Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Heroides (Ovid)'

My dissertation explores several topics recurring throughout Ovid’s single Heroides. When, how, and why does Ovid restructure tragic, epic, or pastoral stories into elegy? How do his heroines deal with their lovers starting relationships with new women, and what method of coping with abandonment is the most effective? What is the role of magic in the Heroides, what rules does it follow, and who uses it successfully? How does Ovid capitalize on the connection between elegy and lament, and which heroines does he use to do so? Finally, what is the role of writing in the Heroides, how does Ovid use the character of Sappho in the collection, and how does the Sappho epistle help readers interpret the rest of the Heroides? The letters of Briseis (3), Phaedra (4), Hermione (8), and Oenone (5) transform previously epic, tragic, and pastoral worlds and inhabitants into elegiac contexts to show how they wish their men to accept the role of the elegiac lover. Ovid uses these reclassifications to explore the boundaries of elegy and show how thorough knowledge of audience and the genre are necessary for success. Oenone (5), Hypsipyle (6), Deianira (9), and Medea (12) each see their lovers replace them with another woman; Ovid uses their different methods—emulating the new woman’s qualities, attempting to regain the lover’s affection, and seeking revenge—to discover which approach will achieve its desired purpose. Ovid’s construction of magic as a practical tool is established in the letter of Medea (12), and can be applied to the epistles of Deianira (9), Hypsipyle (6), and Laodamia (13) to interpret the magical practices in those epistles. Ovid explores a different facet of the elegiac genre by using the traditional link between elegy and epitaph in the letters of Phyllis (2), Dido (7), and Hypermnestra (14), but alludes to it in the epistles of Canace (11), Ariadne (10), and Deianira (9) to bridge the gap between literary characters and his readers’ reality. Finally, the Sappho epistle (15) provides a tool for interpreting both the individual letters of the Heroides and Ovid’s own concerns. By using the famous poetess as one of his heroines, Ovid connects himself and his reputation to hers. His character Sappho provides a lens through which we can examine all of the heroines who are at a crisis point, a metaphorical cliff’s edge, as they write.

O trabalho analisa as possíveis relações intratextuais entre as primeiras quatorze epístolas que formam o corpus das Heroides de Ovídio. Estas relações permitem ao leitor entendêlas não apenas como um mero conjunto de monólogos travestidos em um formato epistolar (Auhagen, 1999, p. 90), mas como peças que ganham significado à luz de outras. As relações surgem em função do caráter exemplar das heroínas, paradigmático de um determinado tipo de comportamento. No diálogo intratextual, a exemplaridade permite a configuração mútua destas mulheres e suas epístolas. Considerando que o próprio Ovídio, no livro 3 da Ars amatoria, recomenda a suas discípulas ler sua coleção de epístolas e que ele se refere a essas mulheres em diferentes ocasiões como exempla do fracasso na ars amandi, o corpus pode ser entendido como uma série de exempla para o leitor, complementares ao propósito didático da Ars amatoria. Em razão da falta de uma ars amandi, a maioria das heroínas fracassam ao tentar convencer seus amantes a voltar. Portanto, o leitor recebe as epístolas como um grande exemplum daquilo que não deve ser feito e como justificativa da necessidade de um praeceptor. A confluência dos gêneros elegíaco e epistolar possibilita que as epístolas sejam um meio apropriado para transmitir um exemplum, por causa do caráter didático de ambos os gêneros.
This research analyses the possible intratextual relation between the first fourteen epistles of Ovids Heroides. These relations allow the reader to understand them not only as unconnected monologues brought together under the form of epistles (Auhagen, 1999, p. 90), but also as collection of poems that have meaning when read in the light of the others. The relations emerge because of the heroines exemplary character, paradigmatic of a certain behavior. In the intratextual dialogue, the exemplarity enables the mutual configuration of the women and their epistles. Considering that Ovid himself, in the third book of his Ars, recommends to read his collection of epistles and that he also refers to these women as exempla of failure in the art of love, the whole collection can be understood as a series of exempla that complement the didactic purpose of the Ars amatoria. Because of their lack of ars amandi, most of the heroines fail in trying to convince their lovers to come back to them. Therefore, the reader receives the epistles as an exemplum of what should not be done and as a justification for the need of a praeceptor. The overlapping of the elegiac and the epistolary genres enables the letter to be an appropriate mean to convey an exemplum, due to the didactic features of both genres.

