Roma de amor y muerte : Eros y Thánatos en tres poetas latinos (Horacio, Virgilio, Propercio)

¿De qué modos se vinculan Eros y Thánatos en la poesía latina clásica? Catulo había fijado una primera expresión de tal vínculo. Los poetas del círculo de Mecenas, cada uno a su modo, renuevan el tema. Horacio intenta moderar el miedo a la muerte y el afán amoroso. Virgilio, por su parte, en sus versos sobre Orfeo y Eurídice, nos ofrece otra cifra del enigma: ni el mayor poeta y amante pudo rescatar de la oscuridad a su amada; pero la poesía con que cante su dolor sobrevivirá a la muerte de ambos. Propercio, finalmente, expresa la constante cercanía de amor y muerte; amar es sentir el fondo de la humana fragilidad. Sin embargo, no piensa él meramente en una perduración literaria; afirma que “son algo los manes", pues su amada Cintia, ya muerta, lo ha visitado. “Aun cruza las riberas del Hado un gran amor."

How are Eros and Thanatos linked in classic Latin poetry? A first expression of such link was fixed by Catullus. The poets within Maecenas's circle, each one in their own way, renew the topic. Horace tries to moderate the fear of death and love desires. Since death lurks around, it is sensible to enjoy the present love and not long for what is forbidden. Virgil, in turn, offers us another key to the enigma in his verses about Orpheus and Eurydice: not even the greatest poet and lover was able to rescue his beloved one from darkness; but the poems with which he sings his pain will survive the two lovers' death. Propertius, finally, expresses the constant proximity of both love and death; to love is to feel the depth of human frailty. However, he does not think merely about lasting in a literary way; he states that “manes are something", for his beloved Cynthia, already dead, has visited him. “Even the shores of Fate can be crossed by a great love".

Fil: Bekes, Alejandro.