A Narratological Investigation of Ovid’s Medea: Met. 7.1–424

In this paper, I apply the methodology of narratological focalization to Ovid’s account of Medea in the Metamorphoses (7.1–424), an episode that many scholars have acknowledged as marked by jarring shifts. Focalization allows the reader to trace more subtly and appreciate more fully the step-by-step progression in Medea’s character, as the audience’s sympathy is gradually alienated from the young girl in love by means of shifting focalizations. I also investigate the neglected Liber vignette (7.294–296) as an important signpost for the murder of Pelias, rather than a retrospective close to the Aeson episode.