A poesia de João Rodriguez de Sá de Meneses e João Rodriguez de Lucena preservadas no Cancioneiro Geral de Garcia de Resende colocou em evidência a presença da cultura clássica tão constante no imaginário quinhentista português. Esses poetas fizeram traduções de algumas das famosas epístolas de heroínas míticas como Penélope, Enone, Laudâmia e Dido , aos seus amados ausentes. Esse conjunto de cartas é conhecido como Heroides, do poeta romano Ovídio, poeta elegíaco que foi responsável, entre outras coisas, por ter servido de modelo para muito do que se produziu depois na Idade Média e Renascimento. A Imitação e a Tradução eram mecanismos frequentes naquela época e foram usadas com maestria nas traduções desses poetas do Cancioneiro. O porquê da escolha de determinadas cartas e não de todas também é relevante, já que se tratava do momento das navegações e, portanto, necessitava-se acalmar o coração das damas que permaneceram em terras lusitanas à espera de seus amados ausentes. E ainda, propor a elas um modelo de comportamento.
The poetry of João Rodriguez de Sá de Meneses and João Rodriguez de Lucena preserved in Garcia de Resendes Cancioneiro Geral puts in evidence the presence of the classical culture so constant at the cinquecentist Portuguese imaginary. These poets translated some of the famous epistles of mythical heroines - like Penelope, Oenone, Dido and Laodomia -, to their loved missing ones. This set of epistles are known as Heroides, from Ovid, the elegiac Roman poet who was responsible, among other things, to have served as a model for much of what was produced after in the Middle Age and Renaissance. Imitation and Translation were recurrent mechanisms at that time and were employed with propriety at the translations of those poets of the Cancioneiro. The reason why those determinate epistles were chosen and not all of them is also relevant, because it was the moment of navigation so, therefore, was necessary pacify the hearts of the ladies that stayed in Portuguese lands waiting for their lovers. And still, propose a model of conduct to those ladies.

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Públio Ovídio Nasão (43 a. C. - 17 d. C) foi um dos autores mais versáteis e prolíficos do período augustano da Literatura Latina, deixando-nos como legado uma obra que abarca desde elegias que cantam aventuras e decepções amorosas ou lamentam o exílio, a poemas didáticos ou de caráter etiológico. Em meio aos primeiros escritos do autor encontram-se as Heroides, coleção de 21 elegias epistolares, tradicionalmente dividida em duas séries: a primeira formada por correspondências nas quais heroínas lendárias remetem súplicas ou lamentos aos amados distantes; a segunda, por trocas de cartas entre célebres casais do mito. Escrito provavelmente entre 20 e 16 a.C., o conjunto de poemas destaca-se pela forma com que foi composta, na qual se juntam ao gênero epistolar, elementos e metro próprios da elegia amorosa romana e uma escrita que revela traços da retórica cultuada na época. E, se por um lado, não se pode afirmar categoricamente que Ovídio seja o pioneiro a valer-se de tal mescla de gêneros, uma vez que Propércio já havia utilizado o modo epistolar anteriormente no terceiro poema a integrar o livro IV de sua obra elegíaca, por outro lado, sabe-se que é pela arte ovidiana que o formato é largamente desenvolvido e ganha status de coleção, inovando, ainda, ao buscar na tradição literária a voz presente em cada uma das correspondências. Ao se levar em consideração a singularidade proporcionada por esse entrecruzamento de gêneros e estilo de escrita, tem-se um produtivo foco de estudo, uma vez que a forma possibilita a identificação de conceitos ligados tanto às poéticas e como aos estudos retóricos desenvolvidos na Antiguidade, e os respectivos efeitos que causam na tessitura poética das epístolas. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo, além de reunir informações sobre as Heroides e dos componentes de sua arquitetura literária, analisar os recursos retórico-poéticos que participam da construção da primeira epístola que integra a obra, “De Penélope a Ulisses”, a fim de entender, por meio do próprio poema, a peculiaridade da construção da coleção de cartas e destacar a expressividade poética do texto.
Publius Ovidius Naso, more commonly known as Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE), was one of the most versatile and prolific writers of the Augustan period of Latin literature. His legacy ranges from elegies that talk about love adventures and disisllusions or lament exile to didatic or etiological poems. Among the first works of this writer are the Heroides, a collection of twenty-one poems in epistle form, traditionally divided into two series. The first consists of letters in which legendary heroines send their entreaties and laments to their distant loved ones, and the second of letters exchanged between famous mythical couples. Possibly written between 20 and 16 BCE, this collection of poems stands out for its composition, which combines the epistle form, elements and metrics characteristic of Roman love elegies, and a writing style that shows traces of the rhetoric celebrated at the time. And, if on one hand, it cannot be categorically said that Ovid is a pioneer in using this mix of genres, since Propertius had already used the epistle form in the third poem in Book IV of his elegiac work, on the other hand, it is widely known that it was through the art of Ovidius that the genre developed and gained a collection status. Ovid also brought new innovation to the epistolary genre by seeking in the literary tradition the voice present in each letter. A productive study can be made of the uniqueness of this crossing of writing genres and styles, since the form allows for the identification of concepts associated both with the poetics and with the rhetorical studies developed in antiquity, and the respective effects that they have on the poetic process of the epistles. Therefore, in addition to gathering information on the Heroides and the components of their literary architecture, this study aims to analyze the rhetorical-poetic resources that aided in writing the first epistle, “Penelope to Ulysses,” in order to understand, through the poem itself, the peculiarity of the construction of this collection of letters, and to highlight the poetic expressiveness of the text.

