Optima Carme: A Reexamination of the Nurse in the Ciris

Abstract

This thesis examines the Ciris, a Pseudo-Vergilian epyllion of uncertain date, and analyzes the figure of the nurse Carme, a character who has largely been ignored in previous studies of the poem. The Ciris narrates the story of Scylla of Megara and how she betrayed her father, King Nisus, because of her love for Minos, King of Crete. While nurses are typical stock characters in Greek and Roman literature, I will show how the character of Carme becomes more than Scylla’s nurse. Although she embodies the qualities of many nurses from various genres before her, the Ciris poet also expands her role, briefly transforming an otherwise minor character into a second heroine.