METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3 

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4 

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POET:

Publius Ovidus Nasoor simply Ovid (c.43 BCE-17 CE) was born in 43 B.C. at Sulmo in central Italy. He was sent to Rome to attend the schools of famous rhetoricians but realising that his talent lay with poetry rather than politics, he began instead to cultivate the acquaintance of literary romans and to enjoy the smart witty roma society of which he soon became a leading member. His first published work was Amores, a collection of short love poems; then followed Heroids, verse letters supposedly written by deserted ladies to their former lovers, Ars Amatoria, a handbook on love, Remedia Amoris and Metamorphoses. He died in A.D. 17.

Ovid introduced several different genres of literature. He published his first work, The Amores, a few years after 20 BCE. In its first publication, The Amores was five books; the edition that has survived was published around 1 CE and is three books, comprising forty-nine elegies, of nearly 2500 lines of verse. The poems in The Amores all address the subject of love and arewritten in elegiac couplets. Unlike his elegiac predecessors Catullus, Gallus, Propertius, and Tibullus – Ovid’s first foray into the world of elegy is not cantered around the love of one specific woman. Instead, the poet claims not only that he is not able to be satisfied with just one woman, but that any beautiful woman will do. Around the same time period, Ovid published the first set of letters (numbers one through fifteen) known as The Heroides. These are letters written in verse from famous female characters to their lovers. The characters come mostly from mythological stories, including Penelope, Ariadne, and Dido, but number fifteen is a letter from Sappho to Phaon. The Heroides are also written in elegiac couplets.

There is a second set of letters (numbers sixteen through twenty-one) which is also known under the title, Heroides, which were published much later, just before Ovid’s exile (between 4 and 8 CE). These letters, instead of being one-sided, are correspondences between three pairs of lovers: Paris and Helen, Hero and Leander, and Acontius and Cydippe. The twenty-one letters that make up the Heroides total nearly 4000 lines of poetry. Between 12 and 8 BCE, Ovid enjoyed great success as a playwright. His Medea was quite popular, but, unfortunately, none of his tragedy survives. The Ars Amatoria is comprised of three books of verse written in elegiac couplets. The first two books, addressed to men, according to Conte, were written between 1- BCE and 1 CE. The third book, addressed to women, along with the Remedia Amoris and the MedicaminaFacieiFemineae (“The Cosmetics of Women”) were published shortly thereafter. While the Ars and the Remedia have survived intact, only a hundred lines of the Medicamina remains. These three works are all didactic, serving essentially as instructional manuals about love. From 2 CE until his exile in 8 CE, Ovid wrote two major works: the Metamorphoses, and the Fasti. The Fasti is written in elegiac couplets, but was only half finished

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE POEM:

Publius Ovidius Naso was born in Italy on 20 March 43 BC. He was educated in Rome and worked as a public official before taking up poetry full-time. His earliest surviving work is the collection of love poems called The Amores, which was followed by the Heroides. The ArsAmatoria (The Art of Love) and the RemediaAmoris (The Cure for Love) were probably written between 2 BC and 2 AD. These were followed by his two epic poems the Fasti and the Metamorphoses. In 8 AD Ovid fell out of favour with the Emperor Augustus due to a ‘carmen et error’ (‘a poem and a mistake’) and was banished to what is now Romania. While in exile he wrote Tristia, Ibis and the Epistulae ex Ponto which consists of letters appealing for help in his efforts to be recalled to Rome. Ovid died in exile in 18 AD.

Ovid’s other works available in Penguin Classics are The Erotic Poems, Fasti, Heroides and Metamorphoses.

Ovid’s exile did not stop him from writing poetry. The Tristia was written between 9 and 12 CE and is made up of five books, totaling over 3000 lines of elegiac couplets. The first book was written on the way to Tomi. The second book is nearly 600 lines long, a single pleading elegy written in the poet’s own defense, addressed to Emperor Augustus. The over-arching theme of all five books is sadness and lamenting over the forced exile of the poet from the city that he considers home. In addition, the Epistulae ex Ponto or Letters from the Sea, four books of forty-six epistolary elegies, were published around 13 CE.

