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Ovid As An Epic Poet
In his study of the structure of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Professor Otis shows that the real unity of the poem is to be sought not in the linkage but in the order or succession of episodes, motifs and ideas. The poem is nothing less than what Ovid called it, a carmen perpetuum, a narrative poem with a real continuity achieved by a gradual shift of emotional emphasis through a long series of episodes arranged in an elaborate pattern. For this second edition of his study of the Metamorphoses, originally published in 1970, Professor Otis has written a new concluding chapter. He also takes account of the constructive reviews of the first edition and a number of important books that had been published in the years following its publication. Further, he has removed what had emerged as some ambiguities in his conclusions and made some correction of emphasis to his judgements.
460 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 28, 2017
Review of 1966 edition
A detailed analysis of Ovid's Metamorphoses, putting forth the argument that its convoluted structure follows an explicable plan, with its various sub-structures and many contrasting moods existing to strengthen that plan. The structure described is seductive and seems obvious once it's explained. The analysis itself follows an analogous plan where structures are explained, episodes are analyzed in several orders to elucidate that structure, always looking both backward and forward to past and future elements, but always moving forward.
There is a good amount of poetic analysis, but the focus is always on the development of the plan, and how style achieves that, often contrasting Ovid's narrative choices with his possible sources. The focus is quite uneven, with the author's judgement casting some stories as frivolities necessary to maintain the balance of the poem's plan, barely worthy of mention. This reaches an extreme in the last few chapters as the Ceyx-Alcyone story is given an entire chapter to itself, and the entire succeeding 4th section of the book is given one (smaller!) chapter. The analysis is critical at times, accusing Ovid of failing to integrate two incompatible themes of Love and Augustanism into a harmonious whole, but at the same time interpenetrating them with each other, the 4th section coming under particular fire.
The author makes some contentious claims, namely that the heroic/Augustan sections were the product of outside pressure on Ovid, and in an ideal world, would not have been written and contaminated the Love theme. The author makes a strong argument that the two themes are incompatible, but that this was not the mistake of Ovid in trying to combine but rather some outside pressure isn't obvious to me. He also claims that Ovid privileges hetero love over homo love, but I had a hard time seeing that in the text. Certainly there are more straight than gay loves in the poem, but that doesn't really prove anything. Maybe if I knew more about Ovid I would be able to see these things, but the case in this particular book isn't made well enough.
Overall, a highly enlightening guide.
A detailed analysis of Ovid's Metamorphoses, putting forth the argument that its convoluted structure follows an explicable plan, with its various sub-structures and many contrasting moods existing to strengthen that plan. The structure described is seductive and seems obvious once it's explained. The analysis itself follows an analogous plan where structures are explained, episodes are analyzed in several orders to elucidate that structure, always looking both backward and forward to past and future elements, but always moving forward.
There is a good amount of poetic analysis, but the focus is always on the development of the plan, and how style achieves that, often contrasting Ovid's narrative choices with his possible sources. The focus is quite uneven, with the author's judgement casting some stories as frivolities necessary to maintain the balance of the poem's plan, barely worthy of mention. This reaches an extreme in the last few chapters as the Ceyx-Alcyone story is given an entire chapter to itself, and the entire succeeding 4th section of the book is given one (smaller!) chapter. The analysis is critical at times, accusing Ovid of failing to integrate two incompatible themes of Love and Augustanism into a harmonious whole, but at the same time interpenetrating them with each other, the 4th section coming under particular fire.
The author makes some contentious claims, namely that the heroic/Augustan sections were the product of outside pressure on Ovid, and in an ideal world, would not have been written and contaminated the Love theme. The author makes a strong argument that the two themes are incompatible, but that this was not the mistake of Ovid in trying to combine but rather some outside pressure isn't obvious to me. He also claims that Ovid privileges hetero love over homo love, but I had a hard time seeing that in the text. Certainly there are more straight than gay loves in the poem, but that doesn't really prove anything. Maybe if I knew more about Ovid I would be able to see these things, but the case in this particular book isn't made well enough.
Overall, a highly enlightening guide.
June 4, 2020
The author is too ready to give his opinions on the level of quality of the work and the English translation that is used is awful. It's one of those that puts the Latin into BAD rhymes which frequently are only close to the meaning of the Latin. Definitely not as good as his work on Virgil.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews