No description available.

This dissertation investigates the rescript of Narcissus and Pentheus episodes in Ovid’s "Metamorphoses" as published in 1545 by German author Jörg Wickram (met. III, 339-510 / W. III, 840-1239; met. III, 511-733 / W. III, 1240-1416). The text is a remake of Albrecht von Halberstadt’s corrupted work dating back to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, of which only five fragments survived. While there is an established interest among Classics scholars in Ovid’s reception in the U.K., France, and Italy, there is a paucity of research in Germany. Indeed, there are currently no translations, even in contemporary German, of Wickram’s poem, which has thus been largely ignored. Motivated by this gap in the literature, I translate and analyze Wickram’s transcript to discredit the alleged decline of classical humanism in 16th-century Germany and to examine the role of antiquity in the genesis of modern cultural identities. Additionally, I examine the commentary on Wickram’s "Metamorphoses" written by Gerhard Lorichius, a 16th-century priest of the city of Hadamar (Hessen), which provides meaningful insights into the first German example of moralization of the "Metamorphoses". Lorichius’s commentary, published in Roloff’s modern edition (1990), which includes the 1545 editio princeps of the text (A) and the 1551 edition (B) in apparatus, explains the Latin fabulae from a Christian perspective. The commentator illustrates pagan mythology, omitting and defusing Ovid’s representation of ‘indecencies.’ In the conclusive chapter, I highlight how this work contributes to the literature on the Ovidian reception during the Reformation in Germany and, more broadly, across Europe.

Since her first appearances, Venus has captivated the minds of poets. Her depictions in poetry are tied to each generation’s ideals of sexuality and beauty, and as morals and expectations of female behaviour change, so too do portrayals of the goddess. This thesis examines the shifting portrayals of Venus in poetry during a time of great social upheaval: the age of Augustus. The social and moral discourse of the period influenced the portrayals of Venus as the post-Civil War generation grappled with the newfound peace, a staunchly moralistic emperor who claimed descent from the goddess, and a series of legislations that reshaped the image of an ideal Roman woman. While the age of Augustus is overflowing with Latin poets, this thesis will dedicate itself to three: Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. Within their works, we can see the importance of the goddess’ portrayals and how their evolution can reflect Rome’s social, political, and moral climate. Vergil presents a transformed goddess, a morally upstanding mother who engages in the political and domestic spheres. Horace stands on the precipice of change, his Venus straddling the edges of elegy and epic. He recognizes and responds to a political, Augustan goddess before returning to more traditional elegiac matters. Our final source, Ovid, is seemingly traditional in his portrayals of the goddess. Closer examination of his works, however, reveals how Ovid’s Venus transformed from the traditional goddess of love and sexuality to become an empress in her own right. After the introduction of the lex Julia and Augustus’ portrayals of the goddess, the poets of his age used Venus as an exemplum of moral (or immoral) behaviour, motherhood, and dynastic pursuit.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>This thesis offers a consideration of Ovid’s portrayal of Medea - in <em>Heroides</em> 6 and 12, <em>Metamorphoses</em> 7, and in <em>Tristia</em> 3.9. Although several scholars have examined the myth as Ovid presents it, no one has yet offered a literary appreciation of Ovid’s various accounts of the myth – one that examines his use of characterization, humour, audience response, and one that treats his Medea as a consistent, albeit complex, character.</p> <p>The first chapter focuses on the sources for Ovid’s Medea, the ways he makes changes and, as far as we can tell, innovations to his predecessors. The second begins with a general introduction to the <em>Heroides</em>, followed by a close reading of <em>Heroides</em> 6, showing how this letter is an oblique reference to Medea’s letter and myth, and I point out the links between the two poems, arguing that Hypsipyle’s letter must be read as a foreshadowing of Medea’s. The third chapter examines <em>Heroides </em>12 – Medea’s letter - where I concentrate on Ovid’s characterization of Medea and specifically look at elements of black humour and foreshadowing. The fourth – and longest – chapter deals with the Medea of the <em>Metamorphoses</em>, where I propose that the real metamorphosis of this story is Medea herself, who moves from the state of an innocent young girl to that of a witch, yet noting that all of the changes take place within a work that is marked by its sense of playfulness – its <em>perpetua festivitas</em> – and note Ovid’s use of wit and irony even as his characterization appears to grow dark. The fifth and final chapter deals with the Medea in Ovid’s <em>Tristia</em>, where I place the Medea of this work within the context of Ovid’s exile poetry, while showing that he is working with a complex character and is in no way contradicting himself.