The Metamorphoses is Ovid’s longest extant work, a continuous epic poem in fifteen books, consisting of nearly 12,000 lines. Based on the poetry of Hesiod (Works and Days, and Theogony) and Callimachus (Aetia), The Metamorphoses features a collection separate stories linked by the common theme of transformation. Book I begins with the beginnings of the world and Book VVV ends in the time period contemporary to Ovid’s life. There are nearly 250 mythological stories throughout the poem. Despite the overall chronological pattern as set out by the first and last books, the stories are linked in a variety of ways including geographical location, similarity, relations between characters, or thematic affiliations. The content as well as the narrative of The Metamorphoses is varied and mutable. The poet is frequently the narrator of the poem; likewise, the characters also narrate their own stories. Ultimately, in a lengthy poem about transformation, the poem itself is in a constant state of transformation.

AN OVERVIEW OF 15 BOOKS IN METAMORPHOSES AT A GLANCE Book I

– The Creation, The Four Ages, The Giants, Lycaön, The Flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha, Python, Daphne, Interlude: Pan and Syrinx, Phaëton.

Book II-Phaëton (cont.), Callisto, The Raven and The Crow, Ocyrho,, Battus, Aglauros, Europa.

Book III Cadmus, Act eon, Sémele, Teiresias, Narcissus and Echo, Pentheus and Bacchus, Acoetes and th: Lydian Sailors, Pentheus amd Bacchus. –

 Book IV The Daughter of Minyas, Pyramus and Thisbe, Mars and Venus, Leucotho and Clyt,, Salmiacis and Hermaphroditus, The Daughters of Minyas (2), Athamas and Cadmus and Andromeda, Perseus.

Book V- Minerva and the Muses, Callilope’s song The Rape of Proserpina, Arethusa, Triptolemus and Lyncus, The Daughters of  Procne and Perus.

Book VI-Arachne; Niobe; The Lycian Peasants; Marsyas; Pelops; Tereus, Boreas and Orithyia.

Philomela, of Pelias,

Book VII – Medea and Jason, The rejuvenation of Aeson, The Punishment Medea;s Flight, Theseus and Aegues, Minos and Aeacus, The Plague at Aegina, The of the Myrmidons, Cephalus and Procris.

Book VIII-Scylla and Minos, The Minotaur and Ariadne, Daedalus and Icarus, and Perdix, Meleager and the Calydonian Boar, Acheloûs, The Naiads and Perimele, Philemon and Baucis, Erysichthon. Dedalus

Book IX-Achelous and Hercules; Hercules and Nessus, The Death of Hercules, Alcmena and Galanthis, Dryope; lolaús and Callirho,’s sons; Miletus, Byblis, Iphis.

Book X-Orpheus and Eurydice, Cyparissus, Orpheus’s Song: Introduction, Ganymede, Hyacinthus, Pygmalion, Myrrha, Venus and Adonis, Venus’s Story: Atlanta and , Orpheus’s Song: Venus and Adonis.

Book XI – The Death of Orpheus, The punishment of the Maenads, Midas, LaçmedonTreachery – Peleus and Thetis, Peleus at the Court of Cenx (1), Cenx’s Story: Dedalion, Peleus At The Court of Ceňx, (2), Ceñx and Alcyone, Aesacus. Ovid: Life, Literature, Works, and Bacchus Book III 42 Horace and Hippomenes;s

Book XII – The Greeks at Aulis, Rumour, Cycnus, Achilles’ Victory, Celebrations, Caenis, The Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs, Periclymenus, The Death of Achilles. Book XIII – The Judgement of Arms, Ajax’s Suicide, The Fall of Troy, The Sufferings of Hecuba, Memnon, The Wanderings of Aeneas (1), The Daughters of Anius, The Daughters of Orion, Ulysses, The Wanderings of Aeneas (2), Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus, Scylla .

Book XIV-Scylla and Glaucus (2), The Wanderings of Aeneas (3), The Sibyl of Cumae, Achaemenidus’ Story: Ulysses’ Men in Polyphhemus’ Cave, Macareus’ Story: Ulysses and Circe, Picus, Canens and Circe, The Wanderings of Aeneas (4), The Mutinous Companions of Diomedes, The Apulian Shepherd, The Ships of Aeneas, Ardea, The Apotheosis of Aeneas, Aeneas’ Descendants, Pomona and Vertumnus, Iphis and Anaxarete, Roraulus, The Apothesis of Romolus. Cipus, and Glaucus

Book XV-Myscelus, Pythagoras, Egeria and Hippolytus, Tages, Romulus’ Spear, Aesculapius, The Apotheosis of Julius Caesar, Epilogue.

