Redesigning Achilles: 'Recycling' the Epic Cycle in the 'Little Iliad' (Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.1-13.622) (Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, 89)

The book is a detailed study on the structure and the topics of Ovidâ??s compedium of the Trojan Saga in Metamorphoses 12.1-13.622, the section also referred to as the â??Little Iliadâ?. It explores the motives and the objectives behind the selected narrative moments from the Epic Cycle that found their way into the Ovidian version of the Trojan War. By thoroughly mastering and inspiringly refashioning a vast amount of literary material, Ovid generates a systematic reconstruction of the archetypal hero, Achilles. Thus, he projects himself as a worthy successor of Homer in the epic tradition, a master epicist, and a par to his great Latin predecessor, Vergil.

The book is a detailed study on the structure and the topics of Ovid’s compedium of the Trojan Saga in Metamorphoses 12.1-13.622, the section also referred to as the “Little Iliad”. It explores the motives and the objectives behind the selected narrative moments from the Epic Cycle that found their way into the Ovidian version of the Trojan War. By thoroughly mastering and inspiringly refashioning a vast amount of literary material, Ovid generates a systematic reconstruction of the archetypal hero, Achilles. Thus, he projects himself as a worthy successor of Homer in the epic tradition, a master epicist, and a par to his great Latin predecessor, Vergil.

The book is a detailed study on the structure and the topics of Ovida (TM)s compedium of the Trojan Saga in Metamorphoses 12.1-13.622, the section also referred to as the a oeLittle Iliada . It explores the motives and the objectives behind the selected narrative moments from the Epic Cycle that found their way into the Ovidian version of the Trojan War. By thoroughly mastering and inspiringly refashioning a vast amount of literary material, Ovid generates a systematic reconstruction of the archetypal hero, Achilles. Thus, he projects himself as a worthy successor of Homer in the epic tradition, a master epicist, and a par to his great Latin predecessor, Vergil Frontmatter 1 Table of Contents 7 Introduction 13 Chapter One Designing ‘Epic’ Beginnings 37 Chapter Two Epic Self-affirmation and Epic Self-consciousness: Introducing Achilles (Met. 12.64-145) 61 Chapter Three Poetic Memory and Epic (De)Composition: Deconstructing Achilles 99 Chapter Four Facets of Elimination: Killing Achilles 137 Chapter Five The ‘Judgment of the Arms’: Re-Constructing Achilles 165 Chapter Six Fe/Male Sacrifice: Performing the Poetics of Genre- and Gender-Crossing in the ‘Fall of Troy’ (Met. 13.399-575) 219 Chapter Seven Memnon’s Fate and Fame: Impersonating Achilles 265 Backmatter 297 Biographical note: Sophia Papaioannou, The National and Capodistrian University of Athens, Greece By Sophia Papaioannou. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [285]-291) And Index.