The poetics of science: intertextual and metatextual themes in Ovid's depiction of cosmic and human origins

Abstract

This work explores ancient views of cosmogony and the material structure of the universe in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In particular it focuses on the way in which Ovid problematizes how we define myth and poetry versus science and philosophy. It examines how Ovid generates a parallel between the form and content of the text in order to depict a world where abstract scientific principles can become personified deities. This work will seek to reevaluate the impact of Greek Philosophy on Roman poetry through extending the series of intertexts which we may observe Ovid alluding to. Through following and analysing these sets of allusions this work will seek to gain an insight into Ovid’s depiction of the metatextual universe.