Practice Question

1
Practice Question

• What do the Cyclops, Argus, Oedipus and the
  Graiae have in common?
• They are all characters in Athenian tragedy.
• They are all characters from the Odyssey.
• They are all creatures of fantasy.
• They are all deprived of their sight.
• They all are tricked.

2
Ovids Metamorphoses

• Poet as Hero

3
Ovid

• Roman poet 43 BC - 17 AD
• Educated, sophisticated, witty
• Extensive references to both Greek and Latin
  poets
• A favourite theme erotic love
• Contrast Virgil
• Exiled by Augustus in 8 AD

4
Metamorphoses

• Epic poem, 15 books
• Ambitious the history of the world from creation
  to Augustan Rome (chaos to order)
• Unifying theme changing forms
• Special focus on myths of metamorphosis
• Narrative structure reflects theme
• An important source for later writers and artists
  (e.g. Shakespeare)

5
Highlights

• Creation and the Four Ages (962-965)
• Compare Hesiod
• Lycaon (evil) and the flood (965-969)
• Compare Gilgamesh
• Deucalion and Pyrrha (virtue) (969-972 review)
• Apollo and Daphne (972-975 review)
• Perseus (980-984 review)
• Orpheus and Eurydice (984-989)
• Apotheosis of Caesar (989-992)

6
Ovids Story of Creation

• Chaos, a shapeless confusion
• Order separation and boundaries
• Animals
• Humans can look up to heaven

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Four Ages

• Golden (Saturn)
• Peace, abundance, spring
• Silver (Jupiter)
• Seasons, houses, agriculture
• Bronze
• War
• Iron
• Evil, violence, greed, mining, impiety,
  injustice, assaults on Heaven

8
Lycaon (966-968)

• Assembly of gods, Jupiters tale
• Lycaon an example of evil, hybris
• Resists worship, serves flesh of his guest
• Lightning and metamorphosis
• Plan to eradicate human race

9
Flood (968-969)

• Inversion of natural order
• Deucalion and Pyrrha alone survive
• Repopulation of earth
• Metamorphosis stones into humans

10
Apollo and Daphne (972-975)

• Cupid vs Apollo
• Apollo cannot heal his wound
• Metamorphosis into laurel tree

11
Orpheus and Eurydice

• What is Orpheus heroic quality?
• Reason for katabasis?
• Compare with
• Aeneid
• Odyssey
• Bacchae
• Homeric Hymn to Demeter

12
Deification of Julius Caesar

• How is Julius Caesar deified?
• What has he done to deserve apotheosis?
• How does Ovid incorporate Virgil and Greek myth
  into this story?
• For what accomplishments is Augustus praised?

13
Epilogue (992)

• What is the place of the poet in the order of the
  universe?