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Ovid's Metamorphoses is a generic hybrid, being both one continuous epic poem (carmen perpetuum 1.4) and staying true to Callimachean principles of episodic, finely spun poetry (deducite 1.4). Covering around two hundred and fifty stories across the (more or less continuous) fifteen books, the multifaceted and complex narrative is necessarily characterised by fragmentation and segmentation. There has been much work on the narrative of the Metamorphoses and its complexity, but studies often focus on the poem's narrator(s) - often seeing the multiple internal narrators as in some way reflective of the aims of the single external one. Few studies embrace this narrative fragmentation, seeking to organise and compartmentalise the Metamorphoses' many discrete narrative parts. This study aims to build on the existing work on the poem's narrative with a particular and fresh focus on reading rather than upon narrating, analysing how readers negotiate and piece together the many fragments of narrative in Ovid's epic poem. This thesis, therefore, will explore how readers of Ovid's Metamorphoses are directed to construct meaning from its fragmented narrative, and I will explore this through examining instances of internal audiences, interpreters and readers. However, the instances of reading that I will examine within the text will not straightforwardly be focused on narratees and their responses and readings to internal narratives (though many instances will be, and of course this will bleed into other focuses). I will also be examining instances of fragmented bodies, as metaphors for the fragmented narrative of Ovid's epic poem, for specific clues as to how we might read Ovid's fragmented epic. Given that the Latin word corpus - much like the English word body - refers to both a physical and poetic body, I will take up the recurring etymological and metaphorical link between the physical and poetic body within the Metamorphoses, and demonstrate how physical bodies within the poem can be seen to act as metaphors for the poetic body. The connection between books and bodies is a material and physical one, and the word itself hints at fragmentation in wholeness too: Ovid's carmen perpetuum, is one continuous song, and yet it is composed of many different parts (or limbs). This link between physical bodies and poetic ones therefore offers a particularly pertinent way of examining the role of reading and interpreting texts in Ovid's epic poem. Examining the internal responses to (fragmented) physical bodies, as metaphors for poetic bodies, will therefore provide a potential model for how external readers of Ovid piece together meaning from its fragmented narrative( s). My investigation of how readers are directed to construct, deconstruct and reconstruct meaning(s) from the fragments of narrative and fragmented narratives within the Metamorphoses begins with the early books of the Tristia, looking there for an Ovidian model of reading and readership. The Tristia often recalls and revisits the Metamorphoses, and through this we are presented with a first, authorial reading of the epic. Within the Tristia there is an impetus and invitation for all readers, especially Augustus, to reread and revise their original interpretations of Ovid's Metamorphoses, highlighting the importance of retrospective reading. Therefore, through an examination of the reading processes presented in these early books of the Tristia, I hope to determine a methodological approach to reading fragmentation which I will use as a lens to retrospectively reread the Metamorphoses.

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The main purpose of this thesis is to establish a level of connection between the epic and satiric genres. The popularity of the epic genre was not always matched by its authors' talents, and the exclusively Roman satiric genre seems to have been one of a handful of genres that rose up as an alternative to the perhaps trite and conventional epic format. It will be shown that one of the techniques by which the satirists sought to replace the pre-eminent literary genre on the populace's reading lists with their own allegedly 'lesser' satiric poetry, involved the exploitation of various aspects familiar from the epic genre, but in an original and often unexpected way. This exploitation of epic material by the satirists can be seen in several different ways, and indeed many of these methods have been briefly pointed out by earlier commentators at specific points in the texts, or have even been discussed in their totality with regard to certain individual satirists. The innovation of this thesis will be to show that these different techniques, gathered together under the umbrella heading of 'exploitation of the epic realm', actually existed, to a greater or lesser extent, in each of the satirists' works, and should therefore be understood as a recurring motif which the satiric genre. The various elements of the epic realm that are exploited by the satirists will be systematically explored: beginning with simple opinions regarding the epic genre; building up through the satirists' utilisation of various stylistic and linguistic devices, recurring themes and motifs, and historical and mythological characters, that were usually associated with epic; then covering the satirists' frequent references to specific moments in earlier epic works, either through quotation or scenic parody; before climaxing with those satires that seem to have a wider epic framework and a 'heroic' central figure. The different levels of exploitation will also be discussed in each case: this can range from a serious and sincere appeal to the past that the epic genre represents, through a comical presentation of a stock satiric subject in ironically exaggerated epic terms, to a totally subversive parody of the epic genre itself.

