November 16th, 2011
7 pm
Canyon Theatre, Boulder Public Library
1001 Arapahoe, Boulder CO
Writing poetry was a dangerous art in the Roman world. Those who offended the emperor could have their books banned and burned, and the authors themselves exiled or executed. Perhaps the most high profile author to fall foul of the emperor was Ovid (43 BCE - ca. 17 CE), who was exiled for his poetry by Augustus to the furthest frontier of the Roman empire. His most famous work was a mythological poem called the
Metamorphoses; several of its myths concern the persecution or failure of artists. This lecture will focus on the various interpretations of these myths by later visual artists who grappled, like Ovid, with the questions of artistic freedom and the power of the state.
This free public lecture is presented by the Department of Classics at the University of Colorado and supported by the Boulder Public Library and a generous contribution by Mary E.V. McClanahan.
