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Idea of transformation ovid's metamorphoses
Ovid's metamorphoses love
Ovid's metamorphoses love
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Ovid wrote his poem, The Metamorphoses, in order to contrast Virgil’s epic, The Aeneid. Virgil was enlisted by Augustus to write an epic about Rome and make the Roman rule seem great, however, Ovid aimed to satirize this epic and relate his poems and their characters to powerful people from that time period, specifically Emperor Augustus. In The Metamorphoses, Ovid rewrote commonly known Roman myths and offered a more realistic perspective on the stories. Ovid’s repeated portrayal of rape in these stories is unsurprising in context of the political and social turmoil taking place in that time period, specifically, Ovid was protesting the new Augustan rules which regulated the previously lax sexual laws, and instead promoted fidelity and monogamy. …show more content…
This was very unusual for at that time, consent in stories was assumed and gods were never held responsible for their actions. The narrator comments in one of Ovid’s stories “Majestic power and erotic love do not get on together very well.” Within the story, this quote means that Gods do not mix well with mortal love. Outside the story, I believe Ovid intended it to mean that the government should not interfere with people’s private love lives. There are many examples of rape in the stories within The Metamorphoses, including: Apollo and Daphne, Jove and Io, Jove and Europa, Ceres and Proserpina, Story of Arethusa, Story of Thetis and Peleus, and Story of Glaucus and Scylla. Throughout the stories, the male gods repeatedly attempt to seduce unwilling female mortals or goddesses, however, Ovid portrays this “seduction” for what it really was, a horrific atrocity of someone attempting and sometimes succeeding to force themselves on an unwilling person. Along with illustrating the horrors of rape, Ovid’s stories, The Metamorphoses, were stories of change, both physical change and a change in laws. In a few of the stories, such as “Apollo and Daphne” and “Jove and Europa” the victim was transformed into a tree or an animal in order to escape the Gods pursuit. In the “Story of Jove and Io” the god transformed the victim into a bull in so that he didn’t get caught by his wife. In the “Story of Jove and Io” the god Jove was pursuing the refusing nymph Io, once he caught her and was in the middle of raping her, Jove was almost caught by his wife, so he turned Io into a cow so that his wife wouldn’t be able to tell that he was cheating on her. (Ovid) Along with being raped, this non-consensual transformation is another example of a form of appropriation that represents Augustan rule controlling the people
Heath, J. (1991). Diana's understanding of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Th classical Journal , 186 (3), 223-243.
It is also significant that he has intentionally broken away from the stereotypical austere images of the gods, and has set his gods at the opposite end of the scale to the Virgilian gods. BIBLIOGRAPHY: OVID METAMORPHOSES Translated by A.D.Melville VIRGIL THE AENEID Translated by R.Fitzgerald D.C.Feeny The Gods in Epic G.K.Galinsky Ovid's Metamorphoses R.O.A.M.Lyne Further Voices in Virgil's Aeneid Wilkinson Ovid Recalled C.H.Wilson Jupiter and the Fates in the Aeneid --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Virgil's Aeneid: book: 1.5 ff.
...1997), or creatures that are “...Forever fitful and forever changing” (Darmrosch and Pike, 2009). Women are not without strength, as Virgil demonstrates in the Aeneid, as they are rulers of cities and goddesses, as well as objects of passion and the subject of war, in Helen's case. We can learn much about the nature of the balance and tensions between ancient peoples from their literature, and see how they have been characterized in the past, and how we can evaluate these characterizations from the perspective of a society that is progressively evolving in our definintions of gender and how we approach the stereotypes and idealizations of gender.
