Ancient Greece and Rome
Tutorial 3
Dr. Armstrong, 3/31/2014
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 10
The beginnings of the world are mythologically recorded by the poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BC to 17 or 18 AD. During this time period, he wrote a collection of poetry that spanned the history of Rome’s beginnings up to Julius Caesar. His poetry had political purposes, but was also well known for its codification of love affairs. While it met the standards of traditional epic poetry, the style of his couplets varied in rhythm and length, so it was labelled more ambiguously as “Roman mythological poetry.” In his largest and most famous work, The Metamorphoses covers hundreds of Roman myths. It is comprised of a series of 15 books, each with a different theme or virtue. The theme of Book 10 seemed to center around the love affairs of the gods. Each love story has an initial period of happiness, followed by a tragic event, resulting in the lovers being separated. There is a lot of sex and passion, but also a focus on mourning and sorrow. Nature also plays a large part in the lives of Ovid’s characters. By entwining nature and its animals with the human protagonists of his myths, Ovid wrote a creation epic that appealed to Medieval authors like Boccaccio, as well as writers such as Shakespeare and Dante.
There are seven different love stories found in Book 10 of The Metamorphoses. First, Ovid recorded the love of Orpheus and Eurydice, two humans that fell in love on Earth and were about to be married. On their wedding day, Eurydice accidentally stepped on a poisonous snake and died while still in her wedding dress. Orpheus, torn by grief, refused to passively accept her death. He ran down to the Styx and crossed the river, where he demanded the ...
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...ndividuals and die off is that faith is often something that is unseen. If people cannot verify the truth of a certain idea, it is difficult to relay that belief to others. If something is visible and the observer can verify its truth, then the idea is easily transferred to others and sounds believable. Ovid used this technique to give his myths credence. Individuals could know that his stories are true if they stumbled upon a purple and red flower that supposedly came from the blood of Adonis. If a hunter saw a lion, it could be that Atalanta was staring back at him, waiting to pounce. This literary pattern was effective and made his poetry have lasting impacts on more naturalistic writers such as Shakespeare and Dante. His poetry was more than an epic that told grand tales of heroism. It was observable and proven to be true by the nature surrounding his audience.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995
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.
Morford, Mark P.O., Robert J. Lenardon and Michael Sham. Classical Mythology 9th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Morford, Mark P.O., and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. '7th ed'. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Clearly, there is a distinction between the world of the Roman gods and the world that everyday people live in. Man, according to Ovid, has experienced a gold, sil...
For example, in the Aeneid, Virgil wrote about the love affair between Dido and Aeneas and Dido’s eventual demise; this particular linear link served as a bridge between book IV and book V. Another example of this interconnection between books occurred in the foretelling of Aeneas’s eventual travels to the Cumae and it served as a link between book V and book VI. In much the same fashion, Ovid employed a similar tactic in the interconnections that occurred in the Metamorphoses, but unlike the storyline of Virgil’s singular character-driven epic poem, Ovid linked all sorts of individuals, Gods, and mythological stories into his creative masterpiece. What is more, Ovid often placed stories within stories that also spanned multiple books in his epic poem. A prime example of this powerful storytelling tool was the chronological progression of the story about Baccus. The tale of Baccus began in the book III story of Semele, was expounded upon in the story of Pentheus and Baccus, further explored in the book IV story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and referenced or included in various books and stories that followed. This is just one of the hundreds of individuals, Gods, and mythological stories Ovid included in his poem and a singular example of how
In book one of the metamorphoses, Ovid talks of artists, and how art can be used to create and transform. Metamorphoses means transformation or change, so in one word, Ovid’s title tells the reader what is to come. Ovid uses art in the Metamorphoses to prove a point. To show how strong the human spirit is, or to teach you to watch what you say, because you never know who is around. The story of Arachne displays a great example of watching what you say. Minerva hears Arachne saying that she is the greatest weaver, and Minerva sets out to prove her wrong. With Daedalus and Icarus, Daedalus uses his art to try and find an escape for him and his son. Showing just how strong he is and how much he cares for his son. For Pygmalion, his art shows the power of his love and how much he wants to find the proper woman for himself.
Ovid's metamorpheses........The claim of irresistible impulse is a defense in some jurisdictions. The irresistible impulse tests asks if, at the time the crime was committed, a mental disease or disorder prevented the defendant from controlling his or her behavior.
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.
The difference between the way Homer and Ovid present the gods and their relation to human being is that in Homer, the gods are more tough on the humans than in The Metamorphoses. In The Iilad, some gods were focused on returning Odysseus home while some were trying to stop him in his tracks. This story also focuses more on environment and symbolism because of the way the story is written. In Metamorphoses, the gods seem to care more about human beings. They show stronger emotions towards them. You can see this through all of the theme changes that occur in the story. They penalized people who were wicked and reward those that were piety. Metamorphoses set the tone in Book I, when the gods punished Lycaon for trying to kill Jupiter in his
Kline, Anthony. "Book IV." Ovid: The Metamorphoses. 2000. Anthony Kline. 26 Feb. 2014 . Book IV: Perseus tells the story of Medusa
Even so, the enjambment on lines 185 – 188 works to craft a sense of fluidity where we might expect a harsh moralisation (“bad deeds don’t prosper”) from Leucothoe instead. Indeed, this very absence of deific morality is stressed by the absurd Ovidian zeugma on line 175 and 176 - with excidit serving both mens and opus – as Venus attends both Vulcan and Mars. Equally, the stylish expression might urge the reader to consider the episode from the mens (conceptual) and opus (physical) planes. Physically - that is, as an integrated unit within the text – Ovid may treat the episode merely as a device to foreground the affairs of the Sun. Repeating the prefix ex on line 176 to form a cacophony through assonantal juxtaposition, that strongly denotes the disapproval of our narrator. Yet, arguably, it does more than that. Having such a virulent strain of narration within the text, gives Ovid the opportunity to juxtapose his own literary technique with that of spinsters, portraying sexual moralism as prudish and ignorant to enhance the effect of Bacchus’ growing power within the larger rising action. Conceptually, however, the fabula can work as a distinct narrative unit, just as Homer’s representation of the tale within the King Alkinoös’ court is separate from the ethical questions left by Odysseus’ relationship with Calypso. In this
King Midas and the Golden Touch, is one of the most famous myths in western lore. It details the story of one man’s greed and lust for wealth leading to his ultimate downfall. Initially written by Ovid, in his Metamorphoses published in 8 A.D, it has been adapted and analyzed even in modern times. Written in Dactylic Hexameter, as customary of great mythological works of the time period, the poem effectively served as a part of a guide to life for the ancient Romans. The morals the story teaches are still applicable in this day and age. As the story is intertwined with the rest of the epic, it is important to evaluate the myth in an educated and modified light. In King Midas and the Golden Touch, Ovid deftly illustrates the importance of restraint by detailing King Midas’ suffering from his greed.
In contrast, Ovid conceived a different purpose for his epic. He wrote fifteen books, compared to Virgil's twelve, with many of his stories originating from Greek and Roman myth, concerned with the transformations of shapes, from the creation of the world to Julius Caesar's death and deification. He focuses on entertaining the reader in a humorous fashion, and rather than establishing Rome's origins in history, he is more concerned with establishing his own fame, for the future ages. These different backgrounds of the two authors illustrate that they each had contrasting agendas for their books. Thus, the portrayal of the gods differs greatly-Virgil's are austere and purposeful, whereas, Ovid's are humorous, reflecting his neoteric style, and intentionally different from the Virgilian gods.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.