Le présent travail propose une étude diachronique des tragédies d’argument ovidien parues en France entre la moitié du XVIe et la fin du XVIIe siècle, ainsi qu’une étude ciblée des tragédies dont le sujet est tiré du recueil des Héroïdes.La littérature française de ces époques, on le sait, est liée intimement à l’œuvre d’Ovide : non seulement les écrits du poète connaissent une diffusion extraordinaire, mais leurs traductions, réécritures et imitations, leurs adaptations théâtrales et leurs transpositions figuratives sont légion. La diffusion et l’appropriation des œuvres d’Ovide ont contribué à la naissance de nouveaux genres littéraires et ont donné lieu à l’émergence de phénomènes d’émulation qui ont nourri notamment l’élaboration de l’esthétique galante et élégiaque dans la seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle, ainsi que Marie-Claire Chatelain l’a montré. Le caractère extrêmement capillaire et stratifié de la présence d’Ovide dans la culture française, par conséquent, impose la plus grande prudence.L’étude des tragédies d’argument ovidien montre, tout d’abord, que les auteurs ont la tendance à ne pas afficher leurs dettes envers Ovide dans leurs textes liminaires, en préférant mentionner des auteurs anciens considérés comme plus prestigieux. Pourtant, surtout dans la première moitié du XVIIe siècle, les cas d’imitation proche du modèle sont nombreux. Certes, l’étendue généralement modeste des morceaux poétiques qu’Ovide accorde aux mythes qu’il développe dans ses œuvres implique un travail d’amplificatio imposant, dans lequel l’intertexte ovidien peut finir par se délayer. Par ailleurs, les contraintes que le passage de genre impose aux dramaturges entraînent des changements non seulement aux niveaux de l’elocutio et de la dispositio mais aussi de l’inventio : tout n’est pas représentable sur la scène tragique française et, inversement, certains éléments qui peuvent manquer dans une épître ou un récit d’Ovide ne peuvent pas faire défaut dans une pièce théâtrale de certaines époques. La production de pièces de sujet ovidien est considérable dans les années 1620-1630 ; elle connaît une baisse remarquable dans les années 1640-1660, pour remonter à partir des années 1670 : l’essor de la tragédie lyrique, souvent de sujet métamorphique, entraîne la production de tragédies du même sujet par une dynamique d’émulation.Si l’influence des Héroïdes sur le théâtre tragique français est souvent tenue pour certaine, aucune étude systématique n’avait été menée pour le vérifier jusqu’à présent. Nous avons retenu, dans notre corpus, seulement les pièces traitant des héroïnes et des héros du recueil. Dans la première partie du XVIIe siècle on assiste généralement à des pratiques d’imitation proche du modèle ; au fil du siècle, en revanche, les auteurs prennent de plus en plus les distances du texte ovidien, en s’inspirant davantage des pièces de leurs prédécesseurs français. Environ la moitié des Héroïdes ne connaît pas de transposition théâtrale, et dans le cas de plusieurs personnages (Phèdre, Didon, Médée) les auteurs de théâtre négligent les relectures élégiaques proposées par Ovide en privilégiant les sources anciennes tragiques et épiques.Sans avoir la prétention de fournir des réponses exhaustives sur la question du rayonnement d’Ovide dans le théâtre tragique français des XVIe et XVIIe siècles, cette thèse ne constitue que la première étape d’un travail plus vaste. Cette première étape, néanmoins, aura permis de relever que les liens entre l’œuvre d’Ovide (notamment les Héroïdes) et le théâtre tragique français sont plus complexes que ce que l’on croit
