Ovid In French

This collection of essays examines the ways Ovid's diverse œuvre has been translated, rewritten, adapted, and responded to by a range of French and Francophone women from the Renaissance to the present. It aims to reveal lesser-known voices in Ovidian reception studies, and to offer a wider historical perspective on the complex question of Ovid and gender. Ranging from Renaissance poetry to contemporary creative-criticism, it charts an understudied strand of reception studies, emphasizing how a longer view allows us to explore and challenge the notion of a female tradition of Ovidian reception. The range of genres analysed here—poetry, verse and prose translation, theatre, epistolary fiction, autofiction, autobiography, film, creative critique, and novels—also reflect the diversity of the Ovidian texts in reception from the Heroides to the Metamorphoses, from the Amores to the Ars Amatoria, from the Tristia to the Fasti. The study brings an array of critical approaches to bear on well-known authors such as George Sand, Julia Kristeva, and Marguerite Yourcenar, as well as less-known figures, from contemporary writer Linda Lê to the early modern Catherine and Madeline Des Roches, exploring exile, identity, queerness, displacement, voice, expectations of modesty, the poetics of translation, and the problems posed by Ovid's erotized violence, to name just some of the volume's rich themes. The epilogue by translator and novelist Marie Cosnay points towards new eco-critical and creative directions in Ovidian scholarship and reception. Students and scholars of French Studies, Classics, Comparative Literature and Translation Studies will find much to interest them in this diverse collection of essays.

Helena Taylor explores responses to the life of the ancient Roman poet, Ovid, within the charged atmosphere of seventeenth-century France. She investigates how the figure of Ovid was used to debate literary taste and modernity, and in doing so offers a fresh perspective on classical reception: its paradoxes, uses, and quarrels

Seventeenth-century France saw one of the most significant 'culture wars' Europe has ever known. Culminating in the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, this was a confrontational, transitional time for the reception of the classics. Helena Taylor explores responses to the life of the ancient Roman poet, Ovid, within this charged atmosphere. To date, criticism has focused on the reception of Ovid's enormously influential work in this period, but little attention has been paid to Ovid's lives and their uses. Through close analysis of a diverse corpus, which includes prefatory Lives, novels, plays, biographical dictionaries, poetry, and memoirs, this study investigates how the figure of Ovid was used to debate literary taste and modernity and to reflect on translation practice. It shows how the narrative of Ovid's life was deployed to explore the politics and poetics of exile writing; and to question the relationship between fiction and history. In so doing, this book identifies two paradoxes: although an ancient poet, Ovid became key to the formulation of aspects of self-consciously 'modern' cultural movements; and while Ovid's work might have adorned the royal palaces of Versailles, the poetry he wrote after being exiled by the Emperor Augustus made him a figure through which to question the relationship between authority and narrative. The Lives of Ovid in Seventeenth-Century French Culture not only nuances understanding of both Ovid and life-writing in this period, but also offers a fresh perspective on classical reception: its paradoxes, uses, and quarrels.

CONTENTS I. The authenticity of the Roman Dialogues II. Catalogue of Francisco de Holanda's writings, drawings, paintings and architectural designs.

Seventeenth-century France saw one of the most significant 'culture wars' Europe has ever known. Culminating in the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, this was a confrontational, transitional time for the reception of the classics. Helena Taylor explores responses to the life of the ancient Roman poet, Ovid, within this charged atmosphere. To date, criticism has focused on the reception of Ovid's enormously influential work in this period, but little attention has been paid to Ovid's lives and their uses. Through close analysis of a diverse corpus, which includes prefatory Lives, novels, plays, biographical dictionaries, poetry, and memoirs, this study investigates how the figure of Ovid was used to debate literary taste and modernity and to reflect on translation practice. It shows how the narrative of Ovid's life was deployed to explore the politics and poetics of exile writing; and to question the relationship between fiction and history. In so doing, this book identifies two paradoxes: although an ancient poet, Ovid became key to the formulation of aspects of self-consciously 'modern' cultural movements; and while Ovid's work might have adorned the royal palaces of Versailles, the poetry he wrote after being exiled by the Emperor Augustus made him a figure through which to question the relationship between authority and narrative. The Lives of Ovid in Seventeenth-Century French Culture not only nuances understanding of both Ovid and life-writing in this period, but also offers a fresh perspective on classical reception: its paradoxes, uses, and quarrels.

This volume on the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE – 17 CE) comprises articles by an international group of fourteen scholars. Their contributions cover a wide range of topics, including a biographical essay, a survey of the major manuscripts and textual traditions, and a comprehensive discussion of Ovid’s style. The remaining chapters are devoted to focused studies of each of Ovid’s major works, with emphasis given where appropriate to the poet’s interest in genre and narrative techniques, his engagement with the poetry that preceded his oeuvre, his response to the political, religious, and social realities of Augustan Rome, and his enduring legacy in the European literary traditions of the first 1300 years after his death. Brill's Companion to Ovid combines close analysis of each of Ovid’s major works with a comprehensive overview of scholarly trends in the study of Latin poetry and Roman literary culture. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Latin literature alike.

This book offers an analysis of paratextual infrastructures in editions of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and shows how paratexts functioned as important instruments for publishers and commentators to influence readers of this ancient text.

This book explores the extraordinary influence of Ovid upon the culture - learned, literary, artistic and popular - of medieval Europe.