 BOOK III [Now Pentheus………at the holy altars]

SUMMARY

Europa’s father, Agenor, threatens Cadmus with exile if he does not find Europa. Cadmus tries and fails. He can’t go home, so he prays to Apollo about where he should live. Apollo says he a pristine heifer will lead him to a place where he will establish a city. Apollo’s prophecy is born out. However, Cadmus’s men encounter an enormous serpent, which kills them. Cadinus slays the serpent and, at Minerva’s request, buries its teeth in the ground. In diately, a group of belligerent men emerge from the land and begin to ‘ill each ot. a is established. five remaining men agree to live in peace, and Thebes .

Cadmus’s household is plagued While hunting, his grandson, Actagon, stimbes upon Diana bathing in her sacred grove Diana is so offended that she transform Actaeon into a deer, and Actaeon’s own hunting dogs kill him Semele, Cadmor, daughter, is pregnant with Jupiter’s child. Juno, filled with rage at yet another dallianes of Jupiter’s, disguises herself as an old woman and convinces Semele to ask Jupiter make love to her with all his power as a god, just as he makes love to Juno Semely Jupiter to promise her an unspecified gift. When she makes her request, Jupiter car go back on his word. He makes love to her with all his power. She cannot withstand it and she dies. Jupiter brings their son, Bacchus, to full term in his thigh

The scene changes. Jupiter and Juno banter about which gender enjoys sex more Jupiter says women do, and Juno says men do They decide to ask Tiresias, who reportedly has experienced life as both a man and woman Tiresias agrees with Jupiter In her anger, Juno strikes Tiresias blind. Jupiter compensates Tiresias by giving hom supernatural foresight. Ovid records Tiresias’s first prediction that Narrisstis vill live a long life as long as he does not know himself. These cryptic words were boron when Narcissus, who had rejected all would be lovers, fell in love with his own reflection.

Ovid returns to the story of Cadmur’s family. Pentheus tries to perstrade his family and others not to worship Bacchus. No one is convinced, but Pentheus stands firm. Not even Acoetes, a convert to the worship of Bacchus, can change his mind. Penthous threatens to make Acoetes into an example by killing him. Pentheurs sets out for Mount Cithaeron to spy on the rites of Bacchus. When he arrives, his own aunt and mother mistake him for an animal and hunt him. His aunt, Autonoe, rips off his arms, and his mother tears off his head and lets out a shout of victory.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF OVID’S METAMORPHOSES

BOOK III

Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses begins auspiciously, with the founding of Thebes However, divine revenge soon takes center stage. The gods punish nearly every major character for a crime, regardless of whether the crime was committed wittingly or unwittingly. Diana punishes Actacon for accidentally stumbling upon her when she is naked. Juno punishes Semele for her love affair with Jupiter. She also punishes Tiresias with blindness for agreeing with Jupiter. And Bacchus punishes Pentheus for failing to worship him. By focusing on the theme of revenge, Ovid invites c comparisons with Virgil’s Aeneid, which portrays Aeneas’s quest to establish a city, and Juno’s resulting wrath. Ovid outdoes Virgil, whose sole villain was Juno. In Ovid’s account, three divine figures damn the household of Cadmus and the founding of Thebes: Diana, Juno, and Bacchus.

Each act of revenge is accompanied by an ironic twist at the expense of the victim Actaeon, a hunter, becomes the hunted. The reversal is completed when Actaeon’s own dogs tear him apart. Semele is killed by sex, the very act that drew her and Jupiter together. She is slain by he lover’s overwhelming prowess, and she requests her own manner of death. Tiresias extensive knowledge causes his blindness. Narcissus, who has rejected all suitors, is rejected by himself. He becomes both the object and the subject

qurned love. Pentheus’s death is ironic for three reasons. First, his threat to kill es is turned against him when he himself is killed for impiety. Second, Bacchus’s shipers mistake Pentheus for an animal-ironic, considering that Pentheus is not animal or even a transformed animal, as are many of the characters in the poem. ally, despite his refusal to worship Bacchus, Pentheus becomes a central figure in a orship rite, as he is sacrificed at the hands of his mother and aunt.

