Abstract

The first book of Ovid's ‘Tristia’, apparently written by Ovid on his way into exile, contains several descriptions of a sea-storm. Two elegies dealing exclusively with the topic (Trist. 1.2 and 1.4) are located remarkably close to one another. Both sea-storms have convincingly been interpreted as reflections of the turmoil of the exile's life. But various explanations have been put forward to explain the doublet and its position in book 1. This article argues that elegies 1.2 and 1.4 contain most elements of an epic “sea storm”, except for the loss of one or more of the protagonist’s companions. The loss of the “companions” on the other hand, is a central topic in Trist. 1.3, which describes the exile’s last night in Rome. The frame provided by the two descriptions allows the storm and the farewell to Rome to function as a single unit, thus stressing its character as a reflection of the speaker’s tempestuous life. The article goes on to compare the reception of the poems by Hildebert of Lavardin (carm. min. 22) and explains some of its similarities and differences.