how to view course in metamorphoses 8th edition

What are the Metamorphoses in the poem?

"Metamorphoses" means "tranformations" and there are many, many kinds of transformations throughout the poem. Indeed, nearly everything in the story is in a process of changing.

How many books are in the Metamorphoses by Ovid?

Ovid’s 15-book epic, written in exquisite Latin hexameter, is a rollercoaster of a read. Beginning with the creation of the world, and ending with Rome in his own lifetime, the Metamorphoses drags the reader through time and space, from beginnings to endings, from life to death, from moments of delicious joy to episodes of depravity and abjection.

When was Metamorphoses first published?

Metamorphoses is a Latin narrative poem by Ovid that was first published in 8 AD. Read our full plot summary and analysis of Metamorphoses, scene by scene break-downs, and more. See a complete list of the characters in Metamorphoses and in-depth analyses of Jupiter, Juno, Orpheus, Apollo, and The Narrator.

Did Ovid write the Metamorphoses in Tomis?

Ovid died in Tomis in AD 17. In one of the definitive pieces of scholarship on the Metamorphoses, Reading Ovid’s Rapes (1992) by classicist Amy Richlin, it is argued that the epic was completed during Ovid’s time in Tomis. This may not initially appear to have any bearing on its content or intent, yet Richlin suggests a profound relevance:

I gave a signal that a God had come, and the people commenced to pay their adorations.

Did you have a question about the abovel quote, which is found in Book I, Fable VII?

ROLE OF WOMEN IN BACCHUS

Women play a sexual role in the narrative. In Book 1, Daphne is the first female to experience the lustful urges of the gods. When Cupid pierces Ap...

what dose this emphasize, "all means should first be tried, but the incurable flesh must be exercised by the knife, so that the healthy party is not infected"

I think Jupiter is saying that man kind is basically a disease and must be cut out/destroyed.

Summary

Read our full plot summary and analysis of Metamorphoses, scene by scene break-downs, and more.

Characters

See a complete list of the characters in Metamorphoses and in-depth analyses of Jupiter, Juno, Orpheus, Apollo, and The Narrator.

Literary Devices

Here's where you'll find analysis of the literary devices in Metamorphoses, from the major themes to motifs, symbols, and more.

Quotes

Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes.

Quick Quizzes

Test your knowledge of Metamorphoses with quizzes about every section, major characters, themes, symbols, and more.

Essays

Get ready to ace your Metamorphoses paper with our suggested essay topics, helpful essays about historical and literary context, a sample A+ student essay, and more.

Further Study

Go further in your study of Metamorphoses with background information, movie adaptations, and links to the best resources around the web.

What does Achelous say about the islands in the distance?

Achelous says that the islands in the distance used to be naiads. He transformed them as punishment for failing to invite him to a banquet. Pirithous, one of Theseus’s men, is skeptical about the story. Lexes, an older man, tells a story about Jupiter and Mercury assuming human disguise.

What happened to Icarus after he defeated the Minotaur?

Icarus flies too close to the sun, the wax that holds the wings together melts, and Icarus falls to his death. After Theseus’s victory over the Minotaur, his fame spreads, and the Calydonians appeal to him for help in slaughtering a boar that has terrorized their land.

How do Scylla and Althaea find themselves?

Both Scylla and Althaea find themselves pulled in two directions by love. Moreover, they must choose only one course of action. For Scylla, the correct path is clear, but she does not take it. Instead, love leads her to scalp her father in a wild bid to gain the favor of Minos. Althaea, in contrast, has no obvious course of action.

What does Althaea decide to do after debating what to do?

After debating what to do, Althaea decides to throw the log into the fire. As the log burns, Meleager’s life fades away. On his way to Athens, Theseus stays with Achelous. They men share several stories of metamorphoses. Achelous says that the islands in the distance used to be naiads.

Why did Daedalus build a labyrinth?

Back in Crete, Minos orders Daedalus to build a labyrinth to conceal the Minotaur, the shameful product of a union between Minos’s mother and a bull. Daedalus complies but is not happy to be in exile. He builds wings so that he and his son, Icarus, may fly away.

What is the theme of Daedalus?

With the story of Daedalus, Ovid develops the theme of the power of art. We have seen that art enables artists to express themselves, communicate, and relieve their pain. In this book, Daedalus demonstrates art’s nearly magical properties. By deploying his creative powers, Daedalus accomplishes the impossible.

Who grazes the boar's back?

At last a women warrior, Atalanta, grazes the boar’s back. Meleager deals the death blow, but he wants the honor of the hunt to go to Atalanta. This angers the men, especially the uncles of Meleager—Plexippus and Toxeus. After a fight, Meleager kills his two uncles.

What does metamorphosis mean in poetry?

Change. "Metamorphoses" means "tranformations" and there are many, many kinds of transformations throughout the poem. Indeed, nearly everything in the story is in a process of changing.

Why did Ovid emphasize the role of love in metamorphosis?

In addition to the abstract claim the love affects change, Ovid may have emphasized the role of love in metamorphosis for political reasons. During the reign of Augustus, Ovid's emperor, major attempts were made to regulate morality by creating legal and illegal forms of love.

What is love in metamorphoses?

Love is most often described as the true driving force behind the transformations in Metamorphoses. Ovid 's view of love is quite different than our popular conception today; as C.S. Lewis famously pointed out in The Allegory of Love (1936), our current, predominantly romantic notions of love were "invented" in the Middle Ages. For Ovid, love was more often viewed as a dangerous, destabilizing force than a positive one. Ovid demonstrates that love has power over everyone -- mortals and gods alike. No one can avoid its effects, or resist the danger and misery to which love often drives us. Even The God of Death, Pluto, is moved by love. Love overwhelms reason and morality: a person in love might be desperately drawn to a brother, a father, or even a bull.

