Vocavere eam preterea multis nominibus: tracking the Boccaccian Ops

Abstract

Ops can be found as a very complex goddess in the ancient literary tradition, considering either the variations of her name or the functions associated to her. She was named, as the goddess of prosperity, wealth, fertility and Earth, in different ways, e.g. Opis, Rhea, Tellus or mostly Cybele, and in line with this, different roles were attributed to her, among which no obvious distinctions were reached neither in the Antiquity, nor in the Middle Ages. In my essay I try to show how Boccaccio interpreted the elements of the ancient literary through the filter of the Medieval tradition. What kind of attributes and interpretations did he received and on the basis of the sources how he created his narratives on Ops in De mulieribus claris and Genealogia deorum gentilium? What kind of contradictions did Boccaccio the philologist and narrator get into and can these ones be unlocked? So the figure of Ops in Boccaccio’s interpretation can be a picturesque example to see what kind of challenges had to face an author, trying to elaborate ideas deriving from his ancestors, at the dawn of philology.