Consonant Alliteration in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books I-VIII

Abstract

Consonant Alliteration in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books I-VIII

An in-depth analysis enables us to observe that consonant alliterations in books I – VIII appear in the description of the most dramatic events, especially during the rapid and unexpected metamorphoses of Lycaon, Daphne, Io, Callisto, Clytie, Arachne, Lycia’s farmers and Proteus. They express the flights of Daphne and Arethusa. They accompany also the descriptions of nature and cosmos, mainly the disasters caused by the water element. They highlight the death of a protagonist, e.g. Phaethon, Argus, Coronis, Pentheus and Toxeus, or divine rage, e.g. of Juno, Minerva, Latona and Achelous. They appear often in the portrayal of punishment, e. g. of Marsyas, Pentheus and Erysichthon, or the grief after the death of beloved people, e. g. Heliades, Inachus. The greatest abundance and variety of consonant alliterations T, D and M, N is present in books I, II and IV.