Ovid's Metamorphoses Changes

Everything on the planet, be it dead or alive, will go through changes. The changes that each being must make or undergo could be good, bad, or somewhere in between the two. An ancient Roman author known as Ovid wrote an epic called Metamorphoses that consists of small stories linked together by a larger narrative and all of the stories deal with change in one way or another. In Ovid’s stories, the changes that the characters undertake are often detrimental because the characters are usually changed against their will, the change is commonly done as a punishment, and the changes typically force the characters away from their homeland and all the people they love.

As people age, the majority will change something about themselves willingly

These punishments are detrimental to the characters in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Two such punishments are told during the competition between the Muses and the daughters of Pierus. During the Muses’ song, Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, mentions Ascalaphus’ punishment by Prosperina. Ascalaphus witnessed Prosperina eat pomegranet seeds and his testimony made it impossible for her to leave the underworld. As punishment, Prosperina turned him into an owl, “‘Raging, the Queen of the Underworld turned that informer/ into a bird of ill omen…she gave him a beak and plumage and eyes quite enormous’” (Putchner et al 1096). This change was detrimental because Ascalaphus was stripped of his position in the underworld and forced to live as an owl, a warning of evil, for the rest of his life simply because he told the truth. At the end of the competition, the Muses are declared the winners and the daughters of Pierus are changed into magpies for their arrogance, “‘Then the Pierides mock our threats…their fingers take on feathers and their arms/ turn into pinions! Each one sees a beak/ replace a sister’s face” (Putchner et al 1099). The Pierdes, even though they were prideful and rude, are now punished to stay as birds and never allowed to atone for their sins. Pierus also loses all of his daughters. This change is detrimental not only to Pierus’ daughters but also to Pierus himself.

Many characters in Metamorphosis are driven from their homeland and all they hold dear and that is an incredibly detrimental change. Io, the woman forced into the form of a cow by Jove, is chased out of Greece and into Egypt, “[Juno] fixed a prod that goaded Io on,/ driving her in terror through the world/ until at least, O Nile, you let her rest” (Putchner et al 1087). Although Io regains her human shape once in Egypt, she never sees her family again nor is she ever allowed back into Greece. Thus, the change from human to cow and back again has caused her unbelievable pain and loneliness, “unable to restrain [Io’s] flowing tears” (Putchner et al 1085). Io cries into her father’s palm out of frustration and despair at her situation. Another woman, Europa, is taken from her homeland by Jove when he tricks her into getting atop his back while he is in the form of a bull, “the princess dares to sit upon his back/ not knowing who it is that she has mounted,/ and he begins to set out from dry land” (Putchner et al 1089). Europa is unwittingly abducted from her home and never sees Phoenicia again. Europa was not the one who changed forms in this story, but she still suffers from the change of being taken from Phoenicia to wherever Jove decides to leave her, “[Europa] trembles as she sees the shore receding” (Putchner et al 1089). Her trembling denotes her fear and distress