Human Experience in Ovid Metamorphoses - Book Report/Review Example

Mythic writing transcends the historical moment: it connects human experience across time.’ Ovid was one of the most remarkable and versatile poets in the history of Roman literature. His literary work spans across a wide variety of forms and ranges from romantic elegies to didactic verses. One his most significant works was ‘The Metamorphoses’ which has been translated from Latin to English by Arthur Golding in the year 1567. Golding’s version of the book which was titled ‘Ovid Metamorphoses’ is replete with allusions to myths and legends and explanations offered for morals and sins. Besides that the book is also rich in terms of its exploration of human relationships and portrayal of human emotions.1The writing, even after 450 years of its inception, still holds great relevance for the modern readers. This is evident from the fact that people still read, enjoy and relate to the content of this book. This essay will examine Golding’s book in the light of the statement that mythic writing transcends the historical moment: it connects human experience across time.2 Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ is an entertaining and poignant work that embarks upon an assortment of numerous legends and myths. The book portrays a magical world in which human beings change forms now and then, and get transformed into trees, flowers, stones, stars and animals. Love is the driving force behind these transformations in most of the cases. This vast epic contains the tale of Circe and Aeneas, the parable of Icarus and the legend of Narcissus.3Some critics argue that the psychoanalytic theory of Freud can be applied to the interpretation of Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ to reveal that the “strangely fantastical surface reflects what is already inherently perverse in that master‐narrative”. MicaelaJanan, for instance, writes: “Ovids Thebes features supernatural transformations, perverse fascinations, and violent end: Actaeon turned deer and the victim of his own hounds, Narcissus fatally captivated by his own image, Pentheus ripped apart by his mother and aunt.”4 Sigmund Freud, in his theory, brings in the idea of “latent dream-thoughts” which refer to the possibility of dreams being synonymous to the release of repressed thoughts and unconscious workings of the mind in human beings. The “Oedipus Complex” and the “Electra Complex” are two prime examples from Greek mythology cited by Freud to support his views.5Josh Campbell too substantiates this view by labeling dreams as the “private myths” of man.6Therefore the stories can be considered as the expression of one’s myths of which he is unaware at other times but can relate to while reading the text. Hence one very important aspect of story-telling is the presence of myths or legends that transcend their original historical contexts to transform into subjects of universal and timeless appeal.7 The parent and child relationship is explored in the Second Book in the story of Apollo and Phaeton. The story shows how a parent’s promise made to his child can result in a tragic outcome.Phaeton is described as a “foolish boy” who longs for “A greater charge than any God coulde ever have as yet”8. This is an experience very common in the life of any parent belonging to any era. When a child grows up to reach the stage of adolescence he often craves for things he cannot possess, misuses the freedom he gets, and often does things against the will of the parents. But the parents too, often blinded by parental affection, fail to bring their children back to the right track. Once they make a promise to their child, they go out of their way to fulfil it. Such an obligation of a parent to fulfil the promise made to his child, which often overpowers his sound judgement and good conscience, is very poignantly presented in the following lines: “Then did his Father by and by forethinke him of his oth/ And shaking twentietymes his heade, as one that was full wroth/ Bespake him thus: Thy wordes have made me rashly to consent/ To that which shortly both of us (I fearemee) shall repent”.9The overwhelming affection of parent for his child is human feeling that exists even today and is not bound by the restrictions of time and place. It is as true in today’s world as it was in Ancient Greece. The story also provides us an explanation for certain known facts of today, for example, the reason behind some regions being arid and hot, or the causes for varied skin tones of human beings.We may consider the following lines: “The Ethiopians at that time … became so black and swart/ The moisture was so dried up in Lybie land that time/ That altogether dry and scorched continueth yet that clime.”10There is also a mention of shooting stars, better known as meteors today, in this story. Much contrary to the established scientific facts, a shooting star is explained as Phaeton flying swiftly towards the Earth with “fire yet blazing still among his yellow hair”.11 The flight of Phaeton is elegantly described in the lines: “Shot headlong down and glid along the region of the air,  Like to a star in winter nights”. 12 Though the modern readers of the poem in the 21st century will be well aware of the actual and scientific reason behind the formation of a meteor, they would still appreciate Ovid’s idea as a highly imaginative way of explaining a phenomenon that was once totally unexplained. Another instance of a matter that the modern readers would face difficulty in relating to is the transformation of Daphne into a tree: “hirsinewes waxed starke/ And therewithall about hir breast did grow a tender barke/ Hirhaire was turned into leaves, hirarmes in boughes did growe/ Hirfeete that were ere while so swift, now rooted were as slowe/ Hircrowne became the toppe, and thus of that she earst had beene/ Remayned nothing in the worlde, but beautie fresh and greene.”13Though the idea might sound very unrealistic and absurd to the modern readers, it offers a wonderful piece of imagery which adds to the beauty of the grand epic. Another feature of the poem that makes it relevant beyond its historical moment is the skilful use of imagery by the poet, especially in his personification of the seasons. The poet writes: “There