TY - BOOK AU - Marks,Raymond David TI - Transgressive Heroism: Gender, Genre, and Ovid in Valerius Flaccus’ ›Argonautica‹ T2 - Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes , SN - 9783111562544 U1 - 930 PY - 2024///] CY - Berlin, Boston PB - De Gruyter KW - Epos KW - Flavierzeit KW - Ovidius Naso, Publius KW - Valerius Flaccus, Gaius KW - Epic Poetry, Latin KW - Flavian Literature KW - Ovid N1 - Frontmatter --; Acknowledgments --; Contents --; 1 Introduction --; Part I: Reframing Heroism --; 2 Hercules --; 3 Cyzicus --; Part II: Transformations and Transgressions --; 4 Artes Amatoriae --; 5 Crossing Boundaries --; 6 Entanglements in the Grove --; 7 Deviant Desires --; Part III: Shifting Heroics --; 8 The Bulls and the Earthborns --; 9 The Fleece and a Wedding --; 10 Jason’s Heroic Crisis --; 11 Conclusion --; Bibliography --; Index Locorum --; Index Nominum; restricted access; Issued also in print N2 - Roman epic is traditionally understood to advance a masculine, martial form of heroism. In his version of the Argonaut legend, the Argonautica, however, Valerius Flaccus challenges that prevailing ethos of the genre by turning Medea, Jason’s love interest in the story, into a heroic figure and Jason himself into her emasculated victim. The present study charts this plotline as it unfolds in the second half of Valerius’ epic, finding its key source of inspiration in the poetry of Ovid with its tales of transgressive love, gender-bending, and unconventional heroism. Employing an extensive program of allusion to his Metamorphoses and elegiac works, Valerius transforms Medea from the innocent, vulnerable girl we see in her first appearance in the poem into a threatening, powerful, and masculine figure, who not only helps Jason fulfill his quest for the golden fleece, but eclipses him as hero in the process. Readers of this study will gain insight into Valerius’ inventive reworking of the Argonaut myth and innovations within the epic genre as well as a greater appreciation for Ovid’s influence on Roman epic poetry in the first century CE UR - https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111562629 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9783111562629 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9783111562629/original ER -