Deucalion et Pyrrha dans les flots médiévaux : étude de la réception de la fable autour de l'Ovide moralisé

Details

Supervisors

Cavagna, Mattia

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres françaises et romanes, orientation générale, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enThis dissertation looks into the way the Middle Ages received the myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha, which originated from Ovid’s first book of Metamorphoses and tells the story of the couple that was saved from the flood but is now destined to recreate the human race. The purpose of this study is to understand the fate of this story, from the 12th century, such as why it was maintained, but also how it was read through the time. In order to do so, we plan to analyze, in the first part of this study, several treatises : the Allegoriae super Ovidii Metamorphosin by Arnulf of Orleans, the Integumenta ovidii by John of Garland, the Vulgate Commentary by an unknown writer, as well as the Allegoriae librorum Ovidii Metamorphoseos by Giovanni del Virgilio. These four works will be studied for their commentary, but also as potential sources for the Ovide moralisé, an extended translation of Metamorphoses from an anonymous writer of the 14th century, who also proposes - merely ethical - interpretations of the ovidian text. The second part of this study will then center around this 72.000 verses poem, in order to, firstly, consider the translation method and what it can reveal about the reception work around this tale, and, secondly, to examine the several interpretations that were added to the story, with the aim to draw the circles of influences and innovations compared to the interpretative tradition that was built in the previous four treatises around this essential story that address the origins of humanity.