Another aspect to explore regarding the condition of victims in Ovid’s Metamorphoses is Ovid’s identification with persecuted artists. He clearly identifies himself with Arachne. According to Barolsky Ovid portrays artist of various types, not warriors -as in Epic poems- as the principal heroes and heroines. The best example of Ovid manifesting his problems with authority is in Arachne: ‘Ovid is the ultimate author, the artist who embodies and unifies all of the arts. In short,...
Another aspect to explore regarding the condition of victims in Ovid’s Metamorphoses is Ovid’s identification with persecuted artists. He clearly identifies himself with Arachne. According to Barolsky Ovid portrays artist of various types, not warriors -as in Epic poems- as the principal heroes and heroines. The best example of Ovid manifesting his problems with authority is in Arachne: ‘Ovid is the ultimate author, the artist who embodies and unifies all of the arts. In short, Ovid as an artist is the supreme hero of his own epic.’ Arachne portrays Jove, Neptune, Apollo, Bacchus and Saturn who transform, often into a beast, to trick women into copulating with them. He uses the term ‘celestial criminal’, heavenly crimes. In my opinion, is the fact that Arachne is an artist and is denouncing abuses the cause of her fatality and has nothing to do with her being a woman. Ovid just hides himself behind Arachne to refer to the crimes of those who held -and abuse- the power. Metamorphoses are not the first work in which Ovid gives protagonism to women. He also did it in his Heroides. According to Klein, ” he wants us to identify with the protagonists and feel for them, as he does. So he is more interested in heroines than heroes.”.
