The face of nature: wit, narrative, and cosmic origins in Ovid's Metamorphoses

Abstract

Acknowledgments Ch. 1Glittering Trifles: Verbal Wit and Physical Transformation Transgressive Language: Narcissus and Althea Indecorous and Transformative Puns Misunderstanding aura: Cephalus, Procris, and the Pun Divinatory Wordplay: The Pun Overheard Vox non intellecta: Irony and Metamorphic Wordplay (Myrrha) Littera scripta manet - Or Does It? (Byblis) Self-Cancelling and Self-Objectifying Witticisms Wordplay, Personification, and Phantasia True Imitation: Ceyx, Alcyone, and Morpheus The House of Reception Ch. 2The Ass's Shadow: Narrative Disruption and Its Consequences Some Exemplary Interruptions Daedalus and Perdix Cyclopean Violence and Narrative Disruption Some Scandalous Passages Ch. 3Disruptive Traditions Indecorous Possibilities: Callimachus's Hymn to Artemis and Ovidian Style Elegiac Contributions: Propertius's Tarpeia and Ovid's Scylla Epic Distortions: The Hecale in the Metamorphoses Ch. 4Deeper Causes: Aetiology and Style Aetiological Wordplay Ovid's Little Aeneid Aetiology and the Nature of Flux Conclusion App. AG. J. Vossius on Syllepsis oratoria App. BSyllepsis and Zeugma App. CFurther Examples of Syllepsis in Ovid References Index locorum Index