A Discussion Regarding Extreme Characters and Episodes in Ovid's Metamorphoses

‘Ovid’s Metamorphoses is an extreme text about extreme people.’ Discuss with specific references to characters and episodes in the text.

Ovid's Metamorphoses is an epic poem that is composed of 15 books. This epic is based on ancient Greek and Roman myths. Those myths are related in some way with transformation both physically and mentally, for Ovid it was a common point of reference.[1] The text is very unpredictable and everything can be overturned from one verse to another. There isn't a continuous story but many secondary stories that don't follow cohesion and this is the reason why context is highly incongruous. Except for the beginning and the end of the epic, generally Ovid isn't the one who is telling the stories, but other artists are authorial substitutes or even common people through songs for example. As a result everything in the world of Metamorphoses changes completely, the main characters, style, even the genre of each story. Besides all of these extreme changes, a transformation on its own is something extreme since it changes the form of what it is referring to and gives something new.

Daphne:

She is one of the many tragic characters we meet in Ovid's Metamorphoses, because her story is unfortunate without that being her fault. Cupid was angry with Apollo who was making fun of him and wanted to avenge him. So he took two arrows that served different purposes. One was the arrow of love which was golden and the other one was about erotic aversion and made of iron. He threw the first arrow to Apollo and the second one to Daphne. Cupid acts without caring what the effects of his actions will bring. So begins the courtship of Daphne from Apollo. The girl detests everything that has to do with love, of sexual nature, and wants to be a virgin forever, so she even asks her father to let her do so. Her extraordinary beauty makes Apollo fall in love with her the minute he sees her. When she detects him she starts running to get away. Apollo's admiration was so great that the god even begs her to stop running in case she hurts herself and ruin that beauty. The god tries to make her stop by referring to his divine origin. After a while the girl is tired of running and since she was desperate she prays to her father Peneus to release her of her current form which was her torment. Daphne is now transformed in a tree. Even as a tree she is still beautiful and Apollo continues to love her. The two characters act in a completely opposite way, even-thought they are under the influence of Cupid's arrows.

Io:

Io is another human character that suffers because of Jupiter's lust ,who usually doesn't tame his sexual impulses, and not for doing something bad. Jupiter admires her beauty and tries to seduce her. The girl that realizes that runs away but it's impossible to get away from the powerful god who catches and rapes her. In an attempt of hiding his abominable act he puts a veil of cloud over them. Juno is suspicious and this makes Jupiter transform Io in a cow in order to escape from his wife. He doesn't care about Io's feelings, who is given to Juno to stop their conflict. Io isn't capable of accepting her new form that scares her. She tries in vain to avoid her own self. Her behavior is a result of the exploitation she was subjected to and that's the reason why she acts irrationally.

Phaethon:

Phaethon was the son of the Sun but Epaphus ,with whom he was friend since they were little, challenged him by saying this is just a story his mother told him. To verify his mother words he goes to the palace of Sun asking him for a favor. What he asked was to use his chariot and horses for a day. Sun didn't want to do that but he didn't have a choice because of his oath. Phaethon's feelings didn't let him think clearly about the consequences of what he was asking and didn't pay attention to his father who was trying to change his mind. When on account of his human nature he realized that he couldn't control the chariot, it was already too late. The results of his extremely inconsiderate attitude were disastrous. The gods were trying to save what was left on earth and unfortunately Phaethon gets killed, being betrayed by his weakness. The aftermath of his extreme behavior was distractive not only for his surroundings but also for himself and his family that was mourning.

Aglauros:

Aglauros was the daughter of Cecrops and sister of Herse. Mercury as soon as he sees Herse he is instantly charmed by her good looks and wants to make her his. He decides to go to her bedroom where he runs across Aglauros. She is jealous of her sister and doesn't hesitate to ask as a bride from Mercury a lot of gold in exchange for her silence. Minerva who is watching all of this wants to punish Aglauros so she asks for the help of Envy. To manage this, Envy maximizes the feelings of jealousy that Aglauros had about her sister in the point that she couldn't stand the thought of her happiness. In an attempt to prevent Mercury of entering Herse's room, the god transforms her to a statue. Her transformation ,as almost every other that we find in the poem, is painful. What happened to her is of course a result of Mercury's persistence to get what he wants, but the primary factor is based on herself just because she couldn't control her jealousy towards to her sister who didn't obviously care much about.

Echo and Narcissus:

Narcissus was incredibly beautiful, men and women admired and desired him. Echo was captivated of his beauty and fell in love with him but he didn't share the same feelings. Her actions aren't logical since even though she is rejected by him she insists on wanting him and blinded by love she even changes the meaning of his words in an effort to fulfill her desire. After she is again rejected she leaves being brokenhearted and is turned into stone due to her grief. Narcissus one day wanted to quench his thirst and sits by a lake. The reflection of himself catches his eye. He falls in love with himself and gets to the extreme point of ignoring his basic needs for food and water for being fascinated by the form he sees in the water. In the end he dies. This story is based on the knowledge of the limits of each person, something that didn't apply to Narcissus who didn't have any self awareness. The importance of this virtue is evident from the fact that its absence is what led him to death.