stood the Springtime with a crown of fresh and fragrant flowers/There waited Summer naked stark all save a wheaten hat/ And Autumn smeared with treading grapes late at the pressing fat/ And lastly quaking for the cold, stood Winter all forlorn/ With rugged head as white as dove, and garments all too torn/ Forladen with the icicles that dangled up and down/ Upon his gray and hoary beard and snowy frozen crown.”14The creation of beautiful images through the use of words helps the readers to connect better and thus enhances their enjoyment from reading of the text. The description of the seasons as given in the poem is an element that is a matter of mutual human understanding and remains steady through all ages and all places. The epic also upholds some of the human virtues which are respected and held in high esteem across all ages. One such virtue is courage which is demonstrated through the character of Phaeton. Though he meets a tragic end, his death has been treated as a heroic achievement in the poem for the kind of aspiration and courage he exhibited. His epitaph bears the lines: “Here lies the lusty Phaeton which took in hand to guide/ His fathers chariot, from which although he chanced to slide/ Yet that he gave a proud attempt it cannot be denied.”15These lines thus showcase the world’s appreciation of courage and esteem for a brave person. This is a feeling that transcends the boundaries of time and connects people from all ages. A similar instance can be seen in the case of Icarus in the Eighth Book. Icarus too, like Phaeton, is a young boy who falls prey to over-ambition. His “wings” 16stand as a concrete symbol of the universal human desire to escalate and the very common human flaw of over-ambition. Like Phaeton, Icarus’ death is also presented as a very pathetic and tragic moment. His father’s agony and remorse upon the death of his son has been very effectively conveyed to the readers in the lines: “His aged cheekes were wet, his hands did quake, in fine he gave/ His sonne a kisse the last that he alive should ever have.”17This story also exemplifies the lesson that one should obey his parents and pay heed to their valuable advice. This is a moral value that is relevant even today as the parents in the modern age too focus on teaching their children these basic virtues. The Tenth Book presents the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice which again is a subject that holds relevance across all times. We all are aware of the feeling of love and the power possessed by this feeling. Similarly, “the king of Ghosts”18 too was aware that love for Eurydice was a big weakness of Orpheus. That is precisely why he kept the condition that “he should not backeuppon her looke/ Untill the tyme that hee were past the bounds of Limbo quyght/ Or else to lose his gyft.” 19The intensity of Orpheus’ love is depicted in the line: “through an eager love/ Desyrous for to see her he his eyes did backward move”20,an actwhich brought this love story to a tragic end.A similar treatise on the power of love can be found in the First Book in the story of Daphne and Apollo: “The powre of everieherbe and plant doth of my gift proceede/ Nowewo is me that nere an herbe can heale the hurt of love/ And that the Artes that others helpe their Lord doth helpelesse prove.”21Critics also agree that the theme of love has been elaborately dealt with in this text. “In Metamorphoses, love is represented as the power that can make fools out of anyone, not only humans but also gods. In Metamorphoses, there are depictions to many types of “love.” There is self-love as in the story of Narcissus, sexual love as in the myth of Tereus, conjugal love in the tale of Ceyz and Alcyone, sublime love as in the story of Pygmalion, and even incest as in the myth of Myrrha.” (The Saylor Foundation, p. 2) Love is a transcendental emotion that cannot be bound by the confinements of a particular age, a particular place or a particular culture. It is an element that is all-pervasive and forms a uniting force amongst human beings. Mythic writing therefore transcends the historical moment in which it originates and connects human experience across time. Myths are nothing but the stories and the fictitious characters that are used as the vehicles for conveying morals and values that are universal in nature. With time, the stories might change and the characters might undergo changes, but the basic virtues and lessons they signify remain the same irrespective of time and place. Hence mythic writing is not confined within the context of its historical origins; it rather goes beyond all such boundaries to unite the human emotions and experiences. (Georges, 1969) References Campbell, Joseph. The Vitality of Myth.Joseph Campbell Foundation.Web. 1971. Retrieved from: http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php?categoryid=104&p9999_action=displaylecturedetails&p9999_svl=I15 Freud, Sigmund. ‘An Autobiographical study’ in Historical and Expository Workson psychoanalysis, trans. James Strachey, ed., Albert Dickinson.Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1993, pp.189-259 Georges, Robert A. "Toward an understanding of storytelling events." Journal of American folklore (1969): 313-328. Golding,Arthur. Ovid metamorphoses. Penguin books:London 2002 Janan, Micaela.Reflections in a Serpents Eye: Thebes in Ovids Metamorphoses. Oxford University Press.Web. 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556922.001.0001/acprof-9780199556922 Keen, Sam, and Anne Valley Fox. Your mythic journey: Finding meaning in your life through writing and storytelling. Los Angeles, CA: JP Tarcher, 1989. Maurell, Rosa M. Dalí and the Myth of Narcissus.Centre of Dalinian Studies.Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation.Web. 2005.Retrieved from: https://www.salvador-dali.org/recerca/arxiu-online/download-documents/10/dali-and-the-myth-of-narcissus Otis, Brooks. Ovid as an epic poet.Cambridge University Press, 2010. Solodow, Joseph B. The world of Ovids Metamorphoses.ChapellHillLondon: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. The Saylor Foundation.Guide to Responding: Study Guide for Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/HIST101-Subunit-6.2.4-Reading-Guide-for-Ovids-Metamorphases-FINAL.pdf Read More