Ovid As An Epic Poet

In his study of the structure of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Professor Otis shows that the real unity of the poem is to be sought not in the linkage but in the order or succession of episodes, motifs and ideas. The poem is nothing less than what Ovid called it, a carmen perpetuum, a narrative poem with a real continuity achieved by a gradual shift of emotional emphasis through a long series of episodes arranged in an elaborate pattern. For this second edition of his study of the Metamorphoses, originally published in 1970, Professor Otis has written a new concluding chapter. He also takes account of the constructive reviews of the first edition and a number of important books that had been published in the years following its publication. Further, he has removed what had emerged as some ambiguities in his conclusions and made some correction of emphasis to his judgements.