Nature Of The Wolf In The Odyssey

The Creation (pg 3-5): (1) The character of the creator almost appears nonchalant as it allowed for Nature, the less kindlier supernatural force, to reign over the “shapelessness chaos” for a seemingly long time until he steps in and confines everything to order, such as “settling arguments.” This shows that he could’ve “shaped” the universe long ago, but chose to let chaos reign for an unknown amount of time. (2) The speaker seems to have no doubt that what he is saying is, in fact, the truth, however, he doesn’t have any sort of emotion given in his exposé, leading me to believe that he’s indifferent, rather than confident, in this revelation. (3) When you remove the creator from the story, you also remove any divine sort of connotation

that comes with using “creator.” The emphasis falls onto “physis,” or the natural order of everything, rather than “nomos,” or law and order/rationalism. By removing the idea of an all-powerful creator, Ovid has indirectly forced the reader to imagine a creator-less world, one created out of natural phenomena instead of by an almighty deity. (4) Humankind’s origin is that people were created in possibly God’s image, as finer beings, or Gods of living clay and running water who, unlike all other animals, can raise their face toward Heaven. (5) This origin story makes “mythological sense,” because it is not necessarily backed up with facts or statistics, but more solely accepted by one’s faith and may have been widely believed at one time. (6) Ovid himself may not entirely believe that mankind was created in God’s image, but rather sees it as speculation. (7) Despite all his talk of a creator, Ovid has shown his indifference toward the subject, and seems rather hell-bent on showing the autonomy of humans.
The Four Ages (5-9): (1) I would place Adam and Eve and their expulsion from paradise in the Iron Age because this age “let loose all evil: modesty and truth and righteousness fled the earth.” This coincides with Adam and Eve’s story since their expulsion meant the creation of original sin and once created, their paradise was over. (2) Ovid’s Four Ages do not represent the “Cradle of Civilization” at all. In fact, Ovid is giving us a moral evolution in reverse. By giving us a reverse evolution, Ovid is saying that as time goes on, humans will become more morally backwards, rather than the opposite. The diet of the human beings during the Golden Age seemed to be exclusively herbivorous, as it only mentions berries, cherries (blackcaps), and edible acorns. This could signify that when humans refrain eating meat, they will stay morally pure and will not war amongst each other.
Lycaon (9-11): (1) Lycanthropy is the supernatural transformation of a person into a wolf.

(2) As seen in The Odyssey, Athena uses the power of transformation to help Telemachus and Odysseus. Her transformations are those of a kind nature, of her true nature, whereas Lycaon is of a wicked nature, as wolves are commonly associated with fear when wandering the woods, for example. (3) I believe Ovid is suggesting that the savage rapacious nature of wolves stems from human beings. Wolves and humans share negative traits such as lust for power and domination. Western culture often demonizes wolves for that characteristic, but most people don’t realize that we also share that trait. Because humans and wolves are headstrong and dominant creatures, it is not surprising that their instincts clash. (4) The mythological significance of lycanthropy is that there is an instinctual mindset within every animal, whether they be beast or

man.
The Flood and Deucalion and Pyrrha (11-16): (1) The bones of the great mother are rocks. (2) This riddle explains that humans come from the bones of the great mother, that they are naturally from the earth. Only by redeeming earth can humankind be redeemed.
Apollo and Daphne (16-21): (1) Ovid’s portrayal of Apollo could not be described as reverent, as Apollo seemed haughty and lustful throughout this short story. He gave Daphne all of his unrequited “burning,” and in an attempt to woo her, began to list off all of his skills and accomplishments. (2) By miraculously turning into a tree, Daphne was to be safe from Apollo, and yet he still loved her, and demanded praise for her from Roman victors. (3) Humphries and Mandelbaum both place this story as the cover of their distinct books to be ironic, since Apollo still has not changed throughout “Apollo and Daphne,” and yet the book is about metamorphosis. (4) From reading this story, I have a few “burning” questions. Were women expected to consent to any man, no matter the man? Does being a female virgin make you a pariah back then? Whose body is it: the woman’s or the man’s?
Jove and Io (21-27): (1) Jove had fallen in love with Io. Io, who at first rejected Jove’s advances, later sought out Jove after having been driven into the fields of Lerna. But Juno, all too familiar with her husband’s infidelity, came to investigate. Jove, fearing his wife’s wrath, disguised himself as a cloud and Io as a heifer; to avoid suspicion, Jove reluctantly gave Juno the heifer when she requested it. Juno then promptly gave the heifer to be watched by Argus, a many-eyed giant, who was later slain by Mercury, under the discretion of Jove. Knowing their love could not last, Jove returned Io back to her mortal form and sent her back to her father.
Final Questions: (1) Book One’s moral is that you can’t escape change. Transformations occur in nature, and there’s no denying that. (2) Sometimes metamorphosis doesn’t always reflect a physical change, and even if it does, you may need to revert back to your old self, such as in Jove and Io, with Io returning to mortal form, rather than remaining as a heifer. (3) The view of the world displayed in Metamorphoses is solely based on random altercations in nature. Divine forces control the outcome of creatures on earth and represent nature and it’s unpredictability.

Phaethon (28-40): (1) The Sun God is more experienced in life as a whole, whereas Phaethon is just a naive young man.

(2) Young people want to experience new things, get a grasp for the world. Older people would rather stick with the same routine that they’ve gotten used to. (3) Phaethon disregards his father’s warning because of his urgent desire to prove to the disbelievers that his father is the Sun God. (4) In this story, Ovid acknowledges that the Sun revolves around the earth and is “pulled” by a force, in this instance, a chariot rather than gravity. We see the Sun laggardly inching its way across the Earth. Furthermore, evaporation of water, deforestation, and atmosphere depletion are all recognized in this story. (5) Flying horses are typically known as pegasuses. The sun’s stallions could be considered similar to Santa’s reindeer, since they’re both creatures that do not actually fly in reality, they have been given names, and can only be controlled by one figure. (6) If not for the Greek era, then we might’ve imagined cross species animals in the Renaissance, as it brings about a second Greek era, and atone for the ideas not yet created. (7) Ovid is saying that oftentimes, humans tend to bite off more than they can chew. As for leadership, Ovid acknowledges that some youths may be overzealous in their ambitions to rise through the ranks and take off impossible responsibility. (8) Ovid is not using horses in the same metaphorical fashion as Socrates. The horses in

the story of Phaethon are already as wild as they should be without the use of a provocative gadfly. (9) The American perspective is that anything, such as a book, is only as good as the author (or controller) and the effort they put into it. This can also be true with a civilization and the level of cooperation with its citizens. (10) Mother Earth is still silenced with humankind’s pollution and evisceration of its surface. (11) We further ruin the earth by dramatically changing it to suit our trivial needs. (12) Some claim to communicate through the Earth by meditation, but there is no surefire way. (13) Phaethon’s Epitaph suggests that the boy’s choice was bold, yet foolish, even if he failed. (14) Phaethon’s sisters become poplar trees. (15) Ovid is saying that trees, like us humans, can mourn and should belong in the human community.