This thesis is a diachronic study of Ovidian tragedies published in France between the middle of the sixteenth century and the end of the seventeenth century, as well as a more focused study on those tragedies based on the Heroides.It is well known that French literature of this period is intimately linked to the Ovidian corpus: the poet’s writings were widely circulated and there was a proliferation of translations, rewritings and imitations, as well as theatrical adaptations and figurative transpositions. This diffusion and appropriation of Ovid’s works contributed to the birth of new literary genres and gave rise to the emergence of the phenomena of emulation which, as Marie-Claire Chatelain has shown, notably fostered the elaboration of the gallant and elegiac aesthetic in the second half of the seventeenth century. The extremely extensive and stratified nature of Ovid’s presence in French culture thus necessitates the utmost caution in this study.The study of these Ovidian tragedies firstly shows that the authors tended not to reveal their debt to Ovid in their liminary texts, preferring to cite classical authors that were considered more prestigious. Yet, especially in the first half of the seventeenth century, there are numerous cases of imitation that closely resemble the Ovidian model. Admittedly, the generally modest length of the poetic passages that Ovid grants to the myths he develops in his writings thus requires an impressive amount of amplificato, in which the Ovidian intertext is inevitably diluted. Moreover, the change in genre imposes certain constraints for the dramatist, inevitably leading to modifications not only at the level of elecutio and dispositio, but also inventio. While not everything can be represented on the French tragic stage, certain elements that may not feature in an Ovidian epistle or narrative inversely cannot be absent in a French tragedy of this period. The production of Ovidian tragedies was considerable in 1620 – 1630; it underwent a remarkable decline from 1640 – 1660 and then experienced a revival in the 1670s. The rise of lyrical tragedy, often on the subject of metamorphosis, led to the production of tragedies on this subject by a dynamic of emulation. If the influence of the Heroides on French tragic theatre is often held as certain, no systematic study had previously been carried out to verify this. The corpus of plays referenced here are those that deal with the heroines and the heroes of the collection. In the first half of the seventeenth century, one generally observes practices of imitation close to the model. Over the course of the century, however, authors increasingly distanced themselves from the Ovidian text, drawing more on the works of their French predecessors. Around half of the Heroides do not undergo a theatrical transposition and, in the case of several characters (Phèdre, Dido and Medea), the dramatists abandon the elegiac re-readings proposed by Ovid and instead draw from ancient tragic and epic sources.Without claiming to provide exhaustive answers to the question of Ovid’s influence on French tragedy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this thesis constitutes the first stage of a more extensive piece of work. This first step, however, reveals that the links between Ovid's work, with particular focus on the Heroides, and French tragedy are more complex than has been believed

