Human and Nonhuman Experience of Water in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Alice Oswald’s Dart

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between humans and water in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Alice Oswald’s Dart. It comprises an in-depth case study of two central characters in each text, Ovid’s Cyane and Arethusa, and Oswald’s John Edmunds and the swimmer, all of whom experience transformations into water. This study examines these processes from the perspectives of both humans and water to uncover these authors’ conceptions of water’s individual agency, identity, and purpose. It reveals points of both contact and dissonance between the texts in question. I argue that, while each poet’s representation of the nonhuman world belongs to markedly different periods and literary cultures, reading their work in conjunction with each other fosters a kind of reciprocal reception. The Metamorphoses and Dart are in conversation with each other, separated by time, space, and language, but united by their authors’ thoughtful considerations of the interplay between water and the human sphere. In charting these reciprocal receptions in Ovid and Oswald, I show how Oswald challenges and problematises Ovid’s approach to water narratives and promotes a world in which humans and water interact as true equals, both part of the same ecosystem.

Date of Award	10 Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Laura Jansen (Supervisor)