ABSTRACT
Discussion to this point has followed closely the unfolding of the stories within each of the epics. In the next two chapters I intend to abandon sequential paraphrase and to pursue an analysis that is based on themes. Why? There are many interpretative paraphrases of the Aeneid (particularly Quinn 1968 and Williams 1980a, 1980b). It would, perhaps, be pointless to repeat labours better done by others. As for the Metamorphoses, it poses a different problem. Ovid’s narrative is labyrinthine, yet it is not hard to follow (Glenn 1986 offers an interpretative paraphrase). What is needed is not paraphrase (which easily becomes as labyrinthine as the narrative itself), but to show how Ovid’s 250 odd stories encrypt a limited number of themes and concerns.
