Christopher Meldrum and Dr. Cecilia Peek, Classics and Comparative Literature

Written around 8 A.D., the Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) is considered a classic of both Roman and World culture. It holds a unique place in Classical literature, which has caused it to remain an object of focused interest in the academic community. Although Ovid declares it to be an epic, it nevertheless displays several striking differences in style and composition from traditional epics such as Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. The text of the Metamorphoses is also intriguing to scholars because many of the myths it contains do not follow the traditional accounts given in other ancient sources. They have instead been changed to fit some purpose unexplained by the author. Scholars have long debated the intent and purpose of these changes. This Office of Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) funded project has produced an Honors Thesis that discusses the Metamorphoses as Ovid’s poetic response to a debate that had existed since the Hellenistic Era and as an acclamation of his own skill as a poet.

The Hellenistic debate that Ovid was responding to was initiated by two literary factions. The first, led by Callimachus, preferred the elegiac genre because of its shorter length, approach to lighter subject matter, and adaptability for innovation. The second faction, represented by Apollonius of Rhodes, felt that imitation of the Homeric corpus was the best way to demonstrate poetic ability. Epic works were long, filling several volumes, and dealt with weighty subjects. Ovid’s own works were heavily influenced by the artistic tenants espoused by Callimachus and his followers among Rome’s Neoteric poets. Ovid subscribed to the Callimachean idea of the doctus poeta or skilled poet, who adroitly alludes back to the works of his literary predecessors in order to establish his own position of literary greatness. He also favored the lighter genera of elegiac poetry over the heavier topics of epic. Like his Callimachean predecessors, Ovid was extremely self aware as a poet. He was confident in his own talents and abilities and recognized his popularity among Roman literary circles. As he himself admitted, he relished his fame and continually sought for more through poetic innovations. In his poetry, Ovid frequently expresses a preoccupation with achieving literary greatness. This aspiration is especially reflected in his self-proclaimed masterpiece, the Metamorphoses.

In the introduction of the Metamorphoses, Ovid establishes three perspectives from which the work should be viewed: thematically, literarily, and personally. The first perspective is the poem’s overarching theme, transformation and change. This is demonstrated throughout the work as Ovid tells various myths about metamorphosis. What is interesting about Ovid’s choice of metamorphosis as his theme is that it can represent, among other things, an act of poetic creation. Thus Ovid intends his work not only to be about bodies physically changed into new forms but, more particularly, about the act of poetic creation and literary composition. The second perspective Ovid prescribes is as a meta-poetic discussion concerning the rules and expectations of different styles of literary genera. He indicates to his audience that he will be offering his own opinion about the merits of epic and elegy. His work acts as a hybrid between the two styles, combining elements of both genera into one new whole. The third perspective is that the work will be primarily about Ovid and his own poetic abilities. He conveys this through the very personal tone of the prologue and in the opening lines of the first narrative of the work, the creation episode. Here he consciously alludes to a scene from Apollonius’s epic, the Argonautica, in which the mythic bard Orpheus sings a creation story in order to quell a fight and commence the voyage of the legendary Argo. By creating this reference, Ovid tells his audience that he will be embarking in new, innovative poetic waters that will settle the dispute between elegy and epic. He then ties this allusion to the epilogue, creating a frame for his work so that it is perceived as the poem which Orpheus sings on that historic occasion. Through this frame, Ovid further suggests that he, as the narrator of the poem, has skills and abilities similar to the legendary bard. He is in effect declaring himself the literary successor of the archetypal poet of Greek Mythology. When these three perspectives of the poem are combined together, one of the central messages of Ovid’s work becomes clear. The Metamorphoses will be about the change and transformation of literary styles as Ovid seeks to demonstrate the approach necessary to achieve his sought for poetic immortality.

The discussion of the change and transformation of literary genera is carried on throughout the body of the Metamorphoses in the various depictions of artisans. Ovid presents these mythic creators as a form or type of himself, endowing them with many of his own traits and their works with those of his own literary creation. Arachne and Orpheus are both presented as elegiac artisans whose creations have themes of change and love that closely correspond with many episodes in the Metamorphoses. Likewise, the figure of Daedalus is presented as creating a labyrinth which combines elements of elegiac and epic poetry in a meta-poetic fashion. By comparing these instances to the creation episode it becomes apparent that the creator can also be viewed as an archetype of the poet. When all of these stories are examined together, Ovid’s central message of the work becomes more comprehensible. In the episodes of Arachne, Orpheus and Daedalus each of the artists possesses a unique level of fame and reputation in their art. However, despite that fame, each of them suffers a tragedy related to their art which brings about their downfall. They fail to achieve the immortality which Ovid so earnestly sought. This is not the case in the creation episode. There the creator forms man from his divine essence and instructs him to stand erect and look to the stars. When this command is examined with the unique use of the stars in the Metamorphoses as symbols of progression and divinity, the mandate lends a whole new understanding to the episode. It implies an obligation on the part of man to work, in whatever form, to achieve a place in that higher state among the divine objects he is directed to look towards. This interpretation has far reaching implications for understanding one of the chief literary messages at the end of the Metamorphoses.

In the conclusion of the poem, Ovid explains to his audience how his work will help him to achieve poetic immortality. He does this by infusing his persona into his creation, mimicking the act of the creator at the beginning of the work. In using this means to describe his apotheosis, Ovid suggests that he is the one that completes the creator’s command at the beginning of the book. He returns to his place among the gods. This idea is strengthened by the frame of the Metamorphoses, which depicts Ovid as the orphic figure of the Argonautica. Ovid as Orpheus is successful in conquering death through his unique poem which mixes elements of the elegiac and epic genera. He succeeds in achieving the poetic immortality that the other artists in his work fail to do. Ovid proclaims himself to be a master poet and rightfully takes his place among the literary stars.