Mythology and Folklore: Week 2: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 1-4)

Deucalion and Pyrrha:

I was surprised that the Gods would release a flood and allow it to destroy their temples on Earth. The imagery of a sea without a shore is terrifying. All of the land animals dying and birds landing in the water from exhaustion. If an animal was spared, it dies slowly of starvation. I am particularly sensitive to animals, and this story really bothered me. I got very vivid images from the suffering of these animals, and didn’t like it one bit. Deucalion and his wife prayed to their Gods, who are the ones that brought this upon them. I thought it was sweet Deucalion asked how she would have felt/what she would have done to deal with the fear if he had not been spared, but she survived. I also thought him saying he would follow her into the sea was cute. Although she is devout, Pyrrha refuses to follow the God-dess’s (Themis’s) orders, fearing she would offend her mother’s spirit by scattering her bones. Deuca-lion and Pyrrha determined that Thermis meant stones from the earth, and went to follow her orders. The rocks became soft and eventually turned into human figures before their eyes. Men created by the rocks thrown by Deucalion and women from Pyrrha, repopulating the earth.

Io:

Rape was disturbing. Jupiter turned her into a cow. Juno is smart enough to know that she is either wrong or being wronged, which I thought was clever. Io was given to Juno as a sacrifice and was constantly watched by Argus, a man with 100 eyes. I felt bad that she drank water from muddy streams and had no arms with which to beg for freedom. When she tried to complain, she was shocked to hear a strange noise. Io went to the riverbank and saw her reflection. She showed her father what happened to her by drawing the story in the dirt with her hoof. Jupiter sent someone to kill Argus. I loved Mercury saying, “the light of your many eyes is extinguished”. Very poetic. I LOVE how the peacock got its tail. Juno took Argus’s eyes and set them into the feathers and filled the tail with star-like jewels.

Phaethon and Sun:

Epaphus was friends with Phaethon, child of the Sun. Pheathon was offended when Epaphus said he was not the descendant of a God. The seasons are represented as women in his father’s temple? \Phaethon asked to have his father’s chariot and winged horses for one day. The God of Sun refused to give Phaethon this favor because he is a mortal, and this request is not for a mortal. He goes on to tell Phaethon that not even Jupiter has the ability to ride in the chariot of fire. He will not give a gift to his son that is sure to kill him.

Phaethon’s Ride:

Phoebus tried very hard to talk his son out of borrowing the chariot, but Phaethon demanded to drive the chariot, despite his father’s warnings. The chariot is described brilliantly: an axle of gold, a gold chariot pole, wheels with golden rims, circles of silver spokes, and crystals and gemstones glowed all over. The story mentions Lucifer the morning star, is this at all related to the Lucifer from the bible? Phoebus pleads with his son to follow his previous paths so as not to scorch the heavens or earth. Al-most immediately, the horses take off and leave the pre-ordained track. Phaeton now does not know what to do, and h wishes he would have followed his father’s advice and not taken the chariot. I applied this to my everyday life because there are many things I wish I would have listened to my parents before making a mistake. Because of his inability to control the horses, the earth burned. Great cities and nations were demolished, along with all of nature.

The Death of Phaethon:

Jupiter aimed one lightning bolt at Phaethon, removed him from the chariot, and took his life. Phaethon left a trail in the air, much like a shooting star. I thought that imagery was poetic and beautiful, despite the negative aspect of what had occurred. Phaethon’s sisters turn into trees. They cry for their mother, as all that is left is their mouths. Their mother tries to pull bark and branches of, but blood is left in the wound. I found this part very disturbing. Could you imagine if trees bled when we peeled their bark? Phaethon’s brother, Cycnus, began grieving for his brother and sisters. As he did, he turned into a swan. He did not trust Jupiter, so he deliberately stayed in water than on ground, where fire could reach him. After reading this, I have never seen a swan out of water, which makes this a kind of interesting logic behind that. Phoebus wants Jupiter to know that anyone who does not have the strength to rule the horses does not deserve to be killed. Phoebus rounds up his horses, and whips them because he blames them for his son’s death. Animal cruelty bothers me.