In this book, Ovid focuses on the danger of transgression. In almost all of the isodes, boundaries are crossed, sometimes intentionally and sometimes nintentionally. Semele, a human, sleeps with Jupiter, a married god; Actaeon stumbles the sacred and secret grove of Diana and sees something he should not; Tiresias both a man and a woman and offers a verdict on pleasure and sexuality from e perspective of both; and Pentheus witnesses and unwillingly takes part in the ret the rites of Bacchus. The result of each of these boundary-crossings justifies ond’s dictum, “do not call someone happy until he dies and his funeral is over” (III.136When people cross boundaries, the result is blindness, death by sex, death by 137) dogs, or an equally horrible fate. While Thebes is founded happily, its subsequent history quickly grows grim.

SUMMARY OF BOOK IV [Pyramus and Thisbe…….. together in a single arn]

 Rather than worship Bacchus, the three daughters of Minyas weave, telling stories the time. The first (unnamed) daughter tells a tale of forbidden love. Pyramus and Thisbe fall in love. Their fathers oppose the match, so they decide to run away together. Thisbe arrives first at their meeting place, but she flees when she sees a lioness approaching. Pyramus finds the tracks of a lioness and Thisbe’s shawl. Believing that Thisbe is dead, Pyramus thrusts his sword into his belly, killing himself. Thisbe returns, sees what has happened, and kills herself.

Leuconoe, the second daughter, tells another love story. After being tipped off by the Sun, Vulcan catches his wife, Venus, having an affair with Mars. Furious at the Sun for gossiping to Vulcan, Venus makes him fall in love with Leucothoe. Leucothoe and the Sun have an affair. The Sun’s wife, Clytie, finds out and tells Leucothoe’s father what is going on. Leucothoe is buried alive and dies. The Sun turns her into frankincense, a plant.

Alcithoe, the third daughter, tells the final love story. The sexually adventurous Salmacis desires Hermaphroditus, but he spurns her. She grabs him when he jumps into her pool, and she prays to the gods to make them one. The gods answer her prayer by making Hermaphroditus become soft and feminine. Salmacis’s nature becomes part of him. At the end of these stories, the devotees of Bacchus draw near, and Bacchus turns the three sisters into bats for their impiety.

The narrative returns to the house of Cadmus. Juno hates Cadmus’s daughter, Ino, for her devotion to Bacchus. Juno enlists the help of the Furies, who make Athamas, Ino’s husband, insane. Believing his wife to be a lioness and his children to be cubs, Athamas bashes the head of one of his children against a rock. Ino jumps off a cliff with

her other child. At Venus’s request, Neptune transforms Ino and her child into deities. When Cadmus learns of this new tragedy, he leaves his city and prays to the gods to transform him into a serpent. He gets his wish. His wife is also changed. Then slither away.

worried We now meet Perseus. Instead of flying during the night, he stops in Atlass kingdom. Atlas reacts with hostility, because an ancient prophecy has him turns Atlas to stone using Medusa’s head. Perseus takes to the air again. He sees that Perseus will plunder his riches. Perseus’s strength is no match for Atlas’s, so he Andromeda chained to a rock as an offering to a sea monster. Perseus descends, strikes a deal with Andromeda’s parents, and uses Medusa’s head to petrify the monster Perseus marries Andromeda.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF OVID’S METAMORPHOSES

BOOK IV

As the sisters literally weave, they figuratively weave stories of unfulfilled love While their love stories feature different kinds of people, they all centre on frustrated longing. The two young lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, are separated in life by the objections of their families. They come together only when it is too late, in death. The Sun, who loves Leucothoe, can do nothing to save her from being buried alive. He car turn her into a plant, giving her a sort of rebirth, but that is cold comfort. Salmacis’s love for Narcissus is one-sided. Even when the gods fulfill her request, they do so in ar unexpected and unwanted way. Melding her with Narcissus actually prohibits the kind of love she desires.