John Dryden’s 1697 translation of Virgil’s Aeneid is often seen as the pinnacle of an English tradition that read the Roman poet in primarily political terms and sought to relate his epic to contemporary matters of state. The present thesis takes a different approach by examining Dryden’s influence on his eighteenth-century successors to determine, on the one hand, what they hoped to accomplish by retranslating the same original and, on the other hand, why none of them was able to match his success. Dryden’s impact as a stylistic (rather than an ideological) model was balanced not only against a newly emphasised ideal of literalism but also against a whole range of other creative forces that posed at least an implicit challenge to his cultural dominance. Chapter 1 demonstrates Dryden’s systematic refinement of the couplet form he inherited from his predecessors and draws on his theoretical writings to suggest how it can be seen as a key aspect of his particular approach to Virgil. Chapter 2 discusses Joseph Trapp’s blank verse Aeneid and its debt to Dryden’s couplet version; I will show that the translator’s borrowings from the precursor text run directly counter to his declared ambitions to remain faithful to Virgil. Chapter 3 focusses on Christopher Pitt, the Virgil translator who came closest to paralleling Dryden’s popular acclaim; encouraged by fellow men of letters, Pitt published his translation in gradually revised instalments that reflect Dryden’s growing influence over time. Alexander Strahan, the subject of Chapter 4, aligned himself with a parallel tradition of Miltonic renderings by absorbing numerous expressions from Paradise Lost into his blank verse translation of the Aeneid and frequently used them to foreground thematic connections between the two epics; however, his revisions, too, show him moving closer to Dryden as time went by. James Beresford, discussed in Chapter 5, stands out among the other Miltonic translators by virtue of giving his borrowings in quotation marks – a practice that will be illuminated in connection with the multidisciplinary work of the artist Henry Fuseli and the equally Mil-tonic Homer translation that William Cowper composed under the latter’s supervision. Chapter 6, finally, offers an analysis of William Wordsworth’s failed attempt at translating the Aeneid. Given that he was one of the key reformers of English poetry, Wordsworth’s return to the traditional couplet form at a later stage in his career is surprising, as is the fact that his style became more Drydenian the further he proceeded.

The primary purpose of this thesis is the establishing, in so far as that is possible, of the text of Book IV of Ovid's poem. For reasons explained more fully in Part I of the Introduction, the over-reliance of recent editors on the Lactantian MSS. has produced a text of a one-sided nature. The problem would have been more easily soluble if the manuscript-tradition itself of the poem had been stronger and less contaminated, if, to take an oversimplified hypothesis, an early Lactantian archetype could have been balanced against an early non-Lactantian archetype. As things are, however, contamination between MSS. is so widespread, and so unpredictable in its effects, that the truth may be preserved virtually anywhere, even in very few MSS. (see, for example, poma v.127, latebras v.407, and patriaeque vv.680 and 686, which I would regard, despite their slender attestation, as unquestionably correct) : it therefore follows that much is to be gained from the use, in establishing the text, of as many manuscripts as possible; the thesis has as its backbone my own collation of 203 MSS. I have considered it wise to collate again for myself manuscripts used by previous editors because of the very wide scale errors of reporting which have, with time, crept in (see Appendix II). In addition I have dealt, in Part II of the Introduction, and in some of the Appendices, with details of orthography, in order to establish, as nearly as one may from surviving evidence, Ovid's usage in matters of spelling. The Commentary deals largely with textual questions, its main purpose being to justify the choice of text, although other subjects are occasionally touched on (e.g. the Pyramus and Thisbe myth). Appendices deal with some matters of kindred interest.

