All the Words, a Stage: Innovation, Self-Preservation, and the Centrality of Comedy in Ovid’S Metamorphoses

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All the Words, a Stage: Innovation, Self-Preservation, and the Centrality of Comedy in Ovid’S Metamorphoses ALL THE WORDS, A STAGE: INNOVATION, SELF-PRESERVATION, AND THE CENTRALITY OF COMEDY IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES By EMILIE ELIZABETH JORDAN A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2018 1 © 2018 Emilie Elizabeth Jordan 2 To my dear students, both past and present, and all my brothers and sisters at Saint Mary’s College. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am exceedingly grateful to my committee chair, Jennifer Rea, who spent countless hours reading and re-reading my chapters and offering indispensable clarity and assistance during this entire process. My committee members, Konstantinos Kapparis, Velvet Yates, and Stephanie Smith also provided valuable insight, and devoted a generous amount of time and patience to this project. I owe a great deal as well to Tara Welch at the University of Kansas; her seminar on the Metamorphoses opened my eyes to the beauty of the text, and led me to a great love for all things Ovid. Additionally, I would like to thank my colleagues at Saint Mary’s College; their tireless encouragement and camaraderie helped me keep my goal in sight amid long days filled with teaching and research. To all of my friends, I owe more than I could every repay, but I would like to give special thanks to Mary Kagay, Andrew and Krista Childs, and Fr. Paul-Isaac Franks for their words of encouragement, their loyal friendship, and their willingness to break for happy hour when necessary and appropriate (vinum laetificat cor hominis). Finally, I thank my mother, Kim Jordan, for her constant moral support throughout my studies and my life. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................8 An Unepic Epic .......................................................................................................................11 An Ongoing Debate ................................................................................................................30 Epic Fail? ................................................................................................................................43 2 THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN THE METAMORPHOSES .................................................44 What’s Proem is Prologue: Theatrical Openings ....................................................................44 Recognizing the Audience ......................................................................................................51 Dramatis Personae: Taking Stock of Comic Characters .......................................................57 The First Group ...............................................................................................................60 The Second Group ...........................................................................................................68 The Third Group ..............................................................................................................72 Stock Characters in Ovid .................................................................................................75 Disguise and Revelation .........................................................................................................81 Puns.........................................................................................................................................83 Stunning Visual Effects ..........................................................................................................86 Mora and Amor: The Spectactle of Pyramus and Thisbe .......................................................91 3 RISE, FALL, AND RE-IMAGINING OF ROMAN COMEDY .........................................102 Comic Form ..........................................................................................................................104 The Waning of Comedy ........................................................................................................105 Comic Afterlife: Post-Plautine Precedents for the Metamorphoses .....................................108 Politics and Humor ...............................................................................................................117 Ovid’s Comic Revival: The Practicality of Comic Elements in Ovidian .............................123 4 NEW PLACES, SAFE SPACES: PERFORMING ON THE VIRTUAL STAGE ..............131 History of Genre-Blending: Callimachean Debt and Ovidian Self-Referencing .................132 Inside Jokes, Audience Rapport, and the Humor of Exhibitionism .....................................137 Changing Places: Altered Perspectives and Virtual Safe Spaces .........................................140 Ovid’s Safety Net .................................................................................................................146 Plautus and Ovid: Parallel Histories, Parallel Techniques ...................................................156 5 NACHLEBEN: THE METAMORPHOSES, METAMORPHOSED .....................................166 5 Generic Evolution and Ovid’s Roman Heirs ........................................................................166 Shakespeare and Beyond ......................................................................................................178 Summary and Concluding Thoughts ....................................................................................185 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................205 6 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ALL THE WORDS, A STAGE: INNOVATION, SELF-PRESERVATION, AND THE CENTRALITY OF COMEDY IN OVID’S METAMORPHOSES By Emilie Elizabeth Jordan December 2018 Chair: Jennifer Ann Rea Major: Classical Studies In writing the Metamorphoses, Ovid fashions an entirely new kind of epic, pushing previously-defined limits and incorporating elements from many other genres. In this thesis I argue that Ovid’s primary goal in integrating multi-generic elements into his epic is to create a new type of literature: a liminal space that has an epic framework but primarily features comedy as a kind of lead voice in a chorus of genres. Ovid’s innovation in genre is not without precedent: it is a continuation in a tradition of generic metamorphosis established by Plautus and Terence in their adaptation of Greek comedy for Roman audiences. Moreover, since Roman comedy both utilizes stock characters rather than invective against specific individuals as in Aristophanic comedy and also was essentially defunct as a genre already a century before the composition of the Metamorphoses, Ovid’s inclusion of comic elements yields a work that is unentangled with current politics while also being performative. Practically speaking, such an approach is both Ovid’s answer to the new demands of a more sophisticated audience as well as his insurance policy against the potential threat of Augustan censorship and punitive action. The multi-faceted generic identity of the Metamorphoses also influenced later authors; thus, Ovid’s boldly innovative literary mélange plays a pivotal role in later generic experimentation and expansion. 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The Metamorphoses is an entirely new kind of epic, pushing the established limits thereof and picking up elements of a host of other genres, including but not limited to elegy, epistolary, and even oratory.1 In this thesis I will argue that Ovid’s primary goal in integrating multi-generic elements into his epic is to create a new type of literature: a liminal space that becomes an intimate new kind of theatre, particularly of the comic variety. Ovid’s epic metaphorically encompasses and subsequently metamorphoses both the place of performance as well as the genre, allowing the reader to remain and react within the confines of his own home, free from the prying eyes and ears of the potentially threatening scrutiny of Augustus and the new breed of political-literary critic. More significantly, it is a continuation in a tradition of generic metamorphosis established by Plautus and Terence in their adaptation of Greek comedy for Roman audiences. The expectations of Ovid’s audience had changed from that of the earlier playwrights, as both Rome’s sophistication and its situation had increased; this generic mashup was his answer to new demands.2 In this paper, I will address my topic using the following progression: I will begin by touching upon the ongoing debate surrounding the format, structure, and meaning of the 1 Although Vergil’s epic is distinctly Roman (and thus different from Homer’s), it nonetheless participated much more in Homeric epic convention: it features a traditional invocation to the Muses, a central heroic character, and a central quest in which the gods pick sides. There are even direct parallels between supporting characters in Vergil and Homer:
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