METAMORPHESES
Rob Pinkas
Lit. & Arts C-61: The Rome of Augustus
Study Guide: Metamorphoses Books I – II
Ovid starts out with a statement of his intention: “to tell of bodies changed to different forms; the gods, who made the changes, will help me—or I hope so—with a poem that runs form the world’s beginning to our own days.”
The Creation
Before there was an ocean, an earth or a heaven, all was a shapeless matter full of confusion. No sun, no moon, nothing. Then God, or perhaps a kindlier nature, came and organized everything making sense of all. Fire (the weightless matter) was placed in the highest position layered over air, earth and ocean. The earth was designed with cold polar reigons and a hot torrid zone that were inhospitable, but there was a temperate zone in the middle with a varying climate designed for men. Man was created in God’s image—all animals looked downward sauf man who could raise his face towards heaven.
The Four Ages
First came the golden age when all was well and prospered out of its own. The earth was full of food and no one fought—all was at peace during an everlasting spring. After Saturn died (presumably he reigned during that period), Jove came in and began the age of Silver. Jove shortened springtime and added summer, fall and winter (the bastard), forcing men into shelter. Then began the Bronze Age. People became more aggressive and quick to arm but were not entirely evil. The Iron Age was full of evil and catastrophe. Men warred and giants attacked heaven.
Jove’s Intervention
Jove assembled all the gods and expressed his desire to right the world. Jove believes that the trouble threatening to undermine the sovereignty of the world originated with man—a race that must be destroyed. This is to preserve earth for the demigods: the nymphs, fauns and satyrs. All gods were in agreement.
The Story of Lycaon
He points in particular to the story of Lycaon. Jove, after hearing how wicked the earth had become, went down to visit to determine the truth for himself. Upon arrival at an Arcadian palace, he gave a sight that a god had come and the people began to worship, only to be mocked by their ruler Lycaon. He made plans to kill him while he slept and attempted to feed Jove human flesh. Jove struck him with a bolt of lightning destroying the palace and taking away his voice. Banished to the fields, Lycaon still delighted in slaughter ravaging in the bloody murder of countless sheep.
The Flood
Jove and the gods decided it was necessary to eradicate man, but they could not due this with fire due to the prophecy that heaven would perish from a great fire on earth. So Jove called on Neptune to flood the rivers and oceans and had Aeolus, the wind god, halt the north and west winds and unleash only the rain-filled south wind. The whole world was flooded killing all men and animals either through starvation or drowning.
Deucalion and Phyrra
However, the peak of the great Mount Parnassus was still above the water and it was here the last two humans, Deucalion and his wife Phyrra, came and worshipped. Recognizing their great piety and righteousness, Jove stopped the flooding Not knowing what to do, the went to the altar of Themis and asked what to do. Themis heard their prayer and told them to loosen their robes and throw their “mother’s bones” behind them. Not fully understanding they left and realized that their mother’s bones were likely rocks. Thus they did as Themis said and the rocks transformed into humans. The combination of moisture and heat created life, including some undesirable creatures such as the great serpent Python that Apollo killed with thousands of arrows.
Apollo and Daphne
The first girl Apollo ever loved was Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus, and this was through no fault of his own. After mocking Cupid, claiming that children should not play with arrows—weapons reserved for great archers such as himself, Cupid struck him with a love-inspiring golden arrow directing his affection towards Daphne, whom he had struck with a love-spurning lead arrow. Daphne wanted no part of any man and begged her father to forever remain a virgin, a wish that was granted with much reluctance. Apollo constantly chased Daphne though and eventually caught her near a river. Rather than be taken by a man, Daphne implored that her father transform her shape and she immediately became a laurel tree. Thus Apollo forever donned a laurel wreath—this is where the symbolism surrounding that headdress came from. Ovid even mentions that in the future Caesar and Augustus would wear such wreaths.
