Léandre dans Ov., Her. 18: conformation avec les stéréotypes et dépassement de l’indentité élégiaque

Abstract

This text analyses Heroides 18 and 19 by focussing on Leander’s speech and behaviour. Although the role played by the hero is similar to that of the traditional protagonist of elegiac poems, and his letter resembles a paraclausithyron, Leander appears ready to act which seems incompatible with the usually passive behaviour of elegiac characters. The text reiterates Ovid’s probable allusions to a form of hybris revealed by the hero which probably accounts for his death.