Vim Parat: Patterns of Sexualized Violence, Victim-Blaming, and Sororophobia in Ovid

Author

Melissa Marturano, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

9-2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Classics

Advisor

Ronnie Ancona

Committee Members

Dee Clayman

Philip Thibodeau

Subject Categories

Classical Literature and Philology | Classics | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | History of Gender | Women's Studies

Keywords

Ovid, Classical Literature, Feminism, Rape, Victim-Blaming, Sororophobia, Rome, Heroides, Amores, Ars Amatoria, Metamorphoses, Fasti, Tristia, Epistulae ex Ponto

Abstract

My dissertation argues for the importance of understanding the depiction of sexualized violence and rape in the Roman poet Ovid’s extensive corpus through the modern feminist concepts of victim-blaming (blaming victims of sexual abuse for their own abuse) and sororophobia (female figures participating in misogyny). It explores sexualized violence and rape in Ovid long-form, examines the discernible patterns that emerge and the deviations from them as he depicts that violence throughout his texts, and more importantly, introduces victim-blaming and sororophobia into an analysis of these patterns. Despite the fact that previous scholars have done substantial analyses of the patterns of sexualized violence and rape in Ovid’s texts, my dissertation demonstrates—for the first time—how and why the phenomena of victim-blaming and sororophobia should be seen as fundamental parts of those patterns.

Recommended Citation

Marturano, Melissa, "Vim Parat: Patterns of Sexualized Violence, Victim-Blaming, and Sororophobia in Ovid" (2017). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2303