Ovid 6

Question 1

Any friend of mine here? Then tie up my hands (proper shackles are what they deserve) until this frenzy has blown itself out. I went mad, I assaulted my mistress. The poor girl’s hurt and in tears

Answer 1

Ovid’s scene-setting immediately introduces drama and a sense of regret

Question 2

my mistress (line 4)

Answer 2

while this clearly suggests his lover, the word is relevant to slave/ mistress relationship; this makes it more of a serious situation, since it was a huge crime in the roman world for a slave to strike his master or mistress

Question 3

Why does Ovid use mythological examples in line 7-11

Answer 3

they are extreme examples of violence so it must of been something very bad that he did

Question 4

Ajax

Answer 4

Greek hero of Trojan wars; driven mad by bitterness when he wasn’t awarded the armour of Achillies, he slaughtered a flock of sheep, beleving they were fellow Greeks

Question 5

Orestes

Answer 5

Along with his sister Electra killed their mother Clytemnestra in revenge for her murder of their father Agamemnon. Orestes was pursued by the Furies until forgiven for his crime in Athens

Question 6

was mess up her new coiffure

Answer 6

his crime is revealed and he says he messed up her hair- he is trying to justify his actions- anti-climax. This seems to be a mocking tone

Question 7

in lines 12-18 why does ovid use mythological examples?

Answer 7

He compairs Corinna’s happiness but is using these examples to justify what he has done

Question 8

Atalanta

Answer 8

a beauty who rejected men until Hippomenes defeated her in a race. she love hunting & her hair blowing in the wind

Question 9

Ariadne

Answer 9

fell in love with Theseus, but he abandoned her on Naxos

Question 10

Cassandra

Answer 10

beautiful daughter of King Piram who was given the gift of prophecy but also a curse to never be believed

Question 11

I’d been a brute (line 19)

Answer 11

He has returned to feel guilty

Question 12

yet her silent frozen expression still condemned me, her speechless tears proclaim my guilt

Answer 12

This was her reaction to this and ovid feels that it was a punishment to him

Question 13

I’d sooner have had my arms fall from their sockets- easier to forgo a part of myself

Answer 13

he feels regret and guilt

Question 14

My toughness did me on good

Answer 14

regret

Question 15

Hands, agents of crime and violence

Answer 15

he blames his hands

Question 16

gyves

Answer 16

shackles

Question 17

sacrilege

Answer 17

an act against the gods- sees his girlfriend as a goddess

Question 18

and he was a citizen

Answer 18

reference to the Roman law

Question 19

Diomede

Answer 19

An example of someone who struck a goddess; he attacked and wounded Aphrodite on the battlefield
Ovid uses this example to justify his actions

Question 20

Yet Diomede proved less clupable

Answer 20

Ovid believes he is more guilty than Diomede

Question 21

come on now, conquering hero, enjoy your magnificent triumph, wear laurel, give thanks to the gods

Answer 21

Reference to a triumph and Ovid is being sarcastic towards himself

Question 22

The scratches on her cheeks- my one and only captive

Answer 22

these are her injuries and she is like the captive at a triumph

Question 23

Bruised lips, bites around the neck and shoulders would have made more appropriate scars

Answer 23

These would have been love bites

Question 24

Couldn’t I just of scared her by shouting

Answer 24

I should show some self-control–shouting at her would be fine

Question 25

The belt would have stopped me there

Answer 25

I could of done a lot worse

Question 26

I grabbed the hair off her forehead, tore at those lady like cheeks with my nails. I admit it. I was a brute

Answer 26

A bit worse than just messing her hair

Question 27

Her face had gone pale and bloodless as new sawn marble, I watched the numbness grip her, a shudder ran through her body like a breeze in the popular- leaves, or rippiling across a reed bed or ruffling catspaws sketched on the skin of the sea. Tears brimmed in her eyes, spilled over at last, descended like drops from melting snow

Answer 27

Here Ovid uses a list of similes to describe her reaction. She doesnt fight back; vulnerability. list of similes:
1. new -sawn marble
2. breeze
3. rippling across a reed bed
4. ruffling catspaws
5. drops from melting snow

Question 28

What have I done

Answer 28

claims he feels guilty

Question 29

in supplication

Answer 29

like asking for forgiveness from a god

Question 30

three times

Answer 30

reference to Odysseus trying to grasp his mother’s spirit three times in the underworld in Odessey XI; similarly Aeneas and his father in Aeneid VI

Question 31

Dont hesitate darling scratch my face back. Revenge will lessen the agony.

Answer 31

she is refusing to forgive him. He encorages her to fight back but only to make him feel better

Question 32

Or else at least remove the signs of my misdemeanour- just rearrange your hair as it was before

Answer 32

A typical Ovidian humorous ending which undermines/ undercuts everything which has come before