When Ovid returns to the story of Cadmus’s household after several intervening stories, it suggests that divine wrath is unrelenting. What the gods start, they will finish. They decided to destroy Cadmus’s family, and they will do so. Ino’s downfall seems particularly unfair. She is a zealous worshipper of the gods in general and Bacchus in particular. She suffers not for her own sins, but for Jupiter’s. Juno does not hate Ino in particular. Rather, she hates Ino’s enthusiastic worship of Bacchus, who is the fruit of one of Jupiter’s extramarital affairs. Ino’s punishment is not only unfair, but also bloody cruel, and ironic. Bacchus inspires madness, and Ino, his zealous follower, is killed by her maddened husband. The story Cadmus comes full circle: He witnesses the last of his line fall, and he becomes a serpent, the very beast he killed to establish Thebes. This tidy ending points to the thorough, methodical way in which the gods exercise ther wrath.

SUMMARY OF BOOK VI [Pandion, King of Athens……. were accoutred for battle]

Minerva approaches Arachne, her rival in the art of weaving. Disguised as an old woman, Minerva advises Arachne to ask Minerva for forgiveness. When Arachne wil not comply, Minerva drops the disguise and upbraids Arachne. They compete. Minerva fashions a portrait that glorifies the gods in general and herself in particular Her tapestry depicts the Oly apian gods, her victory over Neptune, and four scenes of the gods conquering humans and turning them into animals. Arachne creates a flawless portrait of gods raping and deceiving humans. Minerva is so enraged by Arachne’s skill that she begins to beat her. Unable to endure such treatment, Arachne hangs herself, and Minerva transforms her into a spider.

When they hear of Arachne’s fate, people know they should revere the gods However, a woman named Niobe does not feel inferior to the gods. She has a great husband, Amphion, a distinguished lineage, a large kingdom, and many children. Tiresias’s daughter, Manto, tells Niobe to worship the goddess Latona and her two children, Apollo and Diana. Niobe ignores the advice and mocks her people for listening to Manto. She even wonders why people do not worship her. Latona is outraged. With her children, she causes disaster after disaster to strike Niobe’s family. Seven of Niobe’s sons and seven of her daughters are killed, she turns into tears, and fear of Latona spreads.

Tereus, the tyrant from Thrace, enters the narrative. He liberates Athens from barbarians and marries Procne, the daughter of the king of Athens, Pandion. The marriage is ill-fated. Juno, Hymenaeus, and the Graces do not attend the wedding. After five years of marriage, Procne asks Tereus for permission to see her sister, Philomela. Tereus sets sail for Athens to fetch Philomela. As soon as he sees Philomela, lust grips him. Back in Thrace, he repeatedly rapes her and hacks off her tongue to prohibit her from speaking. Philomela weaves a portrait of Tereus’s crime onto cloth and sends it to Procne. To get revenge, Procne slays Itys, her only child with Tereus, and serves him to Tereus as a meal. Procne and Philomela tell Tereus that he has eaten his son, and Tereus goes mad. He wants to kill the sisters, but they escape by turning into birds. Tereus, too, becomes a bird.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF OVID’S METAMORPHOSES

BOOK VI

The contest between Minerva and Arachne is not only a clash between two artists but also a clash between two entirely different perspectives. Minerva, a goddess, has a divine perspective. Her tapestry glorifies the Olympian gods’ majesty and their ability to punish anyone who crosses them. The symmetry of Minerva’s tapestry, with its centerpiece, four corner scenes, and border, reflects her conviction that the universe is a place of balance and order. Arachne, a human, creates a tapestry that tells an entirely different story. There is no order, balance, or tidy symmetry in her work. It consists entirely of images of deception and rape. In the twenty-four lines Ovid takes to describe her creation, twenty-one rapes occur. Jupiter is responsible for nine, Neptune for six, Apollo for four, Bacchus and Saturn for one each. According to Arachne, the universe is a place of violence and horror. Ovid does not suggest that one tapestry or worldview triumphs. Arachne’s work is flawless. However, Minerva hectors her mercilessly, until she commits suicide. Neither of the women can claim complete victory. Both of their perspectives are born out: Minerva punishes a mortal, as she thinks is the gods’ right, and Arachne is tormented, as she thinks humans always are.