Jove and Io
Jove wanted to sleep with Io, daughter of Inachus, and approached her in a field one day. He asked her to come into the woods with him (great Roman pick up line), maintaining that he was a powerful god. However, Io fled and Juno began to take note of the bizarre occurrence. Descending to find her husband, Jove saw Juno coming and turned Io into a gorgeous white heifer. Juno, still suspicious, demanded the cow as a gift and not wanted to be caught, Jove consented. She turned Io over to the control of Argus who had 100 eyes, no more than two of which were ever closed at one time. Io was miserable as a cow and after explaining her identity to her father (by scratching the letters I and O in the ground) he became even more upset proclaiming her fate as one worse than death. Jove still desired Io and sent his son Mercury to kill Argus. After putting him to sleep with Arcadia’s reeds, he cut his head off Juno fastened the eyes to the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock, and continued to harass Io sending a fury after her. Io pleaded to Jove to take pity and Jove was so moved that he swore to Juno he would never attempt to cheat on her again. Thus after appeasing Juno, Jove returned Io to her original form and she became a goddess, bearing Epaphus by the seed of Jove.
Phaethon
Phaethon goes to visit Phoebus (the sun god), who his mother has told him is really his father. To prove to Phaethon that he is his father, Phoebus grants him any favor. Phaethon asks to drive the chariot and horses that pull the sun across the sky and Phoebus really doesn’t want to give it to him because he knows that Phaethon won’t be able to drive it. (“What you want, my son, is dangerous; you ask for power beyond your strength and years; your lot is mortal, but what you ask beyond the lot of mortals.”) Unfortunately a promise is a promise and Phoebus grants Phaethon his wish. But things go ridiculously wrong because Phoebus cannot control the wild horses and has no idea what he is doing. Because the chariot is traveling so close to earth, everything is burning up and turning to ashes. To stop the chariot, Jove hurls a thunderbolt at it and destroys it. Four sisters of Phaethon lament him and are turned into trees. A cousin (Cygnus) is turned into a swan because of his lamentations. Finally, the gods convince Phoebus to drive the chariot again, but he extremely bitter and angry at the world.
Jove in Arcady
Jove is checking out the damage of the various kingdoms when he sees a beautiful nymph in Arcadia. He literally thinks to himself, “Juno will never catch me here, or if she does, well, well, it might be worth it.” So he disguises himself as Diana, eventually reveals himself and then rapes her. The nymph rejoins the hunting party, but since Diana is a virgin, she doesn’t notice the Nymph’s changed state. Juno holds off revenge until the nymph gives birth to a son, Arcas. Juno turns the nymph into a bear and lives that way for 15 years until her son is hunting, finds her and tries to kill her. Taking pity on his illegitimate family, Jove whirls them up to heaven and “set them together there, as neighboring constellations.” (I think this explains Ursa Major and Minor . . .)
The Story of the Raven
The Raven used to be white and “Apollo’s bird”, but his talking caused him to be changed to black. Apollo sends him to spy on a beautiful girl, Coronis of Larissa, and he learns that she is beautiful, but not really chaste. He flies back to his master to tell him that, but is warned by a gossiping crow that chattering never helps. Apollo is angry at the girl’s bad reputation and kills her with an arrow. Before she dies however, she tells Apollo that she was carrying a child so he has now committed a double murder. So Apollo turns the raven black in his anger and then mourns the girl.
The Story of Ocyrhoe
BUT the baby is not really dead and Apollo takes the child to the centaur, Chiron, to care for. Chiron’s daughter, Ocyrhoe, comes to visit and is moved by the sight of the baby, but warns the child that he won’t be immortal forever and basically he’s going to have a miserable fate. Because of her prophecy and messing with fate, Ocyrhoe is turned into a horse.
Mercury and Battus
Apollo was hiding in Elis mourning over the girl and pretending to be a shepherd. But he’s so distracted that he lets his cattle wander away and Mercury steals and hides them. The only person who sees the theft is Battus, an old servant. To keep him quiet, Mercury gives him a bull. But to test the old man, Mercury returns in disguise, asks him about the cattle and when the old man tells him about Mercury, the god reveals himself and turns the old man into a stone.
