The Corruption Of Words In Ovid's 'Heraclitus'

Heraclitus said “We can never step into the same river twice, for different water is ever flowing” (12). The “river” Heraclitus refers to can be a metaphor for one’s soul. A river acts as a guide through forests for animals, while the soul acts as a guide for humans throughout their life. Stepping into the river taints the purity of the water just as stepping into someone heart taints the purity of the soul. Tainted souls are those that are punished by never being able to return to its pure state – never stepping into the same river twice. This tainting is usually done by an outside force through the use of words and actions, but can be done internally as well as one succumbs to his or her desires and corrupts the usage of words, twisting ideas to fit the darkness inside

him or her. For example, Myrrha tried to justify her desire to be romantically involved with her father through examples in nature.

She claimed that “A stallion fights to breed from his own daughter” along with similar instances with other animals, so wonder why mankind frowns upon incest (Ovid 106). Once the thought of having sex with her father stepped into her mind, “her passion was deaf” to the fact that it was sinful (Ovid 113). Her soul had been tainted, making it impossible to forget this idea and return to her previous self. Just as Myrrha was tainted with this passion for incest, Pygmalion was tainted with his need for perfection. Pygmalion was so obsessed with finding the “perfect body of a perfect woman” that he ultimately created a woman for himself (Ovid 135). Once the idea of flawlessness entered his mind, it stained his soul, driving him more and more mad as he was not able to forget about his perception of the perfect woman. Moreover, Erysichthon’s soul was also tainted, but with greed. His greediness and arrogance led him to cut down a sacred forest. In return for his despicable act, a nymph said to him “I curse you…[and] your punishment / Will come down on you with all its weight” (Ovid

81). This curse left a darkness in Erysichthon’s soul as the time for his punishment grew closer and closer, yet his ignorance let him fall victim to his greed and he was not able to purify his soul of the sin that had stepped into it. Semele was another victim of a soul stained by greed. She wanted to be Jove’s mistress, and so “Jove had impregnated Semele,” an act considered wrong as Semele had had sex with a married god (Ovid 88). Her greediness and ignorance to be involved with Jove even though it was wrong, tainted her soul with ignorant pride, which she was ultimately punished for. All of these are ways of internal corruption of the soul. Once these sinful thoughts had stepped into various lives, it was impossible to return to a pure soul, as Heraclitus emphasizes with his river metaphor.