Abstract
In the Speech of Pythagoras from Metamorphoses 15, Ovid uses a metaphor of how wax can be stamped with new images to illustrate how the anima can remain substantially the same while altering in shape when undergoing transmigration. Shortly after he describes how all things are in a state of flux, and compares the flow of time to the movement of a river. In Plato’s Theaetetus, Socrates, in an extended analogy, tells us to imagine that the ψυχή contains a block of wax, upon which are imprinted our memories, while the dialogue also contains a lengthy criticism of the Heraclitean doctrine of flux. This article will argue that Ovid adapts the wax-metaphor from the Theaetetus and that the dialogue also provides the context for Ovid’s allusion to the Heraclitean principle that πάντα ῥεῖ. It will analyse how the wax and river metaphors were transformed in the epistemological theories of the Stoics and the Epicureans in order to demonstrate how Ovid reformulates this series of philosophical discussions for poetic purposes. The final part of this article will discuss how the wax and river metaphors can be read in term of the wider intertextual agenda of the Speech of Pythagoras.
Acknowledgements
The germ of this article can be traced to as a series of discussions which took place in the advanced ancient Greek reading group in the Classics department in the National University of Ireland, Galway, led by friend and mentor, Prof. Michael Clarke, to whom I am most grateful. I also deeply appreciate the thoughts and observations of the other participants in that discussion, particularly Charles Doyle and Yiannis Doukas. I would like to sincerely thank Prof. Philip Hardie for his close reading of this article; his astute and insightful observations have left a lasting impression throughout this work. Finally, I am very grateful to the external reviewers for their incisive and helpful comments, which significantly improved the final argument and output.
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