Overview

Nature imitates art--not a paradox from Oscar Wilde's pen, but instead the bold formulation of the Latin poet Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), marking a radical turning point in ancient aesthetics, founded on the principle of mimesis. For Ovid, art is independent of reality, not its mirror: by enhancing phantasia, the artist's creative imagination and the simulacrum's primacy over reality, Ovid opens up unexplored perspectives for future European literature and art. Through an examination of Narcissus and Pygmalion, figures of illusion and desire, who are the protagonists of two major episodes of the Metamorphoses, Rosati sheds light on some crucial junctures in the history of reception and aesthetics. Narcissus and Pygmalion has, since its first publication in Italian, contributed to the poet's critical fortunes over the past few decades through its combination of sophisticated literary critical thinking and patient argument applied to the poetics of self-reflexivity and, in particular, to the fundamental interface between the verbal and the visual in the Metamorphoses. A substantial introduction accompanies this new translation into English, positioning Rosati's work anew in the forefront of current discussions of Ovidian aesthetics and intermediality, in the wake of the postmodern culture of the simulacrum.

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9780198852438

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Reviews

Rosati provides refined and insightful interpretations of Ovid's Narcissus and Pygmalion episodes...This book will be especially welcomed by those wanting or needing to read a foundational work in modern Ovidian studies. * M. L. Goldman, CHOICE *

Rosati provides refined and insightful interpretations of Ovid's Narcissus and Pygmalion episodes...This book will be especially welcomed by those wanting or needing to read a foundational work in modern Ovidian studies. * M. L. Goldman, CHOICE * Rosati's book remains powerful and highly relevant...Rosati not only offers compelling readings of the Narcissus and Pygmalion myths, but also provides us with the tools and starting points to continue in this interpretation of the epic. * Elaine C. Sanderson, University of Liverpool *

Author Information

Gianpiero Rosati is Professor of Latin literature at the Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa). He previously held teaching positions at the Universities of Florence, Pavia, and Udine.

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