Greek Myth at Rome: Metamorphosis
Classical Mythology
English - May 31, 2013 03:38 - 50 minutes - 29.1 MB - ★★★★ - 18 ratingsCourses Education History la trobe university chris mackie christopher mackie greece greek history history ancient history rhiannon evans classical mythology Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Previous Episode: Roman Identity II: Heroines
Next Episode: Greek Myth at Rome: Power (handout)
Ovid’s Metamorphoses is one of the most significant ancient texts for the study of Greek mythology, but we should remember that this is a Roman work, which absorbs influences from the whole of the Mediterranean world. This lecture looks at the poem’s cosmogony in book and compares it to the Hesiodic version (explored earlier in lecture 2), showing how various philosophical and scientific ideas have been added to the Ovidian mix. We also see how Ovid sets up the parallel between the Olympian gods, particularly, Jupiter, and the emperor Augustus, a fact which makes this poem both topical and politically contentious.
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