A Grief Observed: Cicero on Remembering Tullia

dc.contributor.authorBaltussen, J.
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractThis paper presents a new analysis concerning the grief of the Roman politician Cicero over the death of his daughter. I argue that existing characterisations suffer either from methodological weaknesses or from a misguided perspective on the appropriateness of the expression of grief emotions. I will suggest that the study of emotion in historical documents can benefit from a comparative analysis: personal accounts of the grieving process by highly literate individuals of the modern age can assist in characterising the nature of Cicero's grief, in particular how it transpires in his correspondence. Some modern insights into the grieving process will also serve as an analytical tool for an accurate description of the grief we find in his works. My analysis will be based mostly on reassessing the evidence in the letters during the early stages of his grief. This paper is part of a larger project (see Baltussen forthcoming-2b, 3) which aims to look at the consolation as a form of (psycho)therapy in antiquity and beyond
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityHan Baltussen
dc.identifier.citationMortality, 2009; 14(4):355-369
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/13576270903223747
dc.identifier.issn1357-6275
dc.identifier.issn1469-9885
dc.identifier.orcidBaltussen, J. [0000-0002-8262-1833]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/52635
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherCarfax Publishing Ltd
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/13576270903223747
dc.subjectCicero
dc.subjectgrief
dc.subjectchild death
dc.subjectself-consolation
dc.subjectcross-cultural comparison
dc.subjectpublic and private
dc.titleA Grief Observed: Cicero on Remembering Tullia
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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