Making the Most of Marsyas

Two papers explore understudied aspects of the Metamorphoses' Marsyas narrative. The first links the passage's interest in imitation to the play between generic codes and ultimately to the position of its author as an Augustan poet, who, like the satyr, always risked appearing as the mere borrower of the language and images of his superiors. The second analyzes intratextual connections with other passages in the poem, where Ovid could create his own poetic space; the paper then offers new frameworks for interpreting the satyr's fate.