Structure and Intention in theMetamorphoses

Abstract

Ovid's great poem has held its place in the European artistic and literary tradition primarily as a collection of superbly told individual stories, in which successive generations have found inspiration and pleasure. But the poet himself clearly thought of it as something more than a series of detached narratives. In fact he describes it(i. 4) asperpetuum carmen. The object of the present essay is to inquire into the nature of thisperpetuitasand to suggest some of the implications that it has both for the poem as a whole and for the appreciation of its individual parts. The phraseperpetuum carmenhas interesting ideological connotations. The mutilated first fragment of Callimachus’Aitiaclearly formed a poetic manifesto. The author proclaims his antipathy to the fashion of writing ἔν ἄєισµα διηνєκές in which the deeds of kings and heroes were extolled ⋯ν πολλαις , he declares, , so he rejects , ⋯οιδήν in favour of the delicate cicada's which is heard at its best in and other poetic genres that are . Three separate but related targets are singled out for attack: long continuous poems, epic subjects, and the grand style.

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