Niobe:

Niobe was the wife of Amphiona and had every mean to be happy and have a good life. What she was mostly proud about were her children. When the Ismenian women were asked to honor Latona and her two children Niobe was presented asking to be herself honored as a goddess instead of Latona. In a monologue she characterized the reasons why she deserves to be faced as a goddess and insulted Latona by saying that her children are superior than the ones of the goddess. As a result Latona was furious and wanted to punish Niobe in the worst possible way. This happened by the murder of Niobes children and her husband. The attitude of Niobe is dislikable since her arrogance is immeasurable especially when after the death of her sons she still insults Latona and says she's superior. As a result she ends up alone, having lost everyone that she loves and is turned to stone by her grief. Her story is very heartbreaking from the side of her children an husband. All these innocent people died because of her utterly disrespectful and arrogant actions.

Tereus, Procne and Philomela:

This specific story is one of the most horrific stories of the Metamorhoses. Tereus is asked to accompany Philomela the sister of his wife Procnes to Thrace. Tereus is attracted by her and when they get to Thrace he isolates and rapes her without holding his passion. Philomela curses at him for his act and prays for the help of gods. Tereus as if it wasn't enough that he had just rape the girl, he cuts her tongue to make her silence. For a long time she was isolated in a forest and to get away, she decided spin a tapestry that showed everything that happened to her and send it to her sister who comes and helps her. Procne is wrathful with her husband and wants to avenge him. In an expression of extreme aberration she kills her son and cooks his body with the help of her sister, and offers it to the ignorant Teneus. His violent behavior made the two women lose their sanity and to think that killing the innocent infant boy would be an appropriate punishment for him. All the main characters of this story do atrocities and it is very difficult for the readers to like them. To this contributes the fact that no god is responsible for what happens, which would be usual, but everything is a result of the choices the humans make by themselves.

Cephalus:

Having gone to the woods for hunting Cephalus is raped by Aurora something that affects him very much. He convince himself by thinking irrationally, that his wife Procris isn't faithful. In order to see if that is true, he tries to seduce her while hiding his real identity . When she waves he comes to the preposterous conclusion that she is unfaithful. Cephalus's behavior isn't logical since he accuses her for no obvious reason, for something that he had done. Trying to lift the weight of that thought he blames her instead.

Daedalus:

Daedalus had a nephew named Perdix who was his apprentice. The young boy was very intelligent. He had done some inventions and observations in spite of his young age. Daedalus as an artist and inventor himself, couldn't accept the fact that a twelve year old child was developed mentally that much. He was so jealous of Perdix that he pushed him of a hill saying that he slipped. His action is extremely irrational since he wanted to murder a child because he was probably afraid that as Perdix would grow up he would outshine him with his talent. His choice can't be justified because instead of allying the complex that Perdix's intelligence made him feel like a mature and logical adult he preferred to push him of a hill.

Byblis:

The story of Byblis is based on her forbidden love for her brother. In the beginning of the story she didn't realize that the nature of the feelings she had for him was sexual and they were completely normal. She got to the point that she despised every meaning that showed they were related by blood. She starts a monologue in which she wonders in the beginning about the nature of her thoughts and dreams about her brother and she ends up trying to find a logical substance to her emotions and give in to them. Her love is beyond the sphere of logic and the entire story is mainly psychological. All of her thoughts lead her to madness. She writes a letter to her brother Caunus revealing her feelings and when he reads it he is furious. When Byblis finds out about his reaction she starts accusing herself of handling the situation poorly. She believed that if she had acted in a different way maybe Caunus would respond to her love. What is extreme in her story isn't only her abnormal desire for her brother but also the way she faces the matter.

Conclusion:

Everything that is extreme and the lack of moderation in general, don't give positive results. It is more beneficial to keep a certain balance. Most of the characters of the stories of Metamorphoses ,no matter if they have human or divine origin, don't act rationally, meaning maintaining that balance, so the outcome of their story is detrimental for them. Also many of the fictional events that are described seem to be outrageous simply because our societies don't operate in that way and such acts would be reprehensible.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary source:

1. Ovid, Metamorphoses: a new verse translation , D. A Raeburn, (Penguin classics, 2004)

Secondary sources:

2. Genevieve Liveley Dawsonera, Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' a reader's guide, (London: Continuum, Series: Reader's guides, 2011)

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1. [1]Ovid, Metamorphoses: a new verse translation , D. A Raeburn, (Penguin classics, 2004), Introduction p.13