Le Ninfe e l'amore. Ibridazioni di modelli ovidiani nell’ Hylas di Draconzio

In the characterization of the Nymphs and their attitude towards love, which changes in the course of the narrative, Dracontius in the Hylas (Romul. 2) shows himself to be inspired by various figures from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In a plot densely interwoven with Ovidian memories, elements of the myths of Daphne and Apollo, Io and Jupiter, Narcissus and Echo, Leucothoe and the Sun, Hermaphroditus and Salmacis, Proserpina and Dis, Arethusa and Alpheus, to name only the most notable, are dynamically intertwined. The result is a complex and original picture, which, also in this aspect, documents the strong influence of the Ovidian model in Dracontius’ rewriting of the myth of Hylas.