Τwo Beginnings

Acrostic Commencements in Horace ( Epod. 1.1–2) and Ovid ( Met. 1.1–3)

Bibliographic Data

ID9665278
AuthorsBrett Evans (Connecticut College, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume73
Issue2
Pages699-713
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0009838823000605
OpenAlexW4392920939
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

This article proposes that Horace's Epodes and Ovid's Metamorphoses open with significant acrostics that comprise the first two letters, in some cases forming syllables, of successive lines: IB-AM/IAMB ( Epod . 1.1–2) and IN-CO-(H)AS ( Met . 1.1–3). Each acrostic, it will be argued, tees up programmatic concerns vital to the work it opens: generic identity and the interrelation of form and content ( Epodes ), etymology and monumentality ( Metamorphoses ). Moreover, as befits their placement at the head of collections, both acrostics negotiate the challenge of literary commencement. The introduction reviews recent developments in acrostic studies and discusses important predecessors and parallels for Horace's and Ovid's ‘two-letter’ and syllabic acrostics. Two subsequent sections examine the acrostics singly, and a conclusion compares the dialogues that these acrostics open between author and reader, underscoring the welcome challenge which Ovid's acrostic offers to the prevailing scholarly view that this form of wordplay is a strictly visual affair

Art · Etymology · Linguistics · Literature · Negotiation · Parallels · Social science · Sociology · Syllabic verse · Classical Antiquity Studies · Engineering · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Philosophy

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