The purpose of this thesis is to uncover the meaning of the difference between original versions and translations of two texts from Publius Ovidius Naso's Heroides, "Phyllis to Demophoon" and "Phaedra to Hippolytus." The first chapter describes John Dryden's system of translational practices and some theoretical issues surrounding literary translation and its critical interpretation. Even though translations have connections to the source text to some degree, each product of translation is a literary artifact on its own. The second chapter uses three translations of "Phyllis to Demophoon" by respectively Wye Saltonstall, Edward Pooley, and Edward Floyd as case studies demonstrating the variety of literary works that can originate from a single source text. The third chapter interprets Thomas Otway's translation of "Phaedra to Hippolytus" against Ovid's original in order to reveal the extensive presence of a certain characteristic irony in Otway's text. Otway also effectively translates Ovid's witty subtext.

Thèse de doctorat : Études latines : Paris 12 : 2004.
Thèse électronique uniquement consultable au sein de l'Université Paris 12 (Intranet). Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr. f. [461]-470. Index.

Cette étude aborde le corpus érotique d'Ovide dans la perspective unificatrice d'un genre : l'élégie d'amour. Amours, Héroi͏̈des et traités didactiques ont été considérés du point de vue de la thématique, des modalités énonciatives et de la forme qui lui sont spécifiques. En nous plaçant du point de vue de la réception, nous avons identifié les traits génériques par confrontation des œuvres entre elles et avec les recueils des prédécesseurs. Nous avons toutefois privilégié l'angle de la généricité auctoriale. Sensible à l'ironie du poète et au caractère hautement réflexif de ses œuvres, nous en avons exploré systématiquement le contenu narratif et la matière didactique pour y révéler un discours en filigrane sur les conditions d'existence de l'élégie, et décrypter sous le propos érotique un véritable art poétique élégiaque
This study approaches Ovid's erotic works within the unifying perspective of a genre: the love elegy. Amores, Heroides, and the didactic treatises have been considered from the viewpoint of the thematic, of the enunciative modalities and of the form specific to the love elegy. From the receptive point of view, the generic aspects have been identified by confrontation between the works and with their predecessors, placing particular emphasis, however, on authorial genericityʺ. Taking account of the poet's irony and of the highly reflexive quality of his works, the narrative content and the didactic material have been systematically explored in such a way as to reveal the veiled discourse about the conditions under which the elegy can exist and to decipher, under the erotic surface, a true elegiac poetical art

Dans une perspective toute à la fois poétique, rhétorique et juridique, ainsi que générique et intertextuelle, cette étude propose une réflexion sur la mémoire et la parole de l’héroïne ovidienne. Une lettre simple (Médée, Héroïde XII) et une lettre double (Acontius et Cydippe, Héroïdes XX-XXI) sont au cœur de notre recherche. Médée et Cydippe allient le souvenir de l’instant à la parole intime et nous invitent à illustrer la représentation de la femme qui surgit au sein de l’art poétique du pathos, puis à affirmer la légitimation de son statut juridique dans une vraisemblance historique, et à apercevoir, dans un dernier temps, son émancipation, conquise dans une diversité dialogique et tensionnelle des genres et des textes. Les interférences textuelles avec les modèles fondateurs sont bien répertoriées, dans le cadre d’une allusion propre à faire apparaître une réécriture métaphorique de la réflexivité, dans un entrecroisement des instants que favorise particulièrement la figure d’Ariane catullienne (Carmen LXIV). Menée dans cet esprit, l’étude de la réminiscence littéraire est effectuée dans un travail des mots et des notions, pour la recherche d’une véritable mimésis poétique. Cette lecture aboutit à dégager la valeur autoréflexive de l’image du texte : mémoire ingénieuse et parole polysémique participent à un jeu savant où la figure féminine et la poiésis composée sont, à vrai dire, inséparables. Là réside encore l’originalité ovidienne : entre le souvenir de l’écrit et le futur de la lecture se situe la parole mnémonique, défense et message ultime de la femme ovidienne, ainsi récompensée
In a poetic, rhetorical and juridical perspective, as well as a generic and an intertextual one, this study proposes a reflexion on the ovidian heroine’s memory and speech. A single letter (Medea, Heroine XII) and a double letter (Acontius and Cydippe, Heroines XX-XXI) are at the heart of our research. Combining the memory of the instant with intimate speech, Medea and Cydippe extend an invitation to illustrate the representation of women that emerges from the poetic art of pathos, to affirm the legitimization of her juridical status in a historical plausibility, and to perceive, finally, her emancipation, gained in a dialogical and tensional diversity of genres and texts. The textual interferences with the founder models are well listed in the framework of an allusion that brings out a metaphorical rewriting of reflexivity, in an intersection of moments that particularly privileges the Catullian figure of Ariadne (Carmen LXIV). Carried out in this spirit, the study of literary reminiscence is completed in a work of words and notions for the research of a genuine poetic mimesis. This interpretation leads to highlight the autoreflexive value of the textual image: ingenious memory and polysemous speech participate in a learned play in which the feminine figure and the composed poiesis are, actually, inseparable. Therein can also be found Ovid’s originality: between the written memory and the future reading is set the mnemonic speech, defence and the ultimate message of the ovidian woman, thus rewarded

