ABSTRACT
This chapter examines set of figures from Ovid's Metamorphoses: Orpheus and the characters of whom he sings, in particular Pygmalion and his descendants. Orpheus's lamentation has a powerful impact on all who hear it, inspiring a mimetic desire that cannot be withstood. Lacking detachment from his all-encompassing identity as lover, Orpheus is unable to negotiate the interface between the discourses of desire and prohibition. Orpheus's search for an object of desire down in Hell and his devotion to sexual love stand out in clear opposition to the themes of philosophically informed poetry. While Jean drew primarily on Ovid's account of Orpheus and his songs, he was also influenced by medieval literary, philosophical and mythographic traditions. By implication, Orpheus's attempt to bring sexual pleasures along with him in his ascent towards the light is analogous to the giants' bodily assault on Heaven.
