Epics of Rome

It is often said that Ovid's is a 'Callimachean epic', in other words an episodic and aetiological poem which eschews big scale narratives. As we are now tow thirds of the way through this poem, it is worth considering the degree to which the Metamorphoses 'plays by the rules' of epic poetry. In this lecture we consider the techniques and conventions which place this poem in the epic genre - particularly the scenes of battle or conflict; as well as the literary techniques which mark this poem as a hybrid or parodic epic.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Epic poetry often features a hostile and punitive god, who forms a barrier to the hero’s journey, but the Metamorphoses takes the theme of vengeful gods to the extreme, as the divinities are paraded as cruel and petty. In addition, when the poem ventures into the world of mortals, tales of grotesque and bloody revenge are frequent. Ovid’s inspiration here is often tragic drama, but this lecture will also look at the connections with contemporary political events, such as Augustus’ unusual move to bring ‘Mars the Avenger’ into the city of Rome itself.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Epic poetry often features a hostile and punitive god, who forms a barrier to the hero’s journey, but the Metamorphoses takes the theme of vengeful gods to the extreme, as the divinities are paraded as cruel and petty. In addition, when the poem ventures into the world of mortals, tales of grotesque and bloody revenge are frequent. Ovid’s inspiration here is often tragic drama, but this lecture will also look at the connections with contemporary political events, such as Augustus’ unusual move to bring ‘Mars the Avenger’ into the city of Rome itself.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

On the surface Ovid’s Metamorphoses appears to question traditional gender norms, in particular those held about elite Roman men. Even women are given the opportunity to tell their own stories in the poem. Yet, the Metamorphoses is full of stories about violent rapes that effectively silence the voice of the victim. Moreover, women are often presented in two stereotyped roles: as lovers or mothers. This then raises the question of whether or not gender stereotypes about women are really contested in Ovid’s work, and it would seem that, as is often the case with Roman literature, which was almost always written by men, we then learn more about male views of women than we do about real women. This is not to say that gender is entirely stable in the Metamorphoses but that the work is ultimately concerned with the male gaze.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

On the surface Ovid’s Metamorphoses appears to question traditional gender norms, in particular those held about elite Roman men. Even women are given the opportunity to tell their own stories in the poem. Yet, the Metamorphoses is full of stories about violent rapes that effectively silence the voice of the victim. Moreover, women are often presented in two stereotyped roles: as lovers or mothers. This then raises the question of whether or not gender stereotypes about women are really contested in Ovid’s work, and it would seem that, as is often the case with Roman literature, which was almost always written by men, we then learn more about male views of women than we do about real women. This is not to say that gender is entirely stable in the Metamorphoses but that the work is ultimately concerned with the male gaze.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

When Virgil died in 19 BCE, the Aeneid became an instant classic, and even before his death references had been made to it in the works of other authors. In some ways it may have seemed impossible to write epic now – how could you follow up Virgil? The up and coming poet, Publius Ovidius Naso was working on quite a different form of poetry, and composed his love poems, the Amores around the time of Virgil’s death. Even in a different genre, Ovid cannot help but be aware of the Aeneid’s presence; but when he did come to write his own epic poem, he chose to give us an alternative to the traditional, monolithic narrative. The Metamorphoses deconstructs epic poetry and is a brilliantly daring composition in its own right.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

When Virgil died in 19 BCE, the Aeneid became an instant classic, and even before his death references had been made to it in the works of other authors. In some ways it may have seemed impossible to write epic now – how could you follow up Virgil? The up and coming poet, Publius Ovidius Naso was working on quite a different form of poetry, and composed his love poems, the Amores around the time of Virgil’s death. Even in a different genre, Ovid cannot help but be aware of the Aeneid’s presence; but when he did come to write his own epic poem, he chose to give us an alternative to the traditional, monolithic narrative. The Metamorphoses deconstructs epic poetry and is a brilliantly daring composition in its own right.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Virgil was undoubtedly very well-read: he had a deep knowledge of the epics of Homer and Ennius, as well as a myriad of other Greek and Roman poets. In this lecture, we shall look at the way that Virgil refers back to the literary tradition and what the effect of this is. In particular, we shall investigate Virgil’s intertextual use of earlier epic poets, as well as the way in which he infuses other genres, such as tragedy and erotic poetry into the Aeneid.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Virgil was undoubtedly very well-read: he had a deep knowledge of the epics of Homer and Ennius, as well as a myriad of other Greek and Roman poets. In this lecture, we shall look at the way that Virgil refers back to the literary tradition and what the effect of this is. In particular, we shall investigate Virgil’s intertextual use of earlier epic poets, as well as the way in which he infuses other genres, such as tragedy and erotic poetry into the Aeneid.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Virgil’s Aeneid is the first complete Latin epic which remains to us, and it is arguably the most important literary work we have from ancient Rome. Virgil lived at a time of enormous political and social upheaval: this lecture will address the ways in which Virgil’s poetry refers to contemporary events. We shall consider the much-discussed position of Virgil as pro- or anti-Augustan, and think about whether this terminology is relevant.

Copyright 2014 Rhiannon Evans / La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.