Statues and the Statuesque in Ovid'sHeroides

Abstract

AbstractThis paper discusses the role of statues and statuesque iconography in Ovid's Heroides against the backdrop of the heroines’ strained relationship with their absent lovers. Statues play a prominent role, as they are intrinsically related with immobility, muteness, and spatial seclusion. From visual reminders of absence and vivid manifestations of the heroines’ emotional state to sexual substitutes and metaliterary embodiments of their poetry, statues (real and/or imaginary) inform the heroines’ letters and, despite their static character, often set the narrative in motion.