L'objet de cette these est d'etudier certains aspects de l'allusion dans les heroides, particulierement les lettres 5, 13 et 9. Sont examines 1) la perspective d'imitatio, et de parodie vis-a-vis des elegiaques 2) l'analyse mythographique procedent par isolation et ransposition de schemas mythiques, moyen de caracteriser les personnages et leur fonction 3) le jeu erudit sur les quaestiones homericae (par ex. L'identite du meurtrier de protesilas, le rapt d'helene par thesee, le voyage de retour de paris entre sparte et la troade. 4) les allusions a une source principale grace auxquelles le poete insere avec precision la redaction des lettres dans une trame narrative preexistante de facon a fournir des effets puissants d'ironie dramatique. Cette poetique allusive et erudite suppose une grande complicite avec un public dote d'une forte culture litteraire. La question de la fiction epistolaire est notamment anaysee a travers une etude de la lettre 9, le moment suppose de sa redaction dans le cours des trachiniennes et les consequences qui en decoulent dans le devoilement du caractere de dejanire, le fait que la lettre, redigee juste avant la grande aretalogie d'heracles chez sophocle, se caracterise comme anti-aretalogie, le fait qu'elle soit adresse in fine a hyllos qui la trouvera et la lira pres du corps de sa mere. A travers cette etude, il s'avere que la question de la reception fictive des lettres et celle de leur lecture par les destinataires est une ciefs du mode epistolaire dans les heroides. Par ailleurs, les lettres deviennent de pseudo-testimonia que le poete peut invoquer pour completer et corriger la tradition, dans le cadre d'un jeu litteraire de l'adoxographie et de l'aemulatio. Enfin, une etude des lettres 5, 16 et 17 permet de mettre a jour une structure d'un genre nouveau ou les lettres deviennent le support exclusif pour la narration d'un episode du mythe de paris. Cette continuite narrative prefigure la structure du roman epistolaire a l'age classique
The purpose of this work is to provide a study on some aspects of ovid's intertextual poetic in the heroides, particularly letters 5, 13 and 9. The chief points are : 1) the role of imiitatio, aemulatio and parody in respect to propertius. 2) the play with mythical patterns in order to characterize each heroine 3) the play with mythography and homeric scholarship (e. G. Such problems as theseus'rape of helen, the identity of protesilaus'murderer, paris' journey from sparta to troy) 4) the insertion of the letters within a mythical framework in order to provide dramatic irony. This kind of poetic requires great literary competence from the public. A new theory is offered about epistolary fiction in heroide 9 which is supposed to be written during sophocles' trachiniae. It sets out the following points : the supposed time of the writing, the mock-heroic catalogue of heracles' feats in connection with the sophocilean sublime aretalogy, the two addressees, heracles and hyllos, which is supposed to read the letter after d's death. The question of the addressee seems to be the key of the epistolary fiction in the first heroides. The epistolary fiction is also used as adoxography : the letters are concelived as pseudo-testimonia in order to play with mythical and literary tradition. At last, a new interpreation of letters 5, 16 and 17 atempts to emphazize the narrative continuum provided by those three heroides. Lt prefigures the narrative structure of epistolary novels