"Book One of Ovid's Metamorphoses establishes the book's theme of metamorphoses with a tale of creation that progresses into human stories leading to the current breed of man. The creation piece is followed by a flood story and a discussion of the ages of mankind. The ages of mankind - gold, silver, bronze, and iron - describe man's slow progression from a good, wholesome society into a miserable, self-destructive one. The next stories concern tales of gods and goddesses and their manipulations of the human population and each other. Book one ends (appropriately) with Phaethon's journey to meet his father, the sun, thus establishing Ovid's theme of quests for change."(auburn. edu)
In Gortyn rape was illegal, whereas in the city state of Sparta during a similar period the rape of an individual women was not a crime and the rape of women by young men was even encouraged . Under Draconian law in Ancient Greece rape was similar to that of Sparta in that it wasn’t illegal. However, the consent of women during sex was irrelevant to Draconian law who saw it was a man’s responsibility to take what he could if he was in the position of power . However, as time passed in certain societies, such as Athens and Gortyn, rape was made illegal, the punishments for this crime did differ between societies and social classes. In Gortyn rape was punished by fines. The fine of slaves for committing a rape was double that of rape committed by a free person, whereas the punishment for rape committed by a free person on a slave or apetairoi was one tenth what it would be for raping a free person . Athenian law punished rape far more seriously, with both Plato and Aristotle both mention any man who violates a women may be killed by the women, her father, brother or son . This one example helps show the differing social and political rights of both male and female citizens in different social classes in Gortyn. It also aids to display a crucial social custom in Ancient Greece that is acceptable, and expected for close male relatives to protect and seek
In the 1930s, who would have perpetrated violent acts against women in the name of sexual gratification yet still hold expectations that women take care of them? By making men in general the placeholder for “you” in the poem, it creates a much stronger and universal statement about the sexual inequality women face. She relates to women who have had “a god for [a] guest” yet it seems ironic because she is criticising the way these women have been treated (10). It could be argued, instead, that it is not that she sees men as gods, but that it is the way they see themselves. Zeus was a god who ruled Olympus and felt entitled to any woman he wanted, immortal or otherwise.
... challenged by the Pierides, to Minerva. The story is told by a woman to a goddess, about another goddess. So the reason for Ovid's empowerment of women may be for Calliope to satisfy a great, powerful audience, the Pierides and Minerva.
There were two major rape narratives in the Metamorphoses: one in Book I, when Jupiter rapes the nymph, Io; and one in Book II, when Jupiter rapes Diana’s follower, Callisto. After the first instance, Ovid sympathizes considerably with Io. First, he addresses her with the title “fleeing girl” (Ovid 9), which gives her the characterization of being innocent and unwilling towards Jupiter. In addition, after the rape, Io is turned into a heifer then taken away from her home to be kept in captivity by Argus, which makes the readers sympathize with her because she is being held against her will for being the victim of rape. Lastly, Ovid conveys sympathy for Io when she looks into a river and sees that she is a heifer and becomes “terrified of herself”
There are consistent parallels created through descriptions of Ovid’s political status. Due to his ostracism, he is separated both from outside elements of society and ideals that exist in his own mind. In the opening paragraphs, Ovid describes his natural surroundings and the characteristics of the landscape, and ends with the statement:
This word means changes. Metamorphoses insinuate that people are often transformed in punishment for some misbehavior. Ovid wanted to write more then a traditional epic. Ovid said that his epic was not going to be like Virgil’s Aeneid or Homer’s Illiad. He wanted to create something unlike and new to the other poetries.
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
Ovid's work ridicules the concept of marriage and harmony between the sexes. It paints men and women as individual creatures who have little desire of joining with the opposite sex. The male gods are impelled by Cupid's power to chase certain female characters. Of course, the female characters are not interested and choose to evade capture so that they may continue with their individual desires. When the female god Venus falls for a human male and lays with him, she goes to great lengths to protect him from the wild animals. She specifically tells him to be bold "when you approach the timid animals, those who are quick to flee: but do not be audacious when you face courageous beasts" (Ovid 936). The man Adonis chose not to heed the god's warning and went on to hunt a wild boar with the aid of his hounds. The boar that Venus despised killed the human that she lusted after. This is another example of individual wants taking precedence over the joined couple. Pygmalion was so much of an individualist that he created his own mate from ivory.
In all, Livy’s narrative appears to be an attempt to downplay the role of brutality and force used by the Roman men on the Sabine women. His narrative despite his best intentions exposes the immoral actions displayed by the Roman men on the Sabine women. Ovid’s narrative simply shows the exploitation of the Sabine women by Romulus’ men and the brutality of such actions.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.
Transformations from one shape or form into another are the central theme in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The popularity and timelessness of this work stems from the manner of story telling. Ovid takes stories relevant to his culture and time period, and weaves them together into one work with a connecting theme of transformation throughout. The thread of humor that runs through Metamorphoses is consistent with the satire and commentary of the work. The theme is presented in the opening lines of Metamorphoses, where the poet invokes the gods, who are responsible for the changes, to look favorably on his efforts to compose. The changes are of many kinds: from human to animal, animal to human, thing to human, human to thing. Some changes are reversed: human to animal to human. Sometimes the transformations are partial, and physical features and personal qualities of the earlier being are preserved in mutated form.