What does Ovid mean by love?

For Ovid, love was more often viewed as a dangerous, destabilizing force than a positive one. Ovid demonstrates that love has power over everyone -- mortals and gods alike. No one can avoid its effects, or resist the danger and misery to which love often drives us. Even The God of Death, Pluto, is moved by love.

What is the conclusion of Ovid's poem?

Another, more satisfying, conclusion is that Ovid expands the metaphor of transformation in a way that encompasses the poem as a whole.

What is the most famous transformation of Daphne?

Moreover, those pursued by love-mad gods also transform themselves in an effort to escape unwanted attentions; perhaps the most famous of these transformations is the metamorphosis of Daphne into a laurel tree when Apollo pursues her. Love creates changes in lover and loved alike.

What is the theme of the book Hubris?

Hubris is the theme which counteracts the theme of love as the universal equalizer.

What is the theme of the metamorphoses?

The Metamorphoses is an epic about the act of silencing. Jealousy, spite, lust and punishment are also consistently present in Ovid’s chaotic world. So is rape. Rape is undoubtedly the most controversial and confronting theme of the Metamorphoses.

What mythology did Ovid draw from?

Drawing on the Greek mythology inherited by the Romans, Ovid directs his dramas one after another, relentlessly bombarding his readers with beautiful metrics and awe-inspiring imagery as that of Deucalion and Pyrrha, Arachne, Daphne and Apollo, Europa and the Bull, Leda and the Swan.

What is the story of Daphne and Apollo?

The tale of Daphne and Apollo, like so many stories in the Metamorphoses, is classified as an aetiological myth; that is, a narrative that explains an origin. But, as the excerpt above testifies, it is so much more than that. Peneus weeps as Daphne escapes Apollo by turning into a tree.

Who inspired the Lost Echo?

Barrie Kosky: Ovid helped inspire The Lost Echo. NewZulu/AAP. The Metamorphoses of Ovid has had a long and fascinating history. Its presence among the literary canon of the West has functioned as a strange but valuable mirror that has, for over two millennia, reflected social, moral and artistic customs.

Who translated the art of love?

The Art of Love, Ovid, translation by James Michie (2002). Modern Library. What irritated Augustus sufficiently enough to relegate the poet to the middle of nowhere was his perception that the Ars Amatoria made a mockery of his moral reforms.

Who wrote the Aeneid?

Some 700 years later, when the Homeric verses were still regarded as the benchmark for epic poetry, Virgil composed the Aeneid (19 BC). This Latin epic casts a patriotic spell over its audience in its evocation of the foundation of Rome from the ashes of Troy to the glory of the Augustan Age.

Is humankind corrupt in the Age of Iron?

And, as each Age progresses – from Gold, to Silver, to Bronze and finally to Iron – humankind becomes increasingly corrupt. Ovid’s gods and humans never really escape the Age of Iron in the Metamorphoses.

What is Ovid's aim for metamorphoses?

Ovid states his aim for Metamorphoses in the very first line: "Of bodies changed to other forms I tell; / You Gods, who have yourselves wrought every change, / Inspire my enterprise." This line establishes one of the main themes of the poem, transformation, and links it to the gods.

What are the myths of metamorphoses based on?

Many of the myths in Metamorphoses are based on the tensions that arise as gods and humans attempt to coexist. It is always clear, however, who has more power, and the gods don't hesitate to exert control, especially if they feel humans have shown disrespect or otherwise behaved badly.

What is the theme of Apollo and Daphne?

The story arises from a petty feud between Cupid and Apollo and perfectly illustrates the theme of power and revenge.

What does Ovid emphasize in the book of the Greek gods?

Ovid repeatedly emphasizes the gods as merciless and, at the same time, silly in their rash behavior. In this he seems to follow Virgil, who likewise stresses the fallibility of the gods, in contrast to Homeric epic, which presents a more reverent attitude toward the Greek gods. Book Summaries Book 2.

What does the story of Cupid's arrows show?

But the story also shows how transformation can be an act of mercy and provide an escape from a terrible situation.

How many books are in Ovid's metamorphoses?

Ovid’s Metamorphoses is divided into fifteen books, but it also has a tripartite structure, with the various tales of transformation loosely divided into three categories, treating gods, heroes, and history respectively.

What is the metamorphosis of Ovid?

Ovid’s Metamorphoses opens with a creation story and offers ways of understanding man’s place in the world, both in relation to the natural world and in relation to societies and social rules, marriage, family, government, and so on.

What is the only constant thing Heraclitus said?

But Ezra Pound saw this quality in the book too, spying in the Metamorphoses a link between humanity and divinity, the impermanent and the permanent: as Heraclitus might have said, the only constant thing is change, or metamorphosis.

What is Ovid's genius?

But upon closer analysis, Ovid’s genius as a writer on love, lust, desire, jealousy, and a myriad other timeless human emotions and drives also becomes more apparent.

What was Ovid's retelling of the Greek and Roman civilizations?

It was Ovid’s vast retelling of the great myths of Greek and Roman civilisation that became the definitive classical text on the subject of transformation.

Who is the poet who told the story of Echo and Narcissus?

For the definitive telling of the story of Echo and Narcissus, or the horrific attack on Philomela, or the doomed love affairs between Pyramus and Thisbe or between Jason and Medea, Ovid’s poem is the place to look for them.

Is Virgil's poem closer to Homer's epics?

As its very title implies, Virgil’s poem is far closer to Homer’s epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, than Ovid’s is. Here, it makes sense that Ezra Pound so admired Ovid’s Metamorphoses, since The Cantos, Pound’s defining work, would be an epic that followed Pound’s own definition of ‘a poem including history’; like Ovid’s poem, ...