With the story of Niobe, Ovid returns to the theme of divine vengeance. By placing Niobe’s saga after Arachne’s contest with Minerva, Ovid invites us to compare the two women. They could hardly be more different. Arachne is a woman from a humble background who makes a name for herself with her talent for weaving; Niobe is a woman of the highest social standing whose reputation rests on wealth, lineage, and family. Arachne is a woman of consummate skill and artistry; Niobe is a woman of little or no skill. Arachne is challenged and provoked by the goddess Minerva; Niobe challenges and provokes the goddess Latona. With these contrasts, Ovid stresses the innocence of Arachne and the unjustness of her fate.

The story of Tereus emphasizes art’s power to help people transcend even the worst difficulties. The tale of Tereus, Procne, and Philomela is one of the bloodiest and most grotesque in all of the Metamorphoses. To the familiar stew of deception, rape, and mutilation, it adds the murder of a child and cannibalism. These unspeakable acts are the more horrifying because they take place not between strangers but within one family. The most intimate bonds-between husband and wife, sister and sister, man n-are broken. Yet even in this and sister-in-law, mother and son, and father and sonunremittingly horrifying set of circumstances, art helps. When Philomela loses the ability to speak, she manages to communicate via art. Her artistic endeavors literally help her escape by freeing her from her prison. This feat suggests art’s power to metaphorically help people who are suffering by giving them the consolation of selfexpression.

WORD NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS:

BOOK III [Now Pentheus……….at the holy altars]

Echion: In Greek mythology, the name Echion referred to five different beings. Echion, one of the Gigantes, known for great strength (though not necessarily great size) and having an ability to change the course or direction of winds. Echion, one of the surviving Spartoi, the “sown men” that sprang up from the dragon’s teeth sown by Cadmus, and principally known for skill in battle and bravery; “it was Echion who, for his great valor, was preferred by Cadinus to be his son-in-law”: Echion was father of Pentheus and Epirus (mythology) by Agave. Echion, one of the Argonauts, son of Hermes and Antianeira (daughter of Menoetius), brother of Erytus; participated in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, according to Hyginus and Ovid. Echion, one of the suitors who came from Dulichium to compete for Penelope. Echion, one of the Greeks who fought at the Trojan War. Son of Portheus, he was one of the men hidden in the Trojan horse and was killed. The doomed Greek is a “tough but battle weary warrior, plagued by phantasms of his death”

Scorn:a feeling and expression of contempt or disdain for someone or something. Bespattering :splash drops of a liquid substance all over (an object). Undismayed :not dismayed or discouraged by a setback. Rout:a disorderly retreat of defeated troops.

Feeble :lacking physical tre .gth, especially as a result of age or illness. Cavalry:modern soldier: who fight in armoured vehicles

keries :teasing and contemptuous language or behaviour directed at a particular or thing. pesond

perturbed:not perturbed or concerned.

Sundy of a person or their body strongly and solidly built. Self-same: exactly the same. Constellation: agroup of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure. Plunder to steal goods from (a place or person), typically using force and in a time of wer or civil disorder. Sluggish:slow-moving or inactive Shrick: a loud, sharp, shrill cry. A loud, high sound of laughter…. to cry out sharply in high voice: to shriek with pain. to utter loud, high-pitched sounds in laughing.

BOOK IV [Pyramus and Thisbe……. together in a single urn] Forbade:refused to allow (something). Chink:a narrow opening, typically one that admits light. Cliff: a steep rock face, especially at the edge of the sea. Enraptured:give intense pleasure or joy to. Perils:serious and immediate danger. Stupor :a state of near-unconsciousness or insensibility. Steadfast :resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. Um :a tall, rounded vase with a stem and base, especially one used for storing the ashes of a cremated person.

BOOK VI [Pandion, King of Athens…….. were accoutered for battle] Frenzy:a state or period of uncontrolled excitement or wild behaviour. Gloatingly to look at or think about with great or excessive, often smug or malicious, satisfaction:

Goaded: provoke or annoy (someone) so as to stimulate an action or reaction. Atrocity: an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury.

Tapestry a piece of thick textile fabric with pictures or designs formed by weaving coloured weft threads or by embroidering on canvas, used as a wall hanging or soft furnishing.

Frenzied: wildly excited or uncontrolled.

