, he chooses those that are more appropriate to his literary project, i.e. the “elegization” of the epigrams. Conclusions: Kochanowski “elegizes” his epigrams, first of all presenting a small Ars Amatoria, and then writing his texts according to the elegiac tradition, both in terms of topoi and textual imitations.
After singling them out, I propose an interpretation of Kochanowski’s choices: I argue that he engages in a long-distance dialogue with Ovid’s Ars amatoria and more in general with the whole ancient amorous-elegiac tradition, which he sometimes denies. I bring forward a few examples, starting from a comparison between Kochanowski’s epigram XVI and Ovid’s Remedia Amoris 501–502 and Ars amatoria I 45–48 (i.e. the hunter caught in his own nets). Epigram V, In paellas venetas, introduces a special Ulys-ses, described as amorous, a lover rather than an epic hero, exactly as Ovid taught for this character. Furthermore, writing epigram LXIX to his friend Torquato, Kochanowski assures him he can make people fall ill with love, as well as cure his friend of such a “disease;” similarly, Ovid teaches how to make people fall in love (Ars amatoria) and how to recover from love (Remedia amoris).

The purpose of this article is to find classical references in Jan Kochanowski’s amorous foricoenia, as yet not systematically studied. Scholars have focused on the meaning ofthe title Foricoenia (Szatyńska-Siemion) or on the ancient references (e.g. the presence of Terence in some epigrams or the translations from Greek, studied by Głombiowska), but have not studied the amorous epigrams as a whole.

At the beginning the author indicates some topoi that are typical of elegiac poetry (recusatio or the heroes treated like elegiac lovers). Firstly, the author shows that Kochanowski uses elegiac material and topoi in his epigrams, presenting to the reader a little epigrammatic collection Ars Amatoria, based on Ovid’s model. Secondly, he argues that even when Kochanowski translates epigrams from Greek, he chooses those that are more appropriate to his literary project, i.e. the “elegization” of the epigrams. Conclusions: Kochanowski “elegizes” his epigrams, first of all presenting a small Ars Amatoria, and then writing his texts according to the elegiac tradition, both in terms of topoi and textual imitations.

Having singled them out, I propose an interpretation of Kochanowski’s choices: I argue that he engages in a long-distance dialogue with Ovid’s Ars amatoria and, in more general terms, with the whole ancient amorous-elegiac tradition, which he sometimes denies. I bring forward a few examples, starting from a comparison between Kochanowski’s epigram XVI and Ovid’s Remedia amoris 501–502 and Ars amatoria I 45–48 (i.e. the hunter caught in his own nets). Epigram V, In paellas venetas, introduces a particular instance of Ulysses described as amorous, a lover rather than an epic hero, patterned exactly after the Ovid’s model of this character. Furthermore, writing epigram LXIX to his friend Torquato, Kochanowski assures him he can make people fall ill with love, as well as cure his friend of such a “disease;” similarly, Ovid teaches how to make people fall in love (Ars amatoria) and how to recover from love (Remedia amoris).

* The translation and publication was financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland) and the Faculty of Polish Studies, Jagiellonian University (Cracow, Poland) under Grant 643/P-DUN/2018 2. The first version of this paper was published in Italian in Giornale Italiano di Filologia 65 (2013). I would like to thank Prof. Carlo Santi and the editorial board of the journal for their consent to publish a slightly altered Polish version supplemented with some biographical details. The Polish version of the paper: F. Cabras, “Elegijność Foricoeniow miłosnych Jana Kochanowskiego –wzorce Owidiańskie,” Terminus 16 (2014), pp. 39–53.

Recenzja książki:

Jörg Schulte, Jan Kochanowski i Renesans Europejski. Osiem studiów,Wydawnictwo Neriton-Uniwersytet Opolski, Warszawa2012

Tłumaczyła Magdalena Wrana

The recusationes and the Kreuzung der Gattungen in Jan Kochanowski’s Elegiarum libri quattuor and Ovid’s Inspiration in Jan Kochanowski’s Metapoetic Reflections

This article is a study of the three recusationes from the first book of Jan Kochanowski’s Elegiarum libri quattuor. Contrary to what one might think at first sight, these poems do not merely voice homage paid to the elegiac convention, which demands of the poet to renounce epic poetry and military life, but should be seen as texts in which Kochanowski reflects on the potential and limits of the elegy as a genre. It is only in the opening epigram of the collection that the poet seems to accept the rules of the genre by stating that he will not write epic poetry, but in all the recusationes of the first book (I 1, I 5 e I 12), he clearly makes the reader aware that he does not intend to renounce epic poetry, but plans to write such poems on another occasion, or in fact, he is already inserting several epic fragments in his elegies. Having underlined this, the article concentrates on the fact that this kind of attitude towards the relations between the elegiac poet and epic poetry is typically Ovidian, as shown by Mario Labate in his outstanding works devoted to this topic. The article also draws the reader’s attention to the book’s structure, for the recusationes play an essential role in it by marking its metaliterary nature. The article demonstrates that the elegies provide a testing ground for the poet to refine his poetic technique. In the elegies Kochanowski searches for different poetic solutions as he deals with different poetic genres, thereby striving to become a “total poet”, in the renaissance sense of this expression, i.e. a poet who does not confine himself to any single genre, believing that he is capable of facing all kinds of challenges when it comes to creating poetry.

The purpose of this article is to find Classical references in Jan Kochanowski’s amorous foricoenia, which have not yet been systematically studied. Scholars have focused on the meaning of the title Foricoenia (Szatyńska-Siemion) or on the ancient references (e.g. the presence of Terence in some epigrams or translations from Greek, researched by Głombiowska), but have not studied the amorous epigrams as a whole.

At the beginning I point out some topoi that are common to elegiac poetry (recusatio or the heroes treated like elegiac lovers). Firstly, I show that Kochanowski uses elegiac material and topoi in his epigrams, presenting to the reader a little epigrammatic Ars Amatoria, based on Ovid’s model. Secondly, he argues that even when Kochanowski translates epigrams from Greek, he chooses those that are more appropriate to his literary project, i.e. the “elegisation” of the epigrams. Conclusions: Kochanowski “elegises” his epigrams, first of all presenting a small Ars Amatoria and then writing his texts according to the elegiac tradition, both in terms of topoi and textual imitations.

After singling them out, I propose an interpretation of Kochanowski’s choices: I argue that he engages in a long-distance dialogue with Ovid’s Ars amatoria and more generally with the whole ancient amorous-elegiac tradition, which he sometimes denies. I give a few examples, starting from a comparison between Kochanowski’s epigram XVI and Ovid’s Remedia Amoris 501–502 and Ars amatoria I 45–48 (i.e. the hunter caught in his own nets). Epigram V, In puellas venetas, introduces a specific Ulysses, described as amorous, a lover rather than an epic hero, exactly as Ovid presented this character. Furthermore, writing epigram LXIX to his friend Torquato, Kochanowski assures him he can make people fall ill with love, as well as cure his friend of such a “disease”; similarly, Ovid teaches how to make people fall in love (Ars amatoria) and how to recover from love (Remedia amoris).