Corinna Duplex, Duplex Corinna: The Simile Optics of Amores 1.5

summary:

This article investigates the two figures of the introductory, comparative simile in Amores 1.5, Semiramis and Lais, and shows how a deconstructive reading down to their constituent symbols of dove and mirror reveals a complex literary and philosophical interplay in the visual dynamics of Ovid's creation of Corinna's identity. By tracing these complexities in Corinna's introduction, this reading emphasizes how Ovid poetically manipulates the experience of vision and visuality to both shape the reader's experience and make a programmatic statement about the nature of his elegy.