Einige Pendenzen. Weben und Text in der antiken Literatur

The metaphorical relation between the craft of weaving and singing or writing has often been noted and explained, not least with view to the etymological relation of text and textile. It is unsurprising, then, that it has become a commonplace assumption among literary critics to interpret the description of woven garments or scenes of weaving in literature as unequivocal representations of the literary texts themselves. The present contribution proposes to defamiliarise these overly familiar relations and make a fresh attempt at explaining the success of the metaphor of weaving for textual production: Engaging with the various stages and procedures of textile production at the upright loom common in Antiquity, the paper identifies two fundamental qualities of weaving that lie at the heart of its metaphorical appropriation: the linearity and coherence of the working process in weaving and its instantaneous materialisation in the woven garment. Drawing on a wide range of texts from ancient literature (Plautus, Cicero, Optatian, ps.Virgil’s Ciris, and ps.Tibullus’ Pagyricus Messallae), it is shown that the metaphor of weaving owes its success to the fact that it allows for reflection on the dialectics of ideality and materiality in texts. Against this backdrop, a reading of the Metamorphoses is put forward that interprets the Ovidian weaving scenes as a meditation on the metaphor iself.