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Ovid could be considered the original poet of late antiquity. In his exile poetry, he depicts a world in which Rome has become a distant memory, a community accessible only through his imagination. This, Ovid claimed, was a transformation as remarkable as any he had recounted in his Metamorphoses. Ian Fielding's book shows how late antique Latin poets referred to Ovid's experiences of isolation and estrangement as they reflected on the profound social and cultural transformations taking place in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries AD. There are detailed new readings of texts by major figures such as Ausonius, Paulinus of Nola, Boethius and Venantius Fortunatus. For these authors, Fielding emphasizes, Ovid was not simply a stylistic model, but an important intellectual presence. Ovid's fortunes in late antiquity reveal that poetry, far from declining into irrelevance, remained a powerful mode of expression in this fascinating period.
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TRANSFORMATIONS OF OVID IN LATE ANTIQUITY
Ovid could be considered the original poet of late antiquity. In his exile poetry, he depicts a world in which Rome has become a distant memory, a community accessible only through his imagination. This, Ovid claimed, was a transformation as remarkable as any he had recounted in his Metamorphoses. Ian Fielding’s book shows how late antique Latin poets referred to Ovid’s experiences of isolation and estrangement as they reflected on the profound social and cultural transformations taking place in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries . There are detailed new readings of texts by major figures such as Ausonius, Paulinus of Nola, Boethius and Venantius Fortunatus. For these authors, Fielding emphasizes, Ovid was not simply a stylistic model, but an important intellectual presence. Ovid’s fortunes in late antiquity reveal that poetry, far from declining into irrelevance, remained a powerful mode of expression in this fascinating period. is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan. He has published a number of articles on Latin poetry in late antiquity and on classical receptions in Naples and Campania.
TRANSFORMATIONS OF OVID IN LATE ANTIQUITY IAN FIELDING University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University Printing House, Cambridge , United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, th Floor, New York, , USA Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, , Australia /, nd Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi – , India Anson Road, #–/, Singapore Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/ : ./ © Ian Fielding This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St lves plc A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data : Fielding, Ian (Ian David), - author. : Transformations of Ovid in Late Antiquity / Ian Fielding, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. : Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, . | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. : | (Hardback) : : Ovid, ..- .. or ..–Criticism and interpretation. | Latin literature–History and criticism. | Ovid, ..- .. or ..–Influence. | BISAC: HISTORY / Ancien