Narcissus and Pygmalion

Nature imitates art--not a paradox from Oscar Wilde''s pen, but instead the bold formulation of the Latin poet Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), marking a radical turning point in ancient aesthetics, founded on the principle of mimesis. For Ovid, art is independent of reality, not its mirror: by enhancing phantasia, the artist''s creative imagination and the simulacrum''s primacy over reality, Ovid opens up un...