This edition of the Historia Vie Hierosolimitane, a 12th century Latin epic poem by Gilo of Paris and a second, anonymous, poet, is based on a critical examination of the text as it is found in all the known MSS which contain the work, the relations of which are discussed and a stemma established. All variants found in the MSS are listed in an apparatus criticus at the foot of each page of the text. A survey of the orthographical variants of the MSS is also included. Notes on linguistic, literary and historical features found in the poem are detailed, together with maps and indexes. Stylistic features of the poem are examined in a prefaratory essay, and earlier works which may have influenced the poets are noted in an apparatus fontium. An examination is made of the authorship and date of the work, together with a study of the life of the known poet, Gilo of Paris. There is a tentative survey of the inter-relationships of the various primary sources of information on the First Crusade, both Latin and vernacular, and note has been taken of critical work done in this field. Special emphasis is placed on the position of Gilo and of the Charleville poet in the relationships of the different sources, and their debt to them. All work is my own, unless specifically attributed to another source. This research was undertaken with the assistance of grants from the Central Research Fund of the University of London.

In a literary era seemingly obsessed with transgression, Valerius’ own interest in the theme should come as no surprise. For the Romans, the Argo was the first ship in existence; thus the entire Argonautic enterprise is underpinned with transgression. This study sets out to interrogate the complex ways in which Valerius engages with transgression, offering new readings of his Argonautica in the process. He presents a world where expected boundaries are tested, or entirely collapsed, and where the characters and the narrator, grasping for something familiar upon which to hold, are left wanting. This thesis focuses on three major areas of enquiry, all fruitful in making useful conclusions when thinking about transgression in Valerius Flaccus. Firstly, the location of Jason and Medea’s wedding on the island of Peuce is examined, a seemingly insignificant departure from Apollonius Rhodius’ narrative. In fact, a number of transgressive issues are conflated at the point at which their marriage begins, enhancing the sense of unease at the union. The second section springs from the transgressive nature of Peuce’s landscape itself, in that caves, whilst suitable for weddings and sometimes the site of rapes, are often the home of monsters. Monsters pervade the text, appearing at familiar junctures (such as the Harpies, Amycus, and the sown men), but also at unexpected moments, where, for example, gods display monstrous characteristics. The ocular activity of ‘real’ monsters is shown to foreshadow the same curious phenomenon in Medea herself. She is revealed to be a potently transgressive character, and in assuming the hybrid role of character in the work and Muse, she is able to step out of the poem into a position of narrative control. The final section considers the technological aspects of Valerius’ poem against a background of science fiction receptions of the Argonautic myth, all of which are particularly concerned with exploring ideas of technological advance. Modern science fiction writers such as H. G. Wells and Robert J. Sawyer ‘use’ Argonautic themes, imagery and motifs in their work to routinely explore the hazards of progress. These modern receptions allow us to revisit the ancient material Valerius’ Argonautica, and to see that a world without boundaries is not a consequence-free world, since the far-reaching ramifications of technological advance are brought sharply into focus when read through the ‘lens’ of science fiction. The Argonautica, a poem rich in transgressive themes, is a work which poses more questions than it answers. In that final quality, the significance and potency of its transgression is revealed.

This thesis is an examination of the extant psychological treatises of Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, the ninth century A.D. Arab scholar who was among the first of his race to interest himself in strictly philosophical questions. Al-Kindi's writings were among the first fruits of the translation of Greek philosophical and scientific works into Arabic. It is under that aspect that this thesis approaches his views on soul and intellect - as an instance of the passage of Greek philosophical ideas to the Muslim Arabs. Apart from his specifically Islamic position on the nature and value of divine revelation, nearly all of al-Kindi's ideas on psychology can be traced to Greek sources, and the version of that philosophy with which he was directly familiar was that of the late Greek schools. This thesis is an attempt to understand and present al-Kindi's psychology in the light of the Greek sources from which it was derived.