Hercules Musarum: poetics and patronage at the end of Ovid’s Fasti

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v20i1.3466

Keywords:

Muses, Hercules, memory, poetics, patronage

Abstract

At the end of the Fasti (6.797-812), Ovid describes an encounter with Hercules and the Muses, goddesses of poetry, to whom he asks for help to finish his poem about the Roman calendar. The epiphanic scene takes place at the Temple of Hercules of the Muses (aedes Herculis Musarum), where the poet speaks to one of the Muses, Clio, who refers to the place as the monument of Phillipus (monimenta Philippi). In the Augustan Age, Lucius Marcius Phillipus, a close relative of Augustus, was responsible for the restauration of this temple, dedicated by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior in 179 B.C.. The Muse sings the praises of Phillipus and his family, using elaborate and allusive language, that leads to ambiguities and raises questions about the nature of this political encomium. As we shall see, Hercules and the Muses are hardly ever represented together, and this unusual association can be observed in connection with issues of poetics and patronage in Rome. This paper investigates the roles of Hercules and the Muses in the articulation of the poetic program of the Fasti as well as in the perpetuation of memory through poetry, considering the relations of poetic patronage between Ovid and the centre of power in Rome.

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Published

2023-10-27

How to Cite

Serignolli, L. (2023). Hercules Musarum: poetics and patronage at the end of Ovid’s Fasti. Revista Do GEL, 20(1), 211–240. https://doi.org/10.21165/gel.v20i1.3466