Propertius 3.10

Abstract Like a typical festschrift, Propertius 3.10—a work for Cynthia on the occasion of her birthday—offers not just a celebration of the honorand but also an opportunity for the author to reflect on the honorand’s influence on their work. However, just as the poem looks not only to the beginning of Propertius’ relationship with Cynthia, but also by various means to its end, it will be argued that it also reflects intra- and inter-textually on those who have competing claims on Propertius’ inspiration, rivals from both Greece and Rome, past and present, poets and would-be patrons. At the heart of the poem, Propertius urges Cynthia to pray that her beauty—and thus her influence on Propertius—remains eternal: this chapter also explores how through anagrams, acrostics, and allusive play with Callimachus, Catullus, and Tibullus, Propertius evokes themes of marriage, childlessness, and the passing of time, all of which threaten to expose the futility of Cynthia’s prayer and the fragility of her relationship with Propertius, both as lover and as muse.