The Ovidian Ariadne of Heroides 10 self-consciously constructs her persona into the archetype of erotic abandonment. The heroine attempts to re-write her destiny and reverse the loss of Theseus and her unfulfilled desire. But Ariadne cannot change her depiction as abandoned by Theseus. The language employed in her epistle only succeeds in emphasising the erotic loss. The more Ariadne tries to change the master narrative, the more she accentuates the literary echoes of her abandonment. This thesis argues that the intertextual echoes of the heroine should not exclusively be read from Catullus 64, but that Ovid‟s Ariadne writes her epistle in the context of many genres - elegy, epic, tragedy, exilic elegy - which all emphasise loss, death, and erotic disillusionment. My reading of Heroides 10 avoids the interpretations of parody previously read of this particular heroine to argue instead the way Ariadne constructs the governing persona in accordance with the genres of both elegy and epistolography. Ariadne‟s self-representation as an elegiac puella ultimately reflects her traditional literary and artistic image.
This disrupts her self-depiction as an erotic object and subsequently her construction of masculine desire. The heroine‟s epistolary gaze and voice self-consciously re-affirm her position as the quintessential abandoned woman, while her poetics continually assert the irreversible end of her relationship and the failure of her words to change her fate. Death is the primary concern of the epistle, in which the request for proper burial replaces the desire for erotic union. Memorialisation and writing become the prime motivation for Ariadne‟s poetics whereby she attempts to reverse Theseus‟ forgetful mind with a concrete monument to the self. The dislocation of Ariadne‟s erotics alongside the failure of epistolarity attests to the failure of her voice in constructing change to her traditional narrative.

In this thesis, I explore the construction of female erotic desire in Ovid’s work as it is represented in the form of mythical heroines. Phaedra-like figures appear in Ovid’s poetry as dangerous spectres of wildly inappropriate and therefore destructive, bestial, or incestuous sexuality. I consider in particular the catalogue of Phaedra-like figures in Ars Amatoria 1.283-340, Phaedra in Heroides 4, Byblis in Metamorphoses 9.439-665, and Iphis in Metamorphoses 9.666-797. Their tales act as a threat of punishment for any inappropriate desire. They represent for the normative sexual subject a sexual desire which has been excluded, and what could happen, what the normative subject could become, were he or she to transgress taboos and laws governing sexual relations. I apply the idea of the abject, as it has been formulated by Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler, in order to elucidate Ovid’s process of constructing such a subject in his poetry. I also consider Butler’s theories of the performativity of sex, gender, and kinship roles in relation to the continued maintenance of the normative and abject subject positions his poetry creates. The intersection of “performance” and performativity is crucial to the representation of the heroines as paradigms of female desire. Ovid’s engagement with his literary predecessors in the genre of tragedy, in particular Euripides’ and Sophocles’ tragedies featuring Phaedra, highlights the idea of dramatically “performing” a role, e.g., the role of incestuous step-mother. Such a spotlight on “performance” in all of these literary representations reveals the performativity of culturally defined gender and kinship roles. Ovid’s ludic representations, or “citations,” of Phaedra, I argue, both reinvest cultural stereotypes of women’s sexuality with authority through their repetition and introduce new possibilities of feminine subjectivity and sexuality through the variations in each iteration.

This dissertation explores how the mythological heroines from Ovid‘s Heroides and Metamorphoses were cataloged, conflated, reconceived, and recontextualized in vernacular literature; in so doing, it joins considerations of voice, authority, and gender with reflections on Tudor technologies of textual reproduction and ideas about the book. In the late medieval and Renaissance eras, Ovid‘s poetry stimulated the imaginations of authors ranging from Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower to Isabella Whitney, William Shakespeare, and Michael Drayton. Ovid‘s characteristic bookishness—his interest in textual revision and his thematization of the physicality and malleability of art in its physical environments—was not lost upon these postclassical interpreters who engaged with his polysemous cast of female characters. His numerous English protégés replicated and expanded Ovid‘s metatextual concerns by reading and rewriting his metamorphic poetry in light of the metaphors through which they understood both established networks of scribal dissemination and emergent modes of printed book production. My study of Greco-Roman tradition and English bibliofictions (or fictive representations of books, their life cycles, and the communication circuits in which they operate) melds literary analysis with the theoretical concerns of book history by focusing on intersections and interactions between physical, metaphorical, and imaginary books. I posit the Tudor book as a site of complex cultural and literary negotiations between real and inscribed, historical and fictional readers, editors, commentators, and authors, and, as my discussion unfolds, I combine bibliographical, historical, and literary perspectives as a means to understanding both the reception of Ovidian poetry in English literature and Ovid‘s place in the history of books. This dissertation thus contributes to a growing body of book history criticism while also modeling a bibliographically enriched approach to the study of late medieval and Renaissance intertextuality.