Ingo Gildenhard

Ovid's Narcissus ( Met. 3.339-510): Echoes of Oedipus

OVID’S TALES OF Echo and Narcissus, while mutually enhancing in their magnificently suggestive symmetries,1 have long been considered an oddity in their larger narrative context.2 Otis, for instance, is not alone in feeling that they are quite “extraneous” to the Theban milieu which dominates this particular stretch of the Metamorphoses, since they seem only superficially linked to the tragic city through the figure of Tiresias.3 Some scholars have tried to solve the problem of their inclusion in Ovid’s “Thebaid” (3.1–4.603) by pointing to thematic correspondences that connect “Narcissus and Echo” to other episodes in the narrative vicinity, such as fatal love,4 the intervention of a vengeful divinity,5 or the problematization of sight.6 Such sequences of thematic patterns, though, are a rather ubiquitous “surface phenomenon” which can be traced in various ways throughout the entire poem, and which hardly ever explain Ovid’s poetry in and of themselves.7 Thus, such the-

The Visual Arts

Department Website: http://dova.uchicago.edu Program of Study The Department of Visual Arts (DoVA) is concerned with art making as a vehicle for exploring creativity, expression, perception, and the constructed world. Whether students take courses listed under ARTV to meet a general education requirement or as part of a major in visual arts, the goal is that they will develop communicative, analytical, and expressive skills through the process of artistic production. The following three courses meet the general education requirement in the arts: ARTV 10100 Visual Language: On Images, ARTV 10200 Visual Language: On Objects, and ARTV 10300 Visual Language: On Time and Space. Most advanced courses require one of these as a prerequisite. (See individual course listings for specific prerequisites.)

Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.53-86 : Latin Text with Introduction, Study Questions, Commentary and English Translation

Read for free online: the perfect study companion to one of Ciceros most lurid and lively speeches. Perfect for A Level Latin students and undergraduates.