Poet's Corner: Ovid and the Unfinished Metamorphoses

The story of Ovid's Metamorphoses is a fascinating tale not just of mythological transformations, but of the text’s own journey through time and circumstances. In his Tristia 1.7, Ovid claims that on the eve of his exile, he burned his unrevised manuscript of the Metamorphoses. According to him, the poem survived only thanks to unauthorized copies that had already circulated. This narrative might serve as a convenient way to forestall criticism, yet it underscores an author's inability to control the content of a text once it enters the public domain unofficially.

Ovid's account in Tristia provides a poignant glimpse into the emotional and practical turmoil surrounding his sudden exile. The verses from Tristia 1.7 detail the dramatic moment:

"These verses, upon my departure, along with so many other things of mine,
I sadly threw on the fire with my own hand.
Just as, they say, in burning the brand and burning her son,
the daughter of Thestius proved a better sister than a mother,
so I placed to perish with me these undeserving books,
my very own flesh and blood, on a fierce funeral pyre:
either because I detested the Muses, my accusers,
or because the poem was crude in form and still growing."

The imagery is vivid: Ovid, in a dramatic act akin to a mythological sacrifice, consigns his own creations to the flames. He likens this act to the tragic myth of Althaea, who burned the log that was mystically linked to her son Meleager’s life, thus causing his death. Ovid's manuscripts, his "flesh and blood," were thrown into the fire as a symbolic gesture, either in repudiation of his art or out of recognition that the work was incomplete.

However, Ovid reveals that the Metamorphoses did not perish completely:

"The verses were not totally destroyed: they survive
(several copies of the writings, I think, were made).
Now I pray they live, and that my studious pursuits may give the reader
delight, and serve as a reminder of me.
Yet they can't be read patiently by anyone
who's unaware they lack the final hand.
That work was taken from me while on the anvil
and the writings lack the last touch of the file.
I ask forgiveness not praise, I'll be praised in full,
if you don't despise me, reader."

The survival of these copies is both a boon and a burden for Ovid. On one hand, he expresses a hope that his work will continue to bring joy and serve as a testament to his literary talent. On the other hand, he is acutely aware that these texts are unfinished, lacking his final revisions and polish. Ovid appeals to his readers for understanding and forgiveness, acknowledging the imperfections in the extant versions.

In a bid to guide his audience, Ovid even provides a sort of preface within the Tristia, which serves to clarify the status of the Metamorphoses they might read:

"These six verses too, if on the brow of the first book
you consider them worth placing, take them:
'Whoever you are who touch these book rolls bereft of their parent,
to them at least let there be granted a place in your city.
And that you may be more indulgent, they were not published [edita] by him,
but snatched away [rapta], as it were, from the funeral pyre of their master.
Whatever defect in them this crude poem has,
I would have been about to correct - if it had been allowed.'"

Here, Ovid directly addresses the reader, asking for a measure of indulgence for the incomplete work. He explains that the Metamorphoses were not published by him but were instead "snatched away" from the flames, emphasizing the circumstances that led to their imperfection.

This narrative strategy of Ovid’s is reminiscent of other ancient authors who faced the challenges of unauthorized dissemination and the struggle for textual control. Tertullian and Solinus, for example, also provided prefatory remarks to clarify the status of their works, acknowledging the presence of multiple versions and the potential for corruption or misrepresentation.

Ovid’s Tristia 1.7 thus serves as a poignant reflection on the fragility of literary creation and the difficulties authors face in controlling their works once they are out of their hands. It is a reminder of the human element behind these ancient texts, the personal and often turbulent circumstances that shape their transmission and preservation. Through Ovid's verses, we gain insight into the anxieties and hopes of a poet who, even in exile, remained deeply concerned with the legacy of his art.