The word of the canvas: Ovid and the success of Arachne

CYCLE: The words and images of art: explorations in the literature of ancient Rome 
SPEAKER: Gianpiero Rosati 
DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 6:00 p.m. 
LOCATION: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Largo di Villa Peretti 2 

The weaving contest between Arachne, a highly skilled weaver, and the goddess Minerva, the patron deity of weaving and other feminine arts, is a pivotal episode in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Arachne, a mortal, refuses to acknowledge Minerva's superiority. The two tapestries they create are inspired by opposing aesthetic principles and ideologies. The style of the narrator, Ovid, who does not openly take a position on the primacy of one over the other, reflects their respective formal choices.
The contest ends without a clear verdict, but the text makes it clear that Arachne is not defeated. The lack of a clear victory is a humiliation for Minerva, who, in a fit of rage, punishes her rival with an act of force derived solely from her divine status, transforming Arachne into a spider. The episode, which would enjoy great success in the history of European art, stages the eternal conflict (one that Ovid himself would be crushed by) between power and the autonomy of the artist, and illustrates the communicative power of the image, which replaces and exalts the word.

Gianpiero Rosati taught Latin Literature at the Universities of Florence, Pavia, Udine, and at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, where he is now Professor Emeritus. He has written about Augustan poetry (particularly Ovid), Latin narrative prose, and the literature of the early imperial age. He is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and the Academia Europaea.

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