Ovid Before Exile: Art and Punishment in the Metamorphoses (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780299224042)

The epic Metamorphoses, Ovid's most renowned work, has regained its stature among the masterpieces of great poets such as Vergil, Horace, and Tibullus. Yet its irreverent tone and bold defiance of generic boundaries set the Metamorphoses apart from its contemporaries. Ovid before Exile provides a compelling new reading of the epic, examining the text in light of circumstances surrounding the final years of Augustus' reign, a time when a culture of poets and patrons was in sharp decline, discouraging and even endangering artistic freedom of expression.
Patricia J. Johnson demonstrates how the production of art--specifically poetry--changed dramatically during the reign of Augustus. By Ovid's final decade in Rome, the atmosphere for artistic work had transformed, leading to a drop in poetic production of quality. Johnson shows how Ovid, in the episodes of artistic creation that anchor his Metamorphoses, responded to his audience and commented on artistic circumstances in Rome.

Author: Patricia Johnson
ISBN-10: 029922404X
ISBN-13: 9780299224042
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Language: English
Published: 12/15/2010
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.06w x 0.48d