The emotion of lust is frequent throughout the pages of Ovid’s epic poem, Metamorphoses. Despite it being only one specific emotion, each separate situation in Metamorphoses showed the differences of lust and how it affected individuals. In the specific tale of Apollo, he handled lust negatively as he fell in love with someone that would not love him back. On the other hand, Jove lusted over Callisto because of her stunning appearance. Additionally, Myrrha was in love with her father and was unable to resist that feeling. Lastly, Tereus sexually assaulted Philomela with force because of lust. Each of theses stories showed the different sides of lust, as it is an inherent part of life.
Book I described the story of Apollo who became in love
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He saw Philomela and lust overcame him, “And scarcely able to defer his lust, the barbarian exults, and keeps his eyes fixed firmly on his now defenseless prize, exactly as when Jove’s great bird of prey, the eagle, drops into his lofty nest the hare gripped in his talons, and the prey and captor both know that there is no escape.” Lust was an emotion that made Tereus a savage that did not take into account what another person was feeling. He raped Philomela, and she yearned to punish him. Tereus cut her tongue out to prevent her from speaking about his wrongdoings, and raped her a second time. Tereus did not have any self-control and was inhumane. Lust for him was for force and power.
Lastly, in this story, Tereus does not show compassion for Philomela and raped her twice, showing that he only cared about his feelings. He violated her even after he cut her tongue out. This is the most negative example of lust as Tereus showed how violent lust can make an
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In the first scenario with Apollo and Daphne, the touching of the tree showed how powerful lust is as an emotion. Because of Callisto’s stunning appearances, Jove raped her—lust is not an emotion that can be ignored and can cause much negativity. Despite Cinyras being Myrrha’s father, she still pined for him and lust caused her much pain that controlled her life. Lastly, Tereus’ lust for Philomela showed how destructive the emotion could make an individual feel. This emotion can cause many different scenarios for each person and it can make people act in horrible, negative ways. It is important to understand that lust is a very vital desire that humans naturally feel in all times during
In the plays female sexuality is not expressed variously through courtship, pregnancy, childbearing, and remarriage, as it is in the period. Instead it is narrowly defined and contained by the conventions of Petrarchan love and cuckoldry. The first idealizes women as a catalyst to male virtue, insisting on their absolute purity. The second fears and mistrusts them for their (usually fantasized) infidelity, an infidelity that requires their actual or temporary elimination from the world of men, which then re-forms [sic] itself around the certainty of men’s shared victimization (Neely 127).
As one of the most well known ancient Roman love poets, Ovid has demonstrated bountiful talents within his writing. When reading myths from his book titled Metamorphoses, you gain an enlightening insight of how he viewed mythology. To Ovid, love was the origin of everything. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that most of his poems relate to the theme of love. However, not all poets are the same and every re-telling of a myth has its own unique perspective. In this paper I will compare and contrast the myth of Medea in Euripides Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 7. I will then explain how Ovid’s approach to love and loss correlate to his general approach to myth as a whole. I will support my belief with evidence from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 14.
Porphyria and her lover. ‘For love of her and all in vain: So, she was
Before coming directly to the forming of the love-theme that differentiates Othello from other Shakespeare plays that utilize the same theme, I turn arbitrarily to Iago to inspect a distinguishing mark of his of which the relevance to thematic form in the play will appear a little later. When Iago with unperceived scoffing reminds Roderigo, who is drawn with merciless attraction to the unreachable Desdemona, that love effects an unwonted nobility in men, he states a doctrine which he “knows” is true but in which he may not “believe.” Ennoblement by love is a real possibility in men, but Iago has to view it with bitterness and to try to undermine it. (333-34)
...the horrific incident of his murder to his dearest Porphyria. Finally, the employment of the clever use of irony serves in proving the persona’s inner madness, as what he thinks and does is contrary to what Porphyria has done earlier prior to her death. Though the persona’s execution of his late lover was done to keep his everlasting moment of intimacy with her, the act was still malevolent and evil, and was a poor and foolish attempt in displaying his own affection for his love. In the end, it greatly epitomized his greediness over keeping Porphyria to himself, and his cruelty by taking away her life for his own benefit.