Prattling: talk in a silly way or like a child for a long time about things that are not important or without saying anything important

Exultation:a feeling of triumphant elation or jubilation; rejoicing.

Hovering:remain in one place in the air.

Accoutered: clothed or equip in something noticeable or impressive.

Tereus: In Greek mythology, Tereus was a Thracian king, the son of Ares and the naiad Bistonis. He was the brother of Dryas.

THE COMMON CHANGES OF SHAPESIN THE METAMORPHOSIS:

Actaeon is turned into a stag.

Narcissus is turned into a flower.

Echo is turned into a disembodied voice. Sailors are turned into dolphins.

Teeth are turned into soldiers.

Jupiter is turned into mortal form to seduce Semele and then back to divine to kill

her.

Tiresias is turned into woman and then man again.

Pentheus is not changed in fact – but his nearest and dearest are made not to recognise him as they kill him. The dogs see straight but Actaeon changes shape – keeps his shape but the killers are deluded.

Pentheus Naxos: needs no preposition – like all small islands, towns and cities. Naxon is the Greek accusative ending of Naxos. Naxos was a centre of worship of the god Bacchus, having been seen by some as his birthplace and as the place where Bacchus rescued the princess Ariadne after Theseus had left her there. Bacchus offers the sailors 64 Ovid: Metamorphoses III hospitality in his domus there, like a good Roman or Greek host. The god produces a neat sentence here, with mihidomusest balanced by vobiserithospitatellus.

Bacchus: The god of wine. Bacchus is the son of Jupiter and Semele. He comes to full term in Jupiter’s thigh. As an adult, he takes vengeance on Pentheus and the daughters of Minyas.

Cadmus: The son of Agenor, the husband of Harmonia, and the founder of Thebes. He slays a serpent to establish Thebes, and at the end of his life he is turned into a serpent. Pentheus: The King of Thebes. Pentheus is the son of Echion and Agave. He is a vocal opponent of the worship of Bacchus.

CHIEF CHARACTERS IN METAMORPHOSES

Acoetes: Acoetes is a shipmaster and a convert to Bacchus. Acoetes tries to convince Pentheus to worship Bacchus.Acoetes is not in Euripides’ Bacchae where the stranger before the king is the god himself in disguise. It is tempting to at least wonder whether Acoetes is the god himself (who is a master of disguise), as Pentheus had ordered his men to bring the duceman chains (562-3) and this would give more point to his remark (658-9): Necenimpraesentiorillo/ estdeus. (‘No god is more present than that one’.)

Actaeon: Actaeon was the grandson of Cadmus. He was the son of Aristaeus and Autonoe. He was the best hunter. He once had seen Diana to bathe. As a result, he was then punished by Diana, goddess of hunting and wood-lands. The goddess Diana had changed him into a stag and he was torn to pieces by his own hands.

Agenor:Agenor was the son of a Poseidon. He had a brother, named Belus, who was the twin. He had become ang of Tyre. Cadmus (son), Europa (daughter) and Phoenix (son) were his descendants.

Apollo: Ovid characterizes Apollo as a god of foolish and ineffectual passions. The son of Jupiter and the god of the sun, Apollo is a hothead. His strong emotions often get the est of him, making him look and act foolish. In Book 1, his lust for Daphne leads him to caress and kiss her-even after she has been turned into a tree. In Book II, he allows his on Phaeton, to ride his chariot, which almost destroys the whole world. In the same book, he kills his lover, Coronis, in a fit of fury. He ultimately regrets this murderous at Apollo is not only tempestuous but also inept. Although he is the god of healing, he is not able to help anyone. He fails in his attempt to heal Hyacinthus, his boy lover, and he does nothing to drive away the plague in Rome.

Bacchus: Bacchus was the son of Semele and Zeus. The other name of Bacchus is Dionysus. When he was in the womb of Semele, she was killed by lightning. Jupiter or Zeus had rescued him. He was brought up by Nysa. He is the god of wine and ecstasy. God of wine, both its intoxicating effects as well as its social and beneficent influences. Son of Jupiter and Sémele. He is viewed as the promoter of peace, a lawgiver, and a lover of peace.

