Naso Deus: Ovid’s Hidden Signature in the Metamorphoses

Chapter 6 comments on the rarely observed telestich at Met. 1.452–5, spelling out the noun Naso. The chapter posits that it ought to be connected to the acrostic deus, noted by Isidor Hilberg at 1.29–32. Together, the two so-named intexts form the authorial signature Naso deus, which resembles Ovid’s references to himself elsewhere in his poetry and invites a number of playful interpretations ranging from the metapoetic to the political. By including intexts in his poetry, Ovid inserts himself into a tradition of literary sophistication that reaches back ultimately to the Hellenistic era. Yet Ovid’s signature also highlights the poet’s role as the demiurge who created the cosmos of the Metamorphoses. The deus acrostic occurs in a passage describing the formation of the universe, and the Naso telestich marks the famous Primus amor Phoebi episode, which narrates the world’s transformation into a truly Ovidian realm of illicit sexual affairs between humans and gods. For this literary creation, the signature suggests, Ovid can claim the title of Naso deus.