Sexual Ideals as seen in Ovid's Metamorphosis
The stories in Ovid's Metamorphosis explore many elements of human nature, including love and sexuality. Many of the myths involve a god falling in love with a girl, as Zeus does with Io (pg. 21). They may also involve a girl not wanting anything to do with love in any way, idolizing Diana, Goddess of the Maidens. There are many sides to love and sexuality in the book. Metamorphosis explores ancient Roman and Greek ideals about individuals, the way that love was perceived, and how the people of that time saw gender as pertaining to love. Many of the stories imply that women had no say in sexual encounters; it was always up to the man what happened. Many times, in fact, the women were forced into sexual situations that they wanted no part in.Ovid divides his book up in several different ways. He changes from gods hurting human, to humans hurting humans, to humans becoming gods. He also divides it up in that the first sections were about gods in love, then he moves on to gods avenging themselves and others, and then to the pathos of love, and finally to the history of Rome. In dividing the book up in these ways he helps to show the importance of individuals as compared to gods or the creation of their city. For example t
The gods and goddesses often see erotic desire as a means for revenge. Take for example Nemisis, who is asked that "...Narcissus/ love one day, so, himself, and not win over/ the creature whom he loves (pg. 70)!" Nemisis "judged [that] the plea was righteous (pg. 70)," so she made Narcissus fall in love with his reflection. Love and erotic desire is far more often the cause for revenge. Take for example Jove and his many trysts with nymphs and women all over the land; Juno exacts revenge on these poor women, as she does with Echo. Echo has been helping Jove stay secret in his dealings when Juno "...went out looking/ for Jove on top of some nymph among the mountains... (pg. 68)." Juno makes Echo lose her power of individual speech. The most disgusting display of the treatment of women can be found in the story about Tereus, Procne, and Philomela. Tereus is married to Procne, yet he desires her sister, Philomela. He stops at nothing to get what he wants, he even goes as far as to kidnap Philomela and rape her in a cottage by the woods. When she hints that she will tell someone Tereus cuts off her tounge and leaves her there to go be with his wife. Procne exacts revenge on him by killing his son and going to her sister to help her. The fact that someone could write about this in a book supposedly meant for entertainment show that the Greeak and Roman people must not have thought that rape was a very serious thing. It happens on countless occasions throughout the entire book. The fact that it does so indicates that it was a regular occurrence to rape women in ancient times, to take them against their wills. One could go as far as to assume that women were not allowed to have wills of their own. They were certainly not valued as equals. he gods lives are more important than that of the humans and the founding of Rome more important than individuality since the part about founding Rome was at the end. The end of a book is always the part that sticks out most in a person's mind. Many times throughout the book Metamorphosis Ovid address the themes of love and sexual desire. If this book
Some common words found in the essay are:
Roman Greek, Greek Roman, Goddess Revenge, Greeak Roman, Greeks Romans, Nemisis Narcissus/, Philomela Tereus, Iphis Ianthe, Echo Echo, Goddess Isis, chance pg, throughout entire book, juno makes, woman love, revenge example, 69 echo, countless occasions, individuality gods, founding rome, pg 69 echo, chance pg 69, pg 70, exacts revenge,
Approximate Word count = 1425
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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