Ovid's "Metamorphoses"

Paper Summary:

This paper outlines the plots in the stories in Ovid's "Metamorphoses" and discusses the theme of tragedy, futility, and transformation found within all the stories.

From the Paper:

"Ovid's Metamorphoses is a series of interlinking tales of transformation, shape-shifting, and divine meddlesomeness. In tale after tale the story trails off cryptically as the protagonists undergone mystical transformations into every form of beast, bird, and sacred plant. There seem to be six basic sorts of transformation, each with its own collections of legends and ramifications. The first and perhaps most heart-wrenching are the stories of virginal victims fleeing rape at the hands of gods and men who, in their distress, call out to be transformed into anything other than a woman. After this form are the stories of Syrinx and countless other nymphs. As a subgenre of this sort of transformation are the stories of nymphs and women who fail to escape, but are transformed after the rape to appease the fury of Juno or by virtue of their own grief. A second sort of transformation occurs as an act of revenge or war against an offending party. Of this sort are the stories of people turned to stone, and singers changed to magpies."

More papers on Ovid's "Metamorphoses":

• Analytical Essay # 126043 : "'Metamorphoses' and 'Meditations'"
• Comparison Essay # 119051 : "Heroism in "Metamorphoses" and "The Odyssey"
• Analytical Essay # 122808 : "Ovid's "The Story of Pygmalion and the Statue"
• Comparison Essay # 103597 : "Transformation of Creation: Hesiod and Ovid"

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