Ovid's Tristia as Testimony to Trauma

Ovid's Tristia as Testimony to Trauma

Neely, Elizabeth

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Greek and Latin

This project takes advantage of modern trauma theory to develop a new reading and understanding of Ovid's first book of exile poetry, the Tristia. Using trauma theory, clinical research data, and traditional philology, this paper demonstrates that the language that Ovid uses to describe his experience of banishment and life in exile reveals that this period of his life included several potentially traumatic events. Shoshanna Felman's and Dori Laub's concepts of testimony and witnessing, strongly influenced the reading of the text as a reflection of the poet's personal experiences instead of either literal facts or empty artifice as scholars have previously done. This approach opens up new ways of understanding Ovid's experiences from the time that his banishment was announced through the third year of his exile. Through the lens of trauma theory, this project discovers how Ovid understood and expressed his separation from Rome, sense of self, relationship to poetry and language, and methods of coping with the pain.

Committee: William Batstone (Advisor); Zoe Plakias (Other); Julia Nelson-Hawkins (Committee Member); Dana Munteanu (Committee Member)