Painting Perseus and Andromeda - Essay Example

?Part I: In not more than 500 words, compare and contrast the following two sources Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.663 - 763 2. Titian, Perseus and Andromeda Answer: Titian’s painting Perseus and Andromeda selects a precise moment in the myth of Andromeda’s rescue by Perseus. It is the visualisation of the exact moment of Perseus’s flight into the air aimed at descending to attack the sea monster. Andromeda’s figure is in the foreground in the painting while Perseus and the monster are less in focus. The pale figure of Andromeda is in stark contrast with the dark, mossy rock that she is tied to. This provides a visual reinforcement of her miserable plight which in Ovid is done through the account of her tears and words. In Titian’s painting, Andromeda’s royal parents are left out entirely. The dialogue that takes place between Perseus and Andromeda’s parents, wherein he extracts the promise of their daughter’s hand in marriage from them before attempting to save her, is an important point of note; especially in the present literary milieu which encourages such gendered readings of myth. This possible source of feminist contention is done away with entirely in Titian’s work. Ovid’s account of Perseus slaying the monster is an amazingly descriptive, rapid piece of verse. Almost like cinematic action, Ovid’s account unfolds the event in blow-by-blow descriptions. This wonderful tactile and immediate quality of Ovid’s writing is transformed in Titian into the unrealistic, expressive postures of the characters painted. Titian’s Perseus is depicted almost entirely upside down and his face is enraged, alive. The monster too looks poised, tightly coiled as if in fear and with a similar, intense look on its face. The effect of the colourful textual description is adapted and encapsulated into the painting by way of intense expressions, visual contrasts and exaggerated body postures. Even Andromeda’s physique in the painting looks robust and strong, even though feminine; unlike the more helpless Andromeda in Ovid. Titian’s painting allows a reader of Ovid’s mythical story of Perseus and Andromeda to visualise the most intensely alive moment of the narrative. The action-packed description in verse is aided by the vivid colours and extravagant detail in Titian. The foregrounding of Andromeda, her voluptuous and robust physique, and the absence of the mourning parents serve to create an alternative version of Andromeda. Andromeda is given a more liberated and central position in Titian as opposed to the meek Andromeda, helpless and largely without agency that we see in Ovid. To compare it with another famous painting of Perseus and Andromeda, one by Peter Paul Rubens, it is interesting to note the differences. Rubens selects a different moment in the myth to represent. The moment shown here is after Perseus has slain the monster and depicts his victorious conquest of both monster and Andromeda. The picture is busy and crowded with minor characters. There is the head of the monster in Perseus’s hand; there are cherubs and angels and even a flying horse in the picture. Rubens, having studied Titian, must have been aware of his version of the painting and yet chooses a much more tranquil moment to paint. [497 Words] Part II In what ways does Ovid manipulate myth in order to highlight his theme of metamorphosis? Do you consider that this technique can lessen the myth’s impact and coherence at times? Answer with reference to specific mythic narrative in Metamorphoses. Answer: In Metamorphoses, in a bid to highlight his chosen theme of metamorphosis, Ovid uses myth to substantiate his claims. Sometimes this is done at the cost of authenticity of myth; of course, authenticity of myth is in itself a rather problematic issue. Unlike in Amores, where Ovid claims to have been misled by Cupid into writing about love, in Metamorphoses Ovid invokes the gods to make him able to write about the history of transformation in the world: In noua fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora: di coeptis (nam uos mutastis et illa) adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora Carmen. (Feldherr, 2002, p. 164) This translates to mean: ‘changes of shape, new forms, are the theme which my spirit impedes me now to recite’ (Block 3, Part 2, 2.1, p. 19). This work also comes at the prime of Ovid’s career as a poet in Rome and is his most ambitious project. Myth in this poem in particular therefore plays a crucial role. Ovid takes myth in Metamorphoses more seriously than he does anywhere else. In his preface to Metamorphoses, Ovid states that he is retelling history from the creation of the world right down to the rule of Augustus. This attempt at synthesizing a common history out of mythical stories that were largely discrete and discontinuous was unprecedented in Ovid’s time. The claim in the preface however also reveals Ovid’s subtle intention. Ovid certainly has an agenda, namely to prove that transformation governs all history. How far he goes to adapt stories to fit into this transformative framework is what readers must watch out for. The story of Io’s transformation is as good a place as any to begin analysing this aspect of Ovid’s writing. Io was a nymph who, as a result of falling prey to Jove’s desire and Juno’s jealousy, was turned into a heifer by Jove to avoid arousing his queen’s suspicion. Unlike some of the other myths in Metamorphoses, Io’s story has a few other sources recording it as well. Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women and the Bibliotheca of Pseudo Apollodorus both record the story of Io. Io’s story was also familiar to Homer. The myth was apparently retold four times in the ancient epics: in the Danais, Phoronis, Aigimios and a supplement to Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women (Burkert, 1974, p. 164). As far as Io’s story goes then, the trope of metamorphosis does not appear to be forced. Different versions of the myth all include the basic fact of Io having been turned into a heifer to escape Juno’s wrath. However, Ovid does much more than noting Io’s change in form. He goes to great lengths to explore Io’s tragic experience of turning into an animal. Ovid describes her miserable food habits, her own inability to recognise her involuntary animal sounds and so on. Metamorphosis as a process is studied with scrutiny. But this fascination with and prolonged investigation of theme of metamorphosis in Io’s myth does not end here. The story of Hermes killing Argus, Io’s guard when she lived as a cow, is also retold to incorporate another story of transformation; namely that of Syrinx turning into reeds. The theme of virgins or nymphs or other such ethereal female characters metamorphosing to avoid being seduced by the gods is present throughout Greek myth. Ovid however consolidates them in his recounting and brings out the tragic element in each of these stories by exploring the victim’s point of view also. Charles Segal also makes note of this unique note of humanity in Ovid’s characters, be as mythical and unreal as they may be (Zott, 2002). The trope of young nymphs transforming to escape or hide divine lust is almost reversed in the case of Actaeon. Here the male, the accidental sexual aggressor, is transformed because of the wrath of the female ‘victim’, Artemis. Actaeon, who sees the divine Artemis unclothed, has to pay the price for it. The power equation in mythology therefore appears to be between the gods and mortals; and not so much man and woman. There is of course, also the tragic irony in Actaeon’s story of a hunter being transformed into a deer, by the goddess of hunting no less; and ultimately devoured by his hunting dogs. The theme of pursuit and capture seems to follows its entire course of possibilities in this one story. How events exactly transpired once Artemis realises she is being watched, is not very clear. But here too, Ovid appears to be the only one to take such deep interest in the actual process of the transformation. The appearance of horns, ears and the fright and un-recognition that Actaeon experiences (akin to that of Io after her transformation) take up quite a few lines in the Metamorphoses. Here too then, Ovid adds detail to a vague mythical plot to further substantiate his claim of unity in myth. This does not necessarily detract from the retelling of this particular myth. In fact, the empathy with which Ovid describes Actaeon’s situation further intensifies the tragic element of the story. Ovid’s familiarity with myth and his irreverent way of handling myth is also a refreshing change from other ancient historians and writers who venerate myth, often with the result of writing dull, repetitive accounts. Not so with Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The myths are not merely a list of events recounted; the characters, both gods and mortals are explored psychologically and attributed personalities. This humanization of mythical characters is intrinsically present in Greek myth, but Ovid does more than just describe Juno as jealous and the victims of her wrath as tragic figures. Ovid uses metamorphosis as a leitmotif to connect all the stories in his narrative with a loose flair; using it to freely travel across the myriad stories available for retelling. Andrew Feldherr has argued that unlike in Kafka - where metamorphosis is terrifyingly realistic and detailed - Ovid’s metamorphoses happen in the decidedly fantastical world. The element of fairytale in the narrative distances the reader and often diminishes the humanity of the story (2002, p. 164). Another story worth analysing for the purposes of our discussion is the myth of Myrrha. Myrrha, possessed by a desire for her father and knowing full well that it was forbidden, tricks him into having sexual relations with her. After fleeing for 9 months to escape his wrath, Myrrha is finally turned into the Myrrh tree by the gods as a token of kindness, from which Myrrha’s child Adonis is born. Ovid uses this story of change for several purposes. Although not proposing a radical, liberal view of free love as we know it today, Ovid does lament the taboos that humans impose on sex, specifically incest. Drawing on examples from the animal world, Ovid wonders if hens and horses are allowed to mate their parents, whether incest can be called unnatural at all. He criticises man-made law for upsetting the natural balance of the world. However, these charges against human law are levelled by the voice of Myrrha who is safely within the narrator Orpheus’s framework as an impious character. Her words therefore, can be read as an instance of Ovid’s transgressive streak but within the text itself it appears couched in more conventional terms. Three