Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid

Among the probable sources of “winter” imagery in the last cantos of Inferno a special place belongs to the motif of Scythian winter, developed in detail by Ovid in his “exile poetry” and (before him) by Virgil in the Georgics (III). Despite the absence of direct mentions of Tristia and Epistulae Ex...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tatiana G. Chesnokova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature 2022-06-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
Subjects:
Online Access:http://studlit.ru/images/2022-7-2/03_Chesnokova_40-61.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849685857025392640
author Tatiana G. Chesnokova
author_facet Tatiana G. Chesnokova
author_sort Tatiana G. Chesnokova
collection DOAJ
description Among the probable sources of “winter” imagery in the last cantos of Inferno a special place belongs to the motif of Scythian winter, developed in detail by Ovid in his “exile poetry” and (before him) by Virgil in the Georgics (III). Despite the absence of direct mentions of Tristia and Epistulae Ex Ponto in Dante’s oeuvre, the majority of modern scholars challenge the statement of E. Moore, who suggested in the late 19th century that later writings by Ovid created in exile may have remained unknown to the author of the Divine Comedy. In correlation with the view of Michelangelo Picone, who, beside tracing the characteristics of Ovid’s winter, also saw in Dante’s wintry parts of Hell a reconsideration of the motif of exile (central to Tristia), the author of the article examines the most important parallels, uniting the Commedia’s first cantica with Ovid’s “exile” verses, namely the description of the solidity of ice covering the river or lake; the hero-author walking on the ice and gazing at beings bound in it; the correlation between winter’s dominance and the escalation of hostility in the relations of persons and tribes; the connection of winter’s setting with the motifs of “death-in-the-life” and the loss of spiritual home; a longing for spiritual Absolute under the reign of winter; potential ambiguousness of “winter” motifs.
format Article
id doaj-art-c79c37f5405248c9886644331ab3eea2
institution DOAJ
issn 2500-4247
2541-8564
language English
publishDate 2022-06-01
publisher Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
record_format Article
series Studia Litterarum
spelling doaj-art-c79c37f5405248c9886644331ab3eea22025-08-20T03:22:57ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642022-06-0172406110.22455/2500-4247-2022-7-2-40-61Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid Tatiana G. Chesnokova0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9326-4520A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RussiaAmong the probable sources of “winter” imagery in the last cantos of Inferno a special place belongs to the motif of Scythian winter, developed in detail by Ovid in his “exile poetry” and (before him) by Virgil in the Georgics (III). Despite the absence of direct mentions of Tristia and Epistulae Ex Ponto in Dante’s oeuvre, the majority of modern scholars challenge the statement of E. Moore, who suggested in the late 19th century that later writings by Ovid created in exile may have remained unknown to the author of the Divine Comedy. In correlation with the view of Michelangelo Picone, who, beside tracing the characteristics of Ovid’s winter, also saw in Dante’s wintry parts of Hell a reconsideration of the motif of exile (central to Tristia), the author of the article examines the most important parallels, uniting the Commedia’s first cantica with Ovid’s “exile” verses, namely the description of the solidity of ice covering the river or lake; the hero-author walking on the ice and gazing at beings bound in it; the correlation between winter’s dominance and the escalation of hostility in the relations of persons and tribes; the connection of winter’s setting with the motifs of “death-in-the-life” and the loss of spiritual home; a longing for spiritual Absolute under the reign of winter; potential ambiguousness of “winter” motifs.http://studlit.ru/images/2022-7-2/03_Chesnokova_40-61.pdfwinterdanteovidmotiftoposexiledeathambivalencespiritual homespiritual journey.
spellingShingle Tatiana G. Chesnokova
Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
Studia Litterarum
winter
dante
ovid
motif
topos
exile
death
ambivalence
spiritual home
spiritual journey.
title Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
title_full Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
title_fullStr Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
title_full_unstemmed Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
title_short Winter in Tomis and “Winter” in Hell: Once More about the Parallels between Dante and Ovid
title_sort winter in tomis and winter in hell once more about the parallels between dante and ovid
topic winter
dante
ovid
motif
topos
exile
death
ambivalence
spiritual home
spiritual journey.
url http://studlit.ru/images/2022-7-2/03_Chesnokova_40-61.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT tatianagchesnokova winterintomisandwinterinhelloncemoreabouttheparallelsbetweendanteandovid