Spencer, Richard A.

About the author: Dr. Spencer received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University.

Contrast as Narrative Technique in Ovid's Metamorphoses

1997 0-7734-8549-X
This is the first study which attempts a thorough analysis of the definition, nature, scope, functions and effects of the contrasts which Ovid employs. The study examines six stories from the Metamorphoses for all types of contrast, ranging from occasional and immediate, rhetorical figures to farther-reaching contrasts of them, character, tone, and style. Spencer examines intertextual contrast, which are oriented toward the poet's sources, and intratextual contrasts. It is the most thorough analysis available of how Ovid uses contrast on many levels and for a wide range of effects.