Helen Gardner in “Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune” agrees with Bradley, saying that “its subject is sexual jealousy, loss of faith in a form which involves the whole personality at the profound point where body meets spirit” (144). Of course, jealousy of a non-sexual nature torments the antagonist, the ancient, to the point that he ruins those around him and himself. Francis Ferguson in “Two Worldviews Echo Each Other” describes:
In this essay I will examine the war-of the-sexes taking place in The Eumenides, the final play of The Oresteia. The plot of The Eumenides pits Orestes and Apollo (representing the male gods and, to a certain extent, male values in general) against the ghost of Clytemnestra and the Furies (equally representative of female values.) Of more vital importance, however, is whether Athene sides with the males or females throughout the play.
Othello is without a doubt obsessively in love with Desdemona that the preconcieved idea of her cheating on him will throw him into an uncontrollable fits of rage that could be seen as slight symptoms of excessive jealousy responses in the brain. As a soldier Othello is supposed to hold himself to a higher standard. However Iago has made it a point to mention Othello’s epileptic tantrums as “passion unfitting such a man” (Act IV,scene 1). Othello a man of such noble standard and solidarity is witnessed as revealing weakness and vulnerability by the uncertainty of marriage with Desdemona.
Love, in classical Greek literature, is commonly considered as a prominent theme. Love, in present days, always appears in the categories of books, movies or music, etc. Interpreted differently by different people, Love turns into a multi-faceted being.
Aeschines undercuts Timarchus’ credibility by carefully wording the nature of Timarchus’ alleged shameful past, insinuating that Timarchus is the passive, receiving partner in his sexual ventures with Misgolas and other men (41). The unnameable sins that Misgolas actively “wanted to do” (41) to Timarchus, Timarchus passively wanted to “have done” to him (41). This attack on the character of Timarchus serves to effeminate him in the eyes of the jury, for to be “a creature with the body of a man defiled with the sins of a woman” (185) is a shameful disposition for a politically active male. This use of the active and passive verb tense in Aeschines’ speech successfully laid the foundation for the jury to begin to question the masculinity of
Love can be quite chaotic at times. As much as poets and songwriters promote the idea of idyllic romantic love, the experience in reality is often fraught with emotional turmoil. When people are in love, they tend to make poor decisions, from disobeying authority figures to making rash, poorly thought-out choices. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses various motifs to illustrate how love, irrationality, and disobedience are thematically linked to disorder.
The depiction of the Greek and roman myths are given unique insights from different authors. The Hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphosis provide and insight to Demeter's love for her daughter, Persephone, and explores its affect on the surrounding environments. The theme of separation and isolation is present in both of these myths, however, in Ovid's Metamorphosis, he symbolizes the environment in important events, has characters playing different roles, and empowers female deities.
The phrase “I do” is common during many marriage ceremonies today, but what did earlier societies believe about love? In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the point is clearly made that love can be controlled. In Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick is tricked into loving Beatrice by Claudio and Don Pedro. This is very similar to Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which love is triggered by Cupid inflicting his love, or lack thereof, on both people and gods.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the concept of love seems to vary from character to character. In one case, a god in the form of a man desperately seeks a particular woman and refuses to relent until he has her. In another instance, a female goddess cares deeply for a man and goes to great lengths to protect him from danger. In yet another case, both who are arranged to be married seem indifferent about the matter.
...ses may be read and interpreted separately, taken together rather than apart, the stories can be more effectively linked. The use of repetition throughout the work and constant symbolism in each tale help connect the stories. The entire work is in poetic form, and the literary techniques used are consistent with the time period. Common symbols are used throughout. A common motif is the stretching out of arms preceding metamorphosis. Also, the imagery of hunting coincides with that of sexual passion. Daphne is a huntress and is associated strongly with the forest and nature. It is fitting then that she is the character pursued by Apollo. The vocabulary of hunger and thirst, or devouring and drinking are associated with acts of violence. The constant repetition and the imagery in Metamorphoses are key to interpreting what Ovid is trying to convey to the reader. The power of change is the central issue in each story and in all the stories combined. Change as a vehicle of escape, punishment, or any means to an end is apparent in virtually every story in the book.