And Type the TITLE of YOUR WORK in All Caps
IN CORPUS CORPORE TOTO: MERGING BODIES IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES by JACLYN RENE FRIEND (Under the Direction of Sarah Spence) ABSTRACT Though Ovid presents readers of his Metamorphoses with countless episodes of lovers uniting in a temporary physical closeness, some of his characters find themselves so affected by their love that they become inseparably merged with the ones they desire. These scenarios of “merging bodies” recall Lucretius’ explanations of love in De Rerum Natura (IV.1030-1287) and Aristophanes’ speech on love from Plato’s Symposium (189c2-193d5). In this thesis, I examine specific episodes of merging bodies in the Metamorphoses and explore the verbal and conceptual parallels that intertextually connect these episodes with De Rerum Natura and the Symposium. I focus on Ovid’s stories of Narcissus (III.339-510), Pyramus and Thisbe (IV.55-166), Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (IV.276-388), and Baucis and Philemon (VIII.611-724). I also discuss Ovid’s “merging bodies” in terms of his ideas about poetic immortality. Finally, I consider whether ancient representations of Narcissus in the visual arts are indicative of Ovid’s poetic success in antiquity. INDEX WORDS: Ovid, Metamorphoses, Intertextuality, Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Plato, Symposium, Narcissus, Pyramus, Thisbe, Salmacis, Hermaphroditus, Baucis, Philemon, Corpora, Immortality, Pompeii IN CORPUS CORPORE TOTO: MERGING BODIES IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES by JACLYN RENE FRIEND B.A., Denison University, 2012 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2014 © 2014 Jaclyn Rene Friend All Rights Reserved IN CORPUS CORPORE TOTO: MERGING BODIES IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES by JACLYN RENE FRIEND Major Professor: Sarah Spence Committee: Mark Abbe Naomi Norman Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr.
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