The Image of the Poet in Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Conclusion

Conclusion A fter the contest for the arms, Ulysses’ direct role in the poem ends, as the poet succinctly says that the victor set sail for Lemnos to retrieve the arrows of Hercules (499–501) and then, after tersely narrating the fall of Troy, mentions that the Greek dragged Hecuba away from her children’s tombs and took her captive (424–26). Ovid’s other surrogates disappear from the poem altogether, but references to Ulysses occur through much of the next book. As we saw, both Narcissus and Orpheus end up in the underworld, obsessed with their own objects of desire. Medea loses even the security of her haven in Athens after Aegeus foils her attempt to poison Theseus (7.406–24). Daedalus fails to make his way back to Athens in his disastrous flight with Icarus and ends up at the court of King Cocalus in Sicily, with Minos in pursuit (8.260–62). Allusions to Ulysses after the Trojan War narrative suggest that for Ovid this most versatile hero is the strongest surrogate of the poet. Ulysses remains an oblique presence in book 14, mainly but not exclusively in numerous references to his wanderings after the Trojan War. First, as a prelude to the humorous account of Polyphemus’s buffoonish serenade of the nymph Galatea, the seer Telemus delivers a prophecy to the Cyclops that he will lose his single eye to Ulysses (13.771–73). Then, Ulysses becomes the subject of recollections about their postwar adventures by Achaemenides and Macareus when the two Greeks happen to meet again at the place soon to be named Caieta in honor of Aeneas’s nurse. The former elaborates on the episode in the cave of the Cyclops, emphasizing his terror at being left behind by Ulysses and his men and his ultimate rescue by his former enemy Aeneas (14.167–222). The latter tells of his adventures with Ulysses involving 132 the wind god Aeolus, the cannibalistic Laestrygonians, and the witch Circe. After keeping Ulysses in the background of book 14 by adapting and fragmenting his story, Ovid casts a final glance at this hero’s reunion with his wife Penelope. In his speech to Pomona, Vertumnus claims that, if she chose, the nymph could have more suitors than “the wife of bold Ulysses” (“coniunx . . . audacis Ulixei” [671]). Ironically, as we noted in chapter 1, the god in disguise as an old woman does not succeed in his attempts at persuasion. But his reference to Penelope by periphrasis here calls attention to her success at keeping the suitors at bay and helping to enable the hero to succeed after his return to Ithaca. Ulysses’ “boldness” is an allusion to his clever, but risky, strategy for reclaiming his wife and household after his twenty-year absence. Ovid thus, albeit very allusively, takes this particular surrogate to the successful conclusion of his personal journey. All of Ovid’s surrogates whom we have examined are problematic in significant ways. But Ulysses remains in the poet’s consciousness , ultimately ending his displacement, whereas the others disappear. What distinguishes this particular figure is, in large measure, his selfawareness . At the end of the contest for the arms, Ovid reveals Ajax’s clear lack of that virtue. The defeated hero thus conceives of his imminent suicide as a validation of his superior prowess: “ne quisquam Aiacem possit superare nisi Aiax” (“so that no one can overcome Ajax except Ajax” [390]). The poet, however, puts the great warrior’s act in a different light, drawing attention to its irrational basis: “invictum virum vicit dolor” (“Distress conquered the unconquered hero” [386]). By revealing the failure of self-awareness in so many of his characters throughout the poem, Ovid encourages his attentive reader to comprehend its value. Among the characters discussed here, Narcissus perhaps most strongly contrasts with Ulysses. Although the youth achieves a moment of self-awareness, his recognition of the lack of distinction between lover and beloved is quickly dispelled as he retreats back to his fascination with his image. Even in the underworld, he cannot tear himself away from his reflection in the Styx. In metapoetic terms, the selfinvolved youth remains an elegiac poet-lover and does not attain epic status. Even in her manifestation as an inexperienced young princess, Medea reveals powerful rhetorical skills, but in her monologue she becomes the victim of self-deception about her feelings for Jason and the Conclusion 133 [18.227.228.95] Project MUSE (2024-04-19 06:33...