The Metamorphosis of Ovid: Exile, Identity and Regeneration in Vintilă Horia's God was Born in Exile

Abstract

An exile himself after the advent of the communist regime following the end of WWII, seeking refuge in Italy, Argentina and then Spain, the Romanian writer Vintilă Horia chose to condensate his own experience of both emigration and inner exile into the novel God was born in exile, for which he received the Goncourt Prize in 1960. The novel is often compared to Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian on account of both its structure – the novel takes the form of Ovid's apoc­ryphal diary in Tomis, the place of his exile – and theme – the oscillation between dis­­trust of ancient polytheism and the incipient faith in a monotheistic god. Howe­ver, Horia's novel centres on exile, both external and inner exile, and on the work of mental and spiritual transformation that exile implies as well as on empire as a dissol­ving structure. Adapting to what he perceives to be a barbaric city – though establi­shed and still mostly inhabited by Greeks – Ovid starts to metamorphose slowly, along the lines of Nietzsche's claim that he chose exile in order to speak the truth. Ovid's transformation from a Roman citizen into a poet of the truth is triggered by his encounter with a barbaric world view and their monotheistic religion of Zal­moxis, that of the Getae living around Tomis, and reinforced by his relations with the inhabitants on the margin of Empire. The article explores the concept of exile in relation with Christianity. Ovid’s exile embarks him on a journey of self-discovery through the discovery of the Other. As he travels through Gaetic and Dacian lands, he befriends local characters who share the tragic history of their tribes with him. He also encounters Theodore, a Greek physician, who shares a prophecy regarding a fu­ture Messiah. This prophecy provides Ovid with a fresh perspective on his experien­ce of loss, resulting in a spiritual renewal. Theodore's teachings align with the philo­sophy of Mircea Eliade, implying that Ovid's banishment functions as a form of ini­tiation into the sacred mysteries. His initiation follows the path outlined by Eliade, involving the experience of initiatory death and rebirth as part of the challenges fa­ced during the initiatory journey. Therefore, Horia’s depiction of exile connects with his own religious consciousness, shaped by a type of Christian mysticism that he embraced. The 1927 generation – which included Emil Cioran, Constantin Noica, Mircea Eliade, and Vintilă Horia – sought to redefine Romanian identity, emphasi­zing spiritual renewal, traditionalism, and Christian mysticism. The focus on Chris­tian mysticism served as a bridge between these thinkers and the Iron Guard, a fascist group in Romania that garnered support from the Romanian Orthodox Church. In Horia’s novel, Ovid is portrayed as an embodiment of the new man envisioned by the intellectual legacy of the Iron Guard a poet who has experienced spiritual transfor­ma­tion, rejected his former self, and adopted a faith akin to Christianity.

Ulti­mately, God was born in exile engages with the literary and cultural lega­cy of Ovid by connecting the historical figure to Christianity in order to incorporate it as a crucial component of Romanian national identity, as it was understood by Horia and other intellectuals of his generation.