Unit:
Department of PhilologyLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Mavroeidi Maria-Anna
Dissertation committee:
Σοφία Παπαϊωάννου, Βαθμίδα: Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Ανδρέας Μιχαλόπουλος, Βαθμίδα: Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Ελένη Καραμαλέγκου, Βαθμίδα: Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Σοφία Γεωργακοπούλου, Βαθμίδα: Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Βάιος Βαϊόπουλος, Βαθμίδα: Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Μυρτώ Γκαράνη, Βαθμίδα: Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα ΕΚΠΑ
Στέλλα Αλέκου, Βαθμίδα: Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, Ίδρυμα Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων
Original Title:
Λογοτεχνικές Βιογραφίες και Λογοτεχνικές Διαδρομές: Φαίδρα, Δηιάνειρα, Διδώ, Αριάδνη, Πηνελόπη και οι λογοτεχνικοί τους βίοι στο έργο του Οβιδίου.
Languages:
English
Greek
Latin
Translated title:
Literary Biographies and Literary Paths: Phaedra, Deianeira, Dido, Ariadne, Penelope and their literary lives in Ovid's work.
Summary:
In the present dissertation I am studying the mythological figures of Phaedra, Deianeira, Dido, Ariadne and Penelope, as they are presented in the ancient Greek and Roman literature, aiming to prove the unity of their character, despite contextual differentiations that may appear in their presentation by different authors. Specifically, my study starts from the first extensive appearance of these heroines in works that will prove emblematic for later tradition, and reaches Ovid’s poetry. Within Ovid’s poetry I am trying to illustrate the similarities and differences among the heroines and their models, as well as the different ways in which Ovid presents them in his works.
The argument I am supporting in the present study is that Ovid uses these mythological figures not in order to present them as dissenting from their models and that the various differences are due to the changing circumstances and overall different context within which the heroines are set each time. In other words, we are dealing with the same mythological characters throughout literary tradition; what changes is the emotional status of these heroines in which they are depicted by the various authors. Ovid’s works offer a prime example to observe this evolution of emotions. In Ovid’s works the heroines’ emotions develop from poem to poem, in parallel with the female personalities who experience these emotions. The women’s characters may present discrepancies, which are however justified if the heroines are studied as variating versions of a united personality, establishing, thus, the unity of character across Ovid’s literary corpus.
All studies up till now, which analyze these mythological figures, focus on the depiction of their character as different in each work. The present study proves that each heroine remains the same in all works (in and out of the Ovidian poetry) and constantly develops. On several occasions, moreover, heroines acknowledge this as they seem to possess intertextual memory of themselves. This development justifies all superficial discrepancies. Last, many discrepancies occur from the fact that each work belongs to a different genre, within which the story takes place, something that the reader should take into account when studying the heroines’ behavior. The genre (epic, elegy etc.) forms a decisive factor that decidedly affects the way the heroines are represented, but does not disturb the unity of their characters.
Main subject category:
Language – Literature
Keywords:
Phaedra, Deianeira, Dido, Ariadne, Penelope
Number of references:
624