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>This study examines the reputation and influence of Ovid's Metamorphoses in Augustan England in order to show the persistence of the allegorical reading of the poem. Although the ultimate purpose of the study is to shed light on the interpretation of Restoration and eighteenth--century poetry, such a direct application of the metamorphic tradition to the reading of the verse cannot be undertaken before the critical position of the Metamorphoses in the intellectual and artistic milieu of the period has been determined. Because it is my contention that Ovid's poem continued to be read in the Augustan age in much the same way that it had been in the Renaissance, the study begins with an analysis of the relationship between classicism and Renaissance humanism and the way in which this relationship affected Restoration and early eighteenth century thought and writing. From there, the study briefly reviews the sixteenth and seventeenth century thought on the Metamorphoses and, then branches into Augustan criticism, prefaces, translations, editions and handbooks which discuss Ovid's poem and which are written by British authors and continental writers who influenced British thought. It has sometimes been assumed that the Metamorphoses died an early death in the Augustan age because of the travesties of the poem and because of Addison's seeming disavowal of allegorization; therefore, I have tried to correct this assessment by a comprehensive analysis of the materials of the period.</p> <p>The study shows that while the critics have been correct in their belief that science and antiquarianism, along with a certain hatred of heathenism and narrowly defined sexual mores, caused the popularity of the Metamorphoses to wane in the eighteenth century, the poem still held a considerable prestige among writers and artists until 1750. Garth's 1717 Preface to the Metamorphoses, from which authors borrow freely until Boyse's New Pantheon (1753), is the seminal essay on Ovid's poem for the early eighteenth century, and his allegorical reading of the poem and appreciation of Ovid's wit are representative attitudes toward the poem. By 1750, however, Ovid's classic began to be questioned by men like Spence because it deviated from the true picture of the heathen mythology, and, consequently, the Metamorphoses in the later eighteenth century become the sole realm of schoolboys. While historians like Banier and Boyse believe the Metamorphoses to be significant in the early century, by 1750 the historians, too, sought more authentic materials, but writers clung to Ovid as a poetical model and moral teacher at least until that time. Allegory justified the continued usage of Ovid artistically and morally, and ubiquitous use of the Metamorphoses in Augustan poetry testifies to its popularity and significance.</p> <p>A careful examination of the comments on the Metamorphoses indicates that the truths that critics may gather about the scientific progress of an age are not always applicable to the artistic situation of the times. Furthermore, to confirm a thesis, one must go beyond the mere perusal of a few works of the period. In the case of Ovid, Addison's disparaging comment on the allegorization in Ross's Mystagogus Poeticus has been taken as the damaging evidence against the allegorical iv reading of the Metamorphoses, whereas Addison intends his criticism mainly for "mystical" allegory. By a careful study of a number of eignteenth-century works a clearer and more valid picture emerges. The importance of such a study for literary purposes lies in its applicability to the poetry of the period, As I have tried to argue in the last chapter of this thesis, Ovidian matter is not a mere window-dressing for frivolous poems, but an integral part of the structure and meaning. By applying the moralized reading of the Metamorphoses to allusions in poems such as Astraea Redux or The Dunciad and to the metamorphic patterns in such poems as Claremont, The Fan and "Eloisa to Abelard", I have discovered in Augustan verse a moral texture which the well-read poets submerged in subtle allusions, not immediately apparent from a casual reading of the poems. Although travesties and burlesques of Ovid's Metamorphoses were published in the eighteenth century, his master work continued to be regarded a major poetic document, and even those poets who used his work for the purpose of travesty often did so to make a serious point.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation traces the influence of Pygmalion myth as told by Ovid as a foundational narrative on the works of Shakespeare. Shakespeare in turn transmits this influence through theatre history to the modern day. A feminist inquiry into this master narrative reveals the pervasive and insidious effect it continues to have in culture beyond the stage and screen.