Ovid's River Hymn

This article examines the situation of Amores 3.6 within the hymnic genre. The poem humorously reverses key features of the genre and yet retains its primary function. Whereas hymns attempt to bridge the gap between the mortal and the divine and make the god present, Ovid's hymn to amnis attempts to make the river present, exploring the gap between nature and art. The fictive scenario of the poet-lover and the river comically dramatizes the poetic action of metaphor, while strategies of failure and negation strip away the symbolic layers of the river and make space for the river's poetic epiphany.