Leuconoe In The Odyssey

With the curt denouement of Pyramus & Thisbe’s characteristically simple Hellenistic love, Ovid employs the pluperfect verb desierat to quickly erase the fabula of star-crossed sweethearts from the reader’s gaze. Supplanted by an uninterrupted sequence of dactyls from line 167 to the central caesura of 168, which superficially functions to Latinise the oral effect of the narrative. However, Homers famous use of six bounding dactyls to describe Sisyphus’ rock rolling back upon him (Odys.11: 598) might highlight that this effect is not so Latinising after all. Indeed, just as Sisyphus’ rock is bound to him, so do the matrons hold back their voices for Leuconoe’s constructed tale which orsa est. This conflict between Hellenistic and Latin is sharply

Nonetheless, Leucothoe’s effective suspension of hunc…Solem (169-170) in addition to the polyptonic chiasmus Solis referemus amores implies a culmination, an ascension from human love that is never grasped in the anti-climactic action of Book IV. As such, the risere of the gods is segregated within line 188 by a main and weak caesura in the 3rd and 5th feet, strongly expressing the offense of our prudish narrator’s sensibilities. Having distinguished himself from the Minyades in his hymn to Bacchus during the exposition of Book IV, arguably Ovid mocks the priggish behaviour of the sisters within the context of his œuvre. Recomposing the introduction of the same story in his voluptuous ArsAm.2:561 (fabula narratur toto notissima caelo) into the denouement of this one for Leucothoe, fully subverts our writerly expectation of Callimachean novelty, drawing a gossamer veil over that which has been notissima previously. Contextually, Ovid may equate this retelling with the reforms of Augustus, established on precedent – see the Lex Ualeria Cornelia for

Even so, the enjambment on lines 185 – 188 works to craft a sense of fluidity where we might expect a harsh moralisation (“bad deeds don’t prosper”) from Leucothoe instead. Indeed, this very absence of deific morality is stressed by the absurd Ovidian zeugma on line 175 and 176 - with excidit serving both mens and opus – as Venus attends both Vulcan and Mars. Equally, the stylish expression might urge the reader to consider the episode from the mens (conceptual) and opus (physical) planes. Physically - that is, as an integrated unit within the text – Ovid may treat the episode merely as a device to foreground the affairs of the Sun. Repeating the prefix ex on line 176 to form a cacophony through assonantal juxtaposition, that strongly denotes the disapproval of our narrator. Yet, arguably, it does more than that. Having such a virulent strain of narration within the text, gives Ovid the opportunity to juxtapose his own literary technique with that of spinsters, portraying sexual moralism as prudish and ignorant to enhance the effect of Bacchus’ growing power within the larger rising action. Conceptually, however, the fabula can work as a distinct narrative unit, just as Homer’s representation of the tale within the King Alkinoös’ court is separate from the ethical questions left by Odysseus’ relationship with Calypso. In this