Mercury, Herse, and Aglauros
Flying around, Mercury sees Herse, a lovely girl. He follows her to her house where she lives with two other girls in three chambers. Pandrosos lives in the right-hand, Herse in the middle, and Aglauros on the left. Aglauros sees Mercury coming and demands and explanation for the visit. Mercury tells her that he is a messenger sent to get Herse, but Aglauros denies Mercury entrance. Not a good thing because Minerva sees this and remembers that Aglauros has wronged her in the past, so Minerva decides this girl need to be punished.
The House of the Goddess of Envy
Minerva travels to Envy’s dark and scary house and asks her to poison Aglauros. Envy travels to Athens, poisons Aglauros’ heart with envy of her sister’s happy marriage to Mercury. Eventually she just shrivels up and dies because envy has eaten away at her soul and heart.
Europa
Jove has Mercury drive a herd of the king of Sidon’s cattle to the seashore so he can hide amongst them and spy on the king’s beautiful daughter who always takes walks along the seashore. The daughter sees Jove disguised as a bull and brings him flowers. She gradually loses more and more fear and eventually rides on his back. But Jove (still disguised) starts swimming out into the ocean and she can’t get off. She’s Jove’s prisoner.
Book III
The Story of Cadmus
Crete. King Agenor sends his son, Cadmus, to find his sister Europa (who Jove had just turned into a heifer) or be exiled. Seeking escape instead, Cadmus visits the oracle of Apollo who counseled him to seek a lone heifer, follow it, and found a city called Boeotia in the place where she stops to rest. He does and begins clearing the woods but a serpent, sacred to Mars, kills all his men. Searching for his men, armed, Cadmus finds what happened and spears the serpent. Minerva tells him that the teeth of the serpent will grow as seeds to become his people. An army springs up immediately but the soldiers kill one another until only a few are left. These and Cadmus together founded Thebes.
The Story of Actaeon
Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus, returning from hunting, came upon the wood goddess Diana bathing naked with her nymphs. She turned him into a deer and his men killed him—satisfying her anger.
The Story of Semele
Juno secretly rejoiced in the tragedy that had befallen king Agenor’s household (Actaeon’s death) because Europa had been Juno’s rival. Another of Jove’s mistresses, Semele, Cadmus’ daughter, carried his child—infuriating Juno. Posing as an old woman, Juno tricked her into asking Jove to kill her. He did, took the child (Bacchus), and hid it in his leg to be cared for later by nymphs.
The Story of Tiresias
Jove and Juno argue about who gets more from love: men or women. They refer the question to wise Tiresias. The two switch his sex for seven years to see what happens. As compensation Jove made him able to see the future.
The Story of Echo and Narcissus
Tiresias tells a naiad that her beautiful son will live long only if “he never knows himself.” Beautiful, androgynous, Narcissus meets Echo in the woods (Juno made her able only to repeat the last words of another). Spurned by Narcissus for her weirdness, she hides in the woods until only her voice, the curse remained—the echo one hears in the woods and mountains. The Goddess of Vengeance granting another scorned suitor’s prayer made Narcissus fall in love with his own reflection through which Echo repeated his words until he died, face down in the pool of water with whom he had fallen in love.
The Story of Pentheus and Bacchus
Pentheus mocked Tiresias for his premonitions of the future. Tiresias predicted Pentheus downfall at the alter of Bacchus, son of Semele. Pentheus’ life shows him to be a shit-head, injuring and mistreating other people. After giving advice that led to Ino’s demise, the Thebans tore Pentheus to shreds and began worshipping Bacchus.
Book IV
The daughters of Minyas, avoiding participation in a Theban Bacchanal tell stories while weaving.
The Story of Pyramus and Thisbe
The young lovers’ parents won’t allow them to see one another. But they communicate through a chink in the wall between their adjacent houses, and decide to meet up in the woods, run away, and elope. Thisbe, running from a lion, dropped her veil, which the lion chewed with his bloody mouth. Pyramus, seeing the veil, presumed Thisbe dead and kills himself. Thisbe, unharmed, then sees his death and does the same.