Readers and Writers in Ovid's Heroides: Transgressions of Genre and Gender

by Efrossini Spentzou

Overview

This is the first book-length study to reconstruct the experiences of the abandoned heroines of the Heroides, which have been largely ignored by past criticism. Dr Spentzou seeks ways to isolate, characterize, and release the female voice and experience within Ovid's male-authored text. Building on a wide range of ancient as well as modern images and reflections on gender and writing, the book attempts to map the relationship between gendered sensitivities and experience and generic expression and choices. Dr Spentzou uses the insight gained by the boom of intertextual studies in recent Latin scholarship to go a step further and address explicitly the ideologies of intertextual studies. This is a book about readers and reading, just as much as about women and gender, and it is also an in-depth study of the intricate and heated negotiations behind the interpretative act.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191531224
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	03/13/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	470 KB

About the Author

Efrossini Spentzou is Lecturer in Classics, Royal Holloway, University of London

Table of Contents

Synposes of the Myths1. Getting Down to Essentials? 2. Reading Characters Read: On Methodology3. Landscapes of Lost Innocence4. The Heroines in the Chora of Writing5. Postcards Home: The Heroides as Letters6. A Splintery Frame: The Heroides as Short StoriesPostscript: Writing on the Edge

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fine book which contributes to a greater literary appreciation of the Heroides in the context of gender.... Exploring new territory as it does, this book provides insight and material for spirited discussion."—The Classical Outlook

"In this rich and challenging book, Efrossini Spentzou has provided a valuable and nuanced contribution to the growing body of scholarship on Ovid's elegiac-epistolary heroines.... The production quality is excellent.... This book has much to offer and is a most welcome and intelligent addition to Heroides scholarship."—Classical World

From the Publisher