Epic Succession and Dissension: Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.623-14.582, and the Reinvention of the Aeneid

232 Pages·2005·10.297 MB·English

by  Sophia Papaioannou

Sophia Papaioannou
Epic Succession and Dissension
w
DE
G
Untersuchungen zur
antiken Literatur und Geschichte
Herausgegeben von
Gustav-Adolf Lehmann, Heinz-Günther Nesselrath
und Otto Zwierlein
Band 73
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Epic Succession and Dissension
Ovid .Metamorphoses 13.623—14.582,
and the Reinvention of the eneid
by _
Sophia Papaioannou
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
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For Vasilis and Eudokia

Acknowledgments
Ever since I read Ovid's Metamorphoses in one continuous reading from
cover to cover for the very first time the summer after I received my PhD in
1998, the peculiar thematic choices that put together the narrative of Books
12-14, and their quirky treatment which I found so avant-garde caught my
attention. These three books alone I read four additional times in the same
summer. In the course of the following year my surprise and bewilderment
only grew at discovering how little attention classical scholarship has paid to
the 'little Aeneid' - even though this cluster constitutes the very first direct
critical reading of Vergil's poem and no less to its twin pair, the 'little Il-
iad'. The present volume partly fulfills a goal I set that summer, to justify
why Ovid's direct dialogue with each of his two great models in Metamor-
phoses 12-14 deserves in-depth and exclusive exploration. Simply put, the
pages that follow include arguments, which, firstly, explore the ingenuity of
the rationale behind Ovid's idionyncratic summary of the Aeneid·, and sec-
ondly, demonstrate that this first Aeneid adaptation both validates and
emulates the sophistication of the prototype. A second volume, currently
under preparation, is set to provide a close study of the structural and
metaliterary dynamics of the 'little Iliad'.
I began systematic research for this book four years ago, while teaching
at the University of Akron, in Akron, Ohio, and I wrote a first draft in the
course of the academic year 2002-2003. Thanks to the financial support of a
faculty research stipend from the University of Cyprus I spent most of the
summer of 2003 at Cambridge, and at that time the first complete draft of
the book was finished. Richard Hunter and the Staff of the Classics Faculty
Library extended their hospitality and assistance whenever needed; I am al-
ready looking forward to the opportunity for a second research visit there.
No less gracious hosts, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens,
the Biegen Library, and of course Stephen Tracy, held always an open door,
and offered a haven for uninterrupted research and writing, for several ex-
tended blocks of time in the last two years. The staff at the Bierce Library in
Akron and the efficiency of the OhioLink interlibrary system assisted tre-
Vlll Acknowledgments
mendously the earlier stages of my research, especially my hunt for the rele-
vant secondary literature. The University of Cyprus Central Library per-
sonnel proved no less obliging. Above all, my thanks go to the distinguished
colleagues in the profession who generously took the time to comment on
portions of this manuscript: first and foremost, Philip Hardie who gra-
ciously accepted to read and offer his judicious input on the entire manu-
script, and who generously provided a draft of a developing project, a com-
mentary on Metamorphoses 13-15. I have also greatly benefited from the in-
cisive comments and corrections of the two referees of the Untersuchungen
der antiken Literatur und Geschichte Series, Hans-Günther Nesselrath and
Otto Zwierlein. Michael Lipka and Richard Tarrant commented on individ-
ual chapters of the project, but also spent time discussing Ovid's artistry
with me. Alison Keith, Andreas Michalopoulos, and James O'Hara offered
penetrating suggestions upon reading an earlier version of chapter seven,
part of which was originally published as article in the Classical Quarterly.
Sarah Myers no less promptly and courteously sent a working draft of the
commentary on Metamorphoses 14 she is currently preparing. Christopher
Schabel, my colleague at the University of Cyprus, took valuable time from
his own research and kindly proofread the entire manuscript. On the part of
the publisher Sabine Vogt's immediacy in responding to and resolving all
my questions cannot be easily measured in words of gratitude. Needless to
say, any remaining errors in the book are my own responsibility.
I dedicate this book to my siblings.
Athens, January 2005
S.P.
Contents
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
Summary of the 'little Aeneid' (Ovid,Met. 13.623-14.582) 16
Chapter One Aeneads and Aniads:
Offering Politics and the Politics of Offerings, or Narrative Discourse
onAnius' Crater (Met. 13.681-701)
1. Introduction 19
2. The Ekphrasis, its Text and Context 20
3. The Theban Connection 26
4. The Aesculapius Parallel 32
Chapter Two Immortality and Mutability:
The Sibyl and the Power of Poetic Memory
1. Introduction 43
2. The Sibyl and Aeneas 46
3. The Sibyl and Rome 52
4. The Sibyl and Poetic Memory 60
5. The Sibyl's Echo 70
Chapter Three Centralizing the Marginal:
The Anamorphosis of Achaemenides
1. Introduction 75
2. Achaemenides' Literary Identity 79
3. The Dynamics of Hypertextuality 83
4. Performance and Metadiegesis 92
5. Metapoetics and Cultural Poetics 96
6. Spectator and Observer 98
7. Auctor and Actor 107
χ Table of Contents
Chapter Four Marginalizing the Central:
Macareus Anamnesis
1. Introduction 113
2. The Plight of Picus and the Quest for Dido 114
3. Looking for Dido 117
4. Picus' Plight: Torn Between Heaven and Hell 127
5. An Addendum 139
Chapter Five Experimentation on a Narrative Chain I:
Poetology, Epic Definition, and the Near-Swans of Diomedes
1. Introduction 143
2. Vergil's Diomedes and Ethics 145
3. Ovid's Diomedes and Metapoetics 146
4. The Avian Metamorphosis Context 149
5. The Near-Swans of Diomedes and the Swan-Chain 152
6. Swan Poetics and Epic Succession 157
Chapter Six Experimentation on a Narrative Chain II:
Vergilian Ships and Ovidian Nymphs, and a Play of Literary Identities
1. Introduction 167
2. The Transformed Nymphs and Diomedes 169
3. The Attachment to Ardea 180
Chapter Seven Epic Conclusion and Epic Closure:
The Fall of Ardea
Epic Conclusion and Epic Closure: The Fall of Ardea 187
Bibliography 199
Indexes 209