Ideological Clash in L’Ovide moralisé

Abstract

“The Art of love,” “Metamorphoses,” “Heroides” and “The Love Elegies” written by Publius Ovidius Naso, represent important formative elements of the Roman Catholic homiletic poem “The Moralised Ovid” (L’Ovide Moralisé) written in the early 14th century by an unknown author in Old French. In the article, the ideological use of allusions and reminiscences of this poem to “The Art of Love” and “The Loves”, is analysed. Based on the comparison of Ovid’s quotes on gender roles and Christian maxims, an attempt is made to evaluate the success of the methodology of citing “The Art of Love” and “The Loves” for the purposes of creating medieval Christian ideological narrations.