Week 10 (Ovid's Metamorphoses)

Question 1

• Publius Ovidius Naso (born 43 BC): provocative and violent themes across works
  
  • Ex. Amores, Heroides, Ars Amatoria, Medicamina Faciei Feminae, Remedia Amoris, Medea
• Ovid’s Work in Context: Passing of ______ Laