OVID AND SPATIAL NARRATOLOGY: Espace et structure dans les Métamorphoses d'Ovide. (Scripta Antiqua 130.) Pp. 245, fig., maps. Bordeaux: Ausonius, 2020. Paper, €19. ISBN: 978-2-35613-340-3

• Published in: The Classical Review Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 160 - 162
• Main Author: Salis, Pere Fàbregas
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Narratology; Poetry
• ISSN: 0009-840X; 1464-3561
• DOI: 10.1017/S0009840X2100278X

[...]B. is admittedly (and understandably) unable to integrate into a ‘spatial’ macro-structure most tales, places and trips occurring in the poem, and unconvincingly ends up arguing that they ‘undermine’ the motion westwards, threatening to ‘exploser la narration’ (p. 223). [...]though, it would have been helpful to have at least a cursory discussion of how Ovid uses these border transgressions as compared to other ancient narratives. B.'s greatest achievement is the application of space narratology to a multi-layered and extremely complex text. Since B.'s book intends to set a starting point (p. 224), perhaps in the future others will be able to show in a more straightforward conclusive way how space contributes to the overall disposition and structure of Ovid's immortal carmen perpetuum. pfabregasuni@gmail.com