The structure of the narrative in the story of Baucis and Philemon

Abstract

The Ovidian story of Baucis and Philemon can be divided into shorter sections based on the structure of the narrative, and several parallelisms and analogies can be perceived between these sections. In one section the number of vegetables and other edibles corresponds with the number of the edibles in the other, as well as with the arrangement of divine names in the text creating a palistrophe, thus showing the individual parts of the whole strory. The aim of this article is to present the Ovidian structure of the narrative of the story and make possible emendations of the widely accepted text utilising the most important medieval codices and this supposed structural framework.