The Medieval French Ovide moralisé 
An English Translation [3 volume set]

First English translation of one of the most influential French poems of the Middle Ages.


The anonymous
Ovide moralisé (
Moralized Ovid), composed in France in the fourteenth century, retells and explicates Ovid’s
Metamorphoses, with generous helpings of related texts, for a Christian audience. Working from the premise that everything in the universe, including the pagan authors of Graeco-Roman Antiquity, is part of God’s plan and expresses God’s truth even without knowing it, the
Ovide moralisé is a massive and influential work of synthesis and creativity, a remarkable window into a certain kind of medieval thinking. It is of major importance across time and across many disciplines, including literature, philosophy, theology, and art history.


This three volume set offers an English translation of this hugely significant text – the first into any modern language. Based on the only complete edition to date, that by Cornelis de Boer and others completed in 1938, it also reflects more recent editions and numerous manuscripts. The translation is accompanied by a substantial introduction, situating the
Ovide moralisé in terms of the reception of Ovid, the mythographical tradition, and its medieval French religious and intellectual milieu. Notes discuss textual problems and sources, and relate the text to key issues in the thought of theologians such as Bonaventure and Aquinas.

Cuprins

VOLUME ONE


Introduction

– What
is the
Ovide Moralisé?

– Who Was the Audience?

– Text and Image in the Manuscripts

– Who Wrote the OM?

– A Cauldron of Story and Interpretation

– How Does the OM Moralize?


Notes on the Translation


Bibliography


The Translation

Detailed Contents

Books 1-4


VOLUME TWO

Books 5-10


VOLUME THREE

Books 11-15


Index

Despre autor

Matthieu Boyd is Professor of Literature and Chair of the Department of Literature, Languages, Writing, and Humanities at Fairleigh Dickinson University.