Abstract

Prior to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Hermaphroditus was a popular subject of sculpture but never of extended mythological narrative. Statues make the discovery of the god’s identity a humorous and surprising focal point and encourage attention to the artistry that conveys the discover’s confusion. I read Ovid in the light of the sculptural tradition and argue that Ovid manipulates the readers’ responses to create an experience parallel to the viewing of Hermaphroditus. Ovid ensures a surprise ending and encourages rewinding and examining the deception, replicating in text the experience of the visual encounter and changing Hermaphroditus from a static statue to a dynamic literary character.

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