Callisto:

What is with Jupiter and raping ever woman he thinks is attractive? Jupiter impersonated Diana, Goddess of the Hunt and the leader of Callisto. Diana spies Callisto, and shouts at her. Callisto runs, fearing it is again Jupiter in a disguise. She sees the other nymphs, and decides to go back, certain Diana and the other nymphs can sense her guilt. She went with the other nymphs to bathe, but it was discovered she was pregnant. She gave birth to a boy, which is when Juno decided to punish her. Juno told Callisto she would take her shape, because it pleased her husband so much. She then grabbed her by her hair and held her face to the ground until Callisto had transformed into a bear. I don’t like how Juno is so incredibly violent, when all of these have been Jupiter’s fault. On her son, Arca’s, 15th birthday Callisto found him. As her son pulled a spear back, aiming at his own mother’s chest, Jupiter pulled both from the earth and turned them into the constellations Great Bear and Little Bear.

Semele:

Semele is pregnant with Jupiter’s child. I wonder if she was raped. Juno goes to Semele’s threshold, disguised as an old woman. She tells Semele to demand Jupiter prove his love by assuming all of his powers before he embraces her. Jupiter, wishing he could take back his promise to do anything for her, does this. She is unable to handle his true form, as she is a mortal. She is consumed in fire and her fetus is taken from her womb. The fetus was sewn to Jupiter’s leg to complete his growth, then given to his aunt during infancy. Finally, he was raised by the nymphs of Mount Nysa, hidden in a cave.

Echo:

Bacchus (Semele and Jupiter’s son) was “twice-born”. He was originally in his mother’s womb, then on Jupiter’s thigh after his mother died. I hadn’t heard the story of Venus being turned from one gender to another for hitting a pair of snakes. This was odd to me. Juno made Echo only able to speak the last few words of someone else, never speak for herself. She took her voice because Echo used to hold her in conversation while the other nymphs escaped after being with Jupiter. She was so embarrassed when Narcissus denied her that she stays out of sight hidden in lonely caves. I thought this was particularly sad and disconcerting.

Narcissus:

I was pleased when he suffered from unrequited love, because he is the one who doomed Echo to this fate. How could he refuse to eat or sleep and just stare at himself? Also, how could he stare that long and not realize that everything he does, the reflection is also doing? How does he suddenly realize he is in love with himself? I thought it was touching that Echo stayed with him until the end, and even echoed his pain. Narcissus literally died of being heartbroken, along with starving and sleep deprivation. However, I think that the story means he died of a broken heart.

The Story of Pyramus and Thisbe:

This story has so many similarities to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Origin of mulberry color? Interesting. I like that the mulberries are dark because they are in mourning over their deaths. I thought it was nice that this sad story ended on a happy note when their parents decided to bury them together.

Mars and Venus:

I wonder why Sol is the first God to see anything that goes on. Is this symbolic? It is amazing to me how badly the Gods overreact. For example, Vulcan traps his wife and her lover in bed and lets all the other Gods in to witness this. He publicly shamed her, which is despicable.

Perseus and Andromeda:

I had never heard that Medusa’s blood spawns snakes, how terrifying! Perseus is rude and abuses his power. Perseus demands to marry Andromeda after saving her from a sea monster.

Perseus and Medusa:

Part of this story talks about when Perseus sets Medusa’s head on the ground. Somehow, Medusa’s head is able to turn anything it looks at to stone. Coral is said to have come from nymphs using Medusa’s head to harden seeds and throw them in the oceans. I thought the story of Medusa’s death was much more exciting. Perseus simply cut her head off in her sleep, there was no battle. I also didn’t know that Pegasus is born from Medusa.