Rome鈥檚 Other Twins: Ovid鈥檚 Gemini in Fasti V.
Rachel Dzugan
The head of Roma on the front and the two Dioscuri riding horses on the back. M眉nzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
The legendary she-wolf suckles Romulus and Remus. Musei Capitolini.
Thursday, February听1, 5:15pm
Eaton Humanities
Free and open to the public
Download the poster
ABSTRACT
This talk offers a nuanced analysis of Ovid鈥檚 Gemini story in Fasti 5.693-720 in three complementary interpretative layers: firstly, by examining the poem鈥檚 generic and programmatic considerations; secondly, by reading through a metapoetical lens; and thirdly, by drawing parallels with the other twins in the Fasti, namely Romulus and Remus. My exploration of the Gemini narrative not only explores the challenges faced by Ovid鈥檚 poetry but also illustrates Ovid鈥檚 inventive strategies as he grapples with and听adapts to the challenges of past and present history and politics. The Gemini story in Book 5, though only 28 lines of text, represents a microcosm of the complexity of Ovid鈥檚 poetry and the difficulty of any definitive interpretation of it.