discrete stories have been brought under discussion here, but the motif of transformation unifies these apparently distinct narratives into an almost continuous strain. Io may well have brought forth Myrrha who in turns gives birth to Actaeon; going by the similar acts of either conscious or unconscious guilt that invite the gods to transform them. Going by the ‘facts’ of the myths, these three are not really related; but for the purposes of analysis, they can be viewed as a loosely structured composite myth framed by Ovid’s ambitious poem. The transformation of Io, Actaeon and Myrrha are all recorded in other sources as well, primarily appearing in the Pseudo Apollodorus’s Bibliotheca. Ovid therefore does not invent the major plot of any of these three stories and yet a common pattern emerges. Each of these three characters are transformed into either plant or animal - not something dead, or mineral - and their metamorphosis happens as an act of divine intervention. In the first two instances, Io and Actaeon, the transformation is an act of wrath and vengeance. The transformed become victims of their actions, Io for having attracted the attention of Jove and Actaeon for having accidentally seen Artemis bathing. The tragic character of these stories emerges from the fact that neither was consciously responsible for their actions that invited such harsh punishment. In the case of Myrrha, the act of transformation is done to save her from further persecution. Having travelled across West Asia, pursued by her angry father and king, Myrrha prays to the gods for deliverance and they turn her into a tree. Her child too is saved. Although the story of transformation happens with a different motive in this case, it only lends complexity and depth to the theme. Ovid does highlight the theme of transformation in these pre-existing myths but he is right in having noted their omnipotent existence in the first place. With his variations in the theme, Ovid manages to keep the strain loose and not forceful or rigid. The changes and twists in the plot, even when it is reducible to a story of metamorphosis, make the theme more intricate and well-developed. To return to Andrew Feldherr’s analysis of the trope of metamorphosis in Metamorphoses, Fedlherr suggests that from the very outset Ovid plays around with reader expectations. The use of the Latin ‘deducere’ in the poem refers to a popular style of Augustan poets which evokes the gods to ‘draw out’ their poems or retellings of short tales. However, a little later, Ovid uses another Latin word ‘perpetuum’ to describe his poem. This word was generally reserved for loose, continuous narratives like that of Callimachus. Ovid therefore places himself in two almost contradictory traditions of poetic retelling and this ambiguity is further pronounced in his leitmotif of choice, metamorphosis (Feldherr, 2002, p. 166). In Graf’s discussion of myth in Ovid in the Cambridge Companion to Ovid, he begins with how myth in Augustan times was viewed primarily as ‘fabula’ or the invention of the poet with the figure of Homer as the overseer against this backdrop. Myths were generally read as allegories and tales of heroic deeds as didactic texts (Graf, 2002, p. 109). Graf also traces the use of mythical aetiology, or the explanation of natural phenomena through myth, in the Metamorphoses and explains how this is a device common to Greek historians and poets. However, Ovid is taking a pioneering step in making myth the subject matter of an epic poem (Block 3, Part 2, p. 23). Because of his encyclopaedic scope, Ovid becomes the sourcebook for myth in later times. But Ovid’s own purpose in retelling the extant myths in this particular framework is not merely to record. Ovid tries to impose a certain order, a meaningful repetition of the same tropes, throughout different ages in mythological history. He does this by carefully selecting his subject matter and by his deft mastery of his own craft of writing which makes the transition between different stories smooth. Although it is true that at times Ovid highlights the metamorphosing aspect of the stories far more than previous storytellers, in the instances that we have noted, he does not invent these stories but instead reflects on a strain that indeed runs through Greek mythology and which Ovid as a perceptive writer was right in noting. Ovid is well-versed in his subject and observant enough to note this particular recurrent motif in myth and uses it to string together his ambitious project in a very effective way, as evidenced by continued and renewed interest in his Metamorphoses. [1, 980 Words] References Burkert, W., 1974. Homo Necans: the Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. Berkeley: University of California. Feldherr, A., 2002. Metamorphosis in the Metamorphoses. In P. Hardie, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ovid. Cambridge: Cambridge University, pp. 163 - 179. Graf, F., 2002. Myth in Ovid. In P. Hardie, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Ovid. Cambridge: Cambridge University, pp. 108 - 121. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1955. Translated from Latin by M. M. Innes. London: Penguin. Zott, L. M., 2002. Metamorphoses. In Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism [e-journal] 53. Available through Literature Resources from Gale database [Accessed 8 March 2011]. Read More