A Sixteenth Century Niobe in a Twentieth Century Short Story: Ovid’s Long Reach from Augustan Rome

Authors

Leslie Macfarlane, Brigham Young University
Dr. Stephen Bay, Brigham Young University

Keywords

Niobe, sixteenth century, twentieth century, Ovid, Augustan Rome

College

Humanities

Department

Comparative Arts and Letters

Abstract

The term “reception” defines the product of referring to or relying upon one work of literature or art within another. Anything from translating a work into a different language, reusing a well known title, quoting directly from a work, or writing in a meter typically associated with a certain work or author can be deemed a reception. In the late 1930’s or early 40’s Theodore Sturgeon, who would later gain recognition for his contributions to the science fiction genre, wrote a short story and gave the antagonist and the story the name “Niobe.” That decision advertises that the story is a reception of the myth that tells of a woman named Niobe who transformed into stone after her children died. Since the most complete telling of Niobe’s myth is found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in my honors thesis I studied how the relationship between Sturgeon’s “Niobe” and Ovid’s Metamorphoses contributes to the value and meaning of Sturgeon’s story.

Recommended Citation

Macfarlane, Leslie and Bay, Dr. Stephen (2013) "A Sixteenth Century Niobe in a Twentieth Century Short Story: Ovid’s Long Reach from Augustan Rome," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 695.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/695