Cadmus: In Greek mythology, Cadmus was a son of Agenor, a king of Phoenicia or Tyre. He was the founder of a city. The name of this city was Thebes or Bocotia. He had a sister. The name of his sister was Europa. He was also the introduced of the alphabets in Greece. He had killed a dragon. It guarded the fountain. He sowed the teeth of dragon after killing this. After a few days, some armed men from there to slay him. He flung a precious stone at them. Over this stone, they started to struggle and died at last. The fith one survived and aided him to build a new city.

Diana: Diana was a name of the goddess. She was actually the goddess of hunting and woodlands. Many have addressed her as a moon-goddess. She was a chaste woman. She was even worshipped by men.

Echo: Echo was a garrulous woman. She was punished by the goddess Hera for the sake of her negligence. She was deprived of speech. She fell in love with Narcissus. She could not show him her face because of the burning.

Itys: Itys is the son of Procne and Tereus. Itys is killed, cooked and fed to his father Tereus by his mother Procne, in revenge for Tereus’ raping of her younger sister Philomela.

Juno:Simply because she is Jupiter’s wife, Juno is a key figure in the Metamorphoses. Unlike Jupiter, however, she does not make world-changing decisions or seek out extramarital relationships. Her less powerful role means that she does not drive the plot, as Jupiter does. Still, the brutal punishments she metes out are what give the poem much of its spice. She constantly catches her husband sleeping with other women. His exploits enrage her, and she vents her wrath on Jupiter’s lovers, revenging herself on lo, Callisto, Europa, and Semele, among others. She also torments the offspring, such as Ino, that these women have by Jupiter. Even those who impede Juno’s efforts to catch Jupiter, such as Echo, feel her wrath. Juno never takes revenge in a foolhardy or thoughtless way. She is always cunning and calculating. She may not be as powerful

as her husband is, but Juno is an intelligent, fearsome goddess.Juno is also called Hera according to the Greek mythology. She was the wife and sister of Jupiter. She was the queen of heaven. She was a jealous woman. She had arranged to destroy Semele by her tricks.

Book I as he encounters the Jupiter: If Ovid’s Metamorphoses can be said to have a protagonist, Jupiter, the king of heaven, is that protagonist. He is the first god on the scene impious Lycaon, and he is present at the end of the poem in the Book XV at the deification of Julius Caesar. Jupiter’s frequent presence in the poem does not, however, mean that he is a character worthy of respect. In most instances, Ovid portrays Jupiter as foolish, rash, and lustful. Jupiter destroys the world out of anger at one man, he rapes countless women (Io, Europa, Callisto, and Semele, to name a few), and he constantly deceives his wife, Juno, whom he fears. When Jupiter does attempt to do good deeds, he bungles them. When he tries to defend Dis, for example, he tells Ceres that at least her daughter, Proserpina, was raped by a god with good lineage. Ovid’s portrayal of Jupiter is sometimes comic and nearly always dark.Jupiter is also called Jove, according to the Roman mythology. In Greek mythology, he is Zeus. He is a Lord of heaven. He is a bringer of light. White is the favourite colour of him, but it is sacred too.

Narcissus:A beautiful young man who fell in love with his own reflection and died from the pain of being unable to be with himself.Narcissus was the boy of Cephisus and Liriope. He was fallen in love with Echo. He had seen his own reflection on the calm and clear water of the pool. He then jumped into the pool and died. The god had turned him into a flower.

Pyramus: Young man from Babylon who is the boyfriend of Thisbe whom he is not allowed to marry.

Semele: In Greek mythology, Semele is the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. By Zeus, she was the mother of Bacchus. She had been killed by lightning. Tiresias: A man who has also been a woman, he is blinded by Juno and given the gift of prophecy by Jove.

At Thebes, Tiresías played an active part in the tragic events involving Laius, the king of Thebes, and his son Oedipus. Later legend told that he lived for seven (or nine) generations, dying after the expedition of the Seven Against Thebes.

 

*********************************

READ MORE…

THE BOOK OF THE ASSEMBLY HALL SUMMARY

The Book of Assembly Hall Questions and Answers

The Book of Vanci Questions and Answers

THE SEQUEL TO DICING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Abhijnana shakuntala Questions and Answers

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6 METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6 METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6

METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 3  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 4  METAMORPHOSES SUMMARY BOOK 6

Share now