Słowa kluczowe
old woman
witch
magic
prophetess
divination
Horace
Ovid
Petronius
Apuleius
Jak cytować
Abstrakt
Word anus was used in a primarily negative sense to describe an old woman. Anus is usually presented as a libidinous and hideous hag who indulges in strong wine or practices black magic, mainly for erotic purposes. Though Latin literature brings as well examples of a different type of anus: goddesses assuming the shape of old women to guide or deceive the mortals and old prophetic women, inspired by the gods. Anus can be gifted with divine powers and secret knowledge. The paper traces the motif of anus as a witch or a divine woman on the basis of selected examples from the works of Horace, Ovid, Petronius, Apuleius and Silius Italicus.Bibliografia
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Mencacci 2006: F. Mencacci, Mala aetas nulla delenimenta invenit. Donne, uomini e vecchiaia nella letteratura latina, Firenze 2006.
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Rosivach 1994: V. Rosivach, Anus: Some Older Women in Latin Literature, „The Classical World” 88/2 (Nov. – Dec), (1994), 107–117.
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