Utilitas e delectatio : l’“Ovide moralisé” e altre riscritture del mito di Marsia tra XIV e XV secolo

Utilitas and delectatio. The Ovide moralisé and other rewritings of the myth of Marsyas between 14th and 15th centuries · The medieval recovery of Ovid’s Metamorphoses has always aroused interest among scholars. Since the classical myths received a moral inter- pretation, many allegorical commentaries were composed to explain the tales told in the Metamorphoses. The Ovide moralisé, which was written at the beginning of the 14th centu- ry, provides the first complete French translation and commentary of the Metamorphoses, therefore it must be considered a touchstone for the reception of Ovid. Through an analysis of the tale of Marsyas, this paper aims to clarify how the vernacular poet amplified and modified the classical myth to didactic purposes. The Ovide moralisé shows a lot of points of interest, above all a strong relationship with the mythographic and encyclopaedic tradition. Besides, the article offers a complete Italian translation of the fable of Marsyas and an expla- nation of its allegorical meaning in comparison with other examples of reworking of this myth in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, especially from Luca and Luigi Pulci’s works.