Repeat Performances Ovidian Repetition and the Metamorphoses<i/> [Hardcover]

Although repetition is found in all ancient literary genres, it is especially pervasive in epic poetry. Ovid’sMetamorphosesexploits this dimension of the epic genre to a great extent; past critics have faulted it as too filled with recycled themes and language. This volume seeks a deeper understanding of Ovidian repetitiveness in the context of new scholarship on intertextuality and intratextuality, examining the purposeful reuse of previous material and the effects produced by a text’s repetitive gestures.
            A shared vision of the possibilities of Latin epic poetry unites the essays, as does a series of attempts to realize those opportunities. Some of the pieces represent a traditional vein of allusion and intertextuality; others are more innovative in their approaches. Each, in a sense, stands as a placeholder for a methodology of theorizing the repetitive practices of poetry, of epic, and of Ovid in particular.

Contributors: Antony Augoustakis, Neil W. Bernstein, Barbara Weiden Boyd, Andrew Feldherr, Peter Heslin, Stephen Hinds, Sharon L. James, Alison Keith, Peter E. Knox, Darcy Krasne

The uses and effects of repetition, imitation, and appropriation in Latin epic poetry.

“Tackles one of the most challenging and rewarding problems in Ovidiana: the question of the author’s penchant for repetition. A marvelous array of contributions retain a reader’s interest and are infused with the same spirit of wit and charm that characterizes Ovid’s own verse.”—Lee Fratantuono, author ofMadness Transformed: A Reading of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”

“A groundbreaking contribution to the field of Latin poetics, and a delight to read.”—Julia Dyson Hejduk, translator and editor ofThe Offense of Love

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