Ovid's Early Poetry: From his Single Heroides to his Remedia Amoris

238 Pages·2014·1.29 MB·English

by  Thea S. Thorsen

OVID’S EARLY POETRY
OvidisoneofthegreatestpoetsintheClassicaltraditionandWestern
literature.Thisbookrepresentsthemostcomprehensivestudytodate
of his early output as a unified literary production. First, the book
proposes new ways of organising this part of Ovid’s poetic career,
thechronologyofwhichisnotoriouslydifficulttoestablish.Next,by
combiningtextualcriticismwithissuesrelatingtomanuscripttrans-
mission,thebookdecisivelycountersargumentslevelledagainstthe
authenticityofHeroides15,whichconsequentlyallowsforarevalua-
tionofOvid’searlyoutput.Furthermore,byfocusingontheliterary
device of allusion, the book stresses the importance of Ovid’s single
Heroides1–15inrelationshipwithhisAmores1–3,Arsamatoria1–3and
Remediaamoris.Throughout,thebookidentifiesprinciplesofOvid-
ianpoeticsthatarefoundinhisearlypoetryandthatpointtowards
theworksofmythandexilethatfollowedinhislatercareer.
thea s. thorsen is Associate Professor of Latin at the Depart-
ment of Historical Studies at the Norwegian University of Science
and Technology. She is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to
LatinLoveElegy(2013)andGreekandRomanGamesintheComputer
Age(2012)andco-editor,withStephenHarrison,ofSapphoatRome:
ReceptionsfromLucretiustoMartial(forthcoming).Shehaspublished
numerousarticlesonGreekandRomanpoetryandprose,inNorwe-
gianandinEnglish,andshebecamethefirstpersontohavepublished
translationsofallofOvid’sloveelegiesintoNorwegianverse(2001–9).

OVID’S EARLY POETRY
From his single Heroides to his Remedia amoris
THEA S. THORSEN
NorwegianUniversityofScienceandTechnology,Trondheim
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
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©TheaS.Thorsen2014
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Thorsen,TheaSelliaas,author.
Ovid’searlypoetryfromhissingleHeroidestohisRemediaamoris/TheaS.Thorsen.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-04041-0(hardback)
1.Ovid,43b.c.–17a.d.or18a.d.–Criticismandinterpretation.
2.Latinpoetry–Historyandcriticism. I.Title.
pa6537.t47 2014
871(cid:2).01–dc23 2014023813
isbn978-1-107-04041-0Hardback
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IngerLouiseForselvinmemoriam

Contents
Acknowledgements pageviii
Abbreviations x
Notesontextsandtranslations xii
Introduction 1
1 DatingtheyoungOvid 9
2 OvidiansignaturesandthesingleHeroides 39
3 Beinglast–withthelatestnews 69
4 TheauthenticityofHeroides15 96
5 Sapphoamongheroines 123
6 Sapphicself-reflectionsinOvid’sAmores 147
7 Art,beingandnothingness:ArsamatoriaandRemediaamoris 171
Postscript:Thecreationofapoet 194
References 196
Generalindex 209
Indexlocorum 215
vii
Acknowledgements
IwishtothankStephenHarrison,whosupervisedmydoctoralthesisand
who,withhisacutelearnednessandpatientgenerosity,hashelpedmemore
thanwordscanexpressregardingthisproject.Hiswide-rangingscholarship
greatlyilluminatesclassicalstudies,andithasbeenanunbelievableprivilege
formetoenjoyhisenlighteningattentionwhileworkingonthisbook.
That doctoral thesis, Scribentis Imagines in Ovidian Authorship and
Scholarship (Thorsen 2007), explores theoretical aspects related to images
of the author in the case of Ovid. Largely based on the same material,
the present volume, which investigates the early poetry of Ovid, is an
entirelydifferentbook.ThecriticaladviceofferedbyAlessandroBarchiesi
and Alison Sharrock, the examiners of the doctoral thesis, represented
invaluableinputattheearlystagesofthisbook,andbothhavegenerously
continuedtohelpmethroughoutthisproject.Iremainexceedinglygrateful
tobothfortheirinspiringguidance.
SpecialthanksarealsoduetoanothertoweringfigureinOvidianstud-
ies,GianpieroRosati,whokindlyandlearnedlydiscussed,readandcom-
mented upon early drafts of this book. Profound thanks are furthermore
duetoMichaelReeve,whosharedwithmehisimmenseknowledgeregard-
ingmanuscriptsandbookhistory.ThanksarealsoduetoMichaelReevefor
puttingmeincontactwithErnestoStagni,towhomIremaingratefulfor
illuminating conversations and crucial new material. I also wish to thank
RichardHunterinparticularforenlighteningmewithhisfriendlyexper-
tiseofunmatchedsophisticationinthereceptionofGreekpoetryatRome.
Moreover,ChiaraEliseiandOlivierThe´venazmeritmyespecialgratitude
for generously providing me with me their published, unpublished and
forthcomingmaterial.SpecialthanksarealsoduetoØivindAndersenand
MonikaMurdochAsztalosforrepeatedlyconvincingmethatthishasbeen
a worthwhile project. Finally, I am particularly grateful to Martin Dinter
forallthefriendlyandskilfulenergyhehasspenthelpingmeconceptualise
thisbook.
viii