Milton and the Metamorphosis of Ovid

Abstract

This book contributes to our understanding of Ovid, Milton, and more generally the reception of classical traditions. It shows that Milton drew on all of Ovid's works as well as the long tradition of interpretation and reception that began with Ovid himself. It argues that for Renaissance writers Ovid's revision of past authors, especially Virgil, gave them a model for their own transformation of classical works. For Renaissance artists, Ovidian stories and figures provided the raw material out of which they created and reflected on their own art. Throughout his career Milton thinks through and with Ovid, whose stories and figures are central to his exploration of the limits and possibilities of creativity, change, and freedom. A study in practical criticism that examines a specific relation between two very individual and different authors, this book also explores the forms and meaning of creative imitation. Revision was not only central to the two writers' poetic practices but helped shape their visions of the world. Many critics have been concerned with trying to establish how Milton read Ovid. The larger question in this book, however, is why does figuring out how Milton reads Ovid matter? How do our readings of this relation change our understanding of both Milton and Ovid; what also does it tell us about how traditions are changed and remade through time?