Textual Criticism Note: There was only one textual oddity in my story found in line 673

regarding the punctuation after "restabat", wheter it was a period or semicolon. 

      TThere are many poetic devices and figūrae in my story; however, I will only write on one of the more artistic and effective arrangements found in lines 656-658. Lines 656-658 read: "adiciunt animos iuveni clamorque favorque // verbaque dicentum 'nunc, nunc incumbere tempus! // Hippomene, propera! nunc viribus utere totis!". At this moment in the story, Hippomenes and Atalanta are neck-and-neck, both running as hard as they can to take the lead while the spectators cheer and shout encouragement to Hippomenes. Several poetic devices are used to emphasize the speed, tension, and high-adrenaline-feeling of the race and crowds. First, Ovid artfully describes both runners drive and vigor through an artful description which can be seen as a metaphor ("adiciunt animos iuveni"), and can be translated as "they threw their spirits/minds to youth". Clearly this is not to be taken literally and is instead an artful way of representing the dedication and complete effort they are putting into running as fast as they can. This feeling can come during any intense, focused activity such as a concert, match or competition in which, at a certain point, you are so concentrated and centered on the activity that you do not think of anything else, block out outside sounds, and have nothing in your head except for laser focus on the activity. Performers, stunt artists, and athletes reach this moment of throwing or channeling all their energy, focus, mind and vigor to doing the best they can. This is a difficult emotion to describe in words and so by speaking somewhat abstractly and more artfully Ovid is while still being concise, able to eloquently make the reader feel present and involved in the story. The next poetic device used is the polysyndeton of "clamorque favorque verbaque" which means "and the shouts and the applause and the words". This is one of the most effective poetic constructions to use in this setting as it reiterates and emphasizes the presence and impact of the crowd and spectators. Polysyndeton is the use of excessive or repetitive conjunctions and stands out both when reading and when the poem is read as the -que...-que...-que builds up the tension and noise and well represents how it would sound to be one of the runners being yelled and cheered at. The final artistic figūrae used in this passage is the anaphoric repetition of "nunc". "Nunc", which means "now!" is used three times in seven words ("nunc, nunc incumbere tempus! Hippomene, propera! nunc...") and as such stands out. This is yet another way Ovid shows the pressure, tension and heat of the moment that both runners, especially Hippomenes feel at this point in the story. Hippomenes is literally running for his life as he will be killed if he loses and so the moment unfolding right now is of the utmost importance. The anaphora makes the importance of the now front and center and drives in the fact that each step Hippomenes takes will determine whether or not he will live or die. All in all, Ovid uses a variety of poetic devices and artistic constructions to not only make his poetry beautiful and artful but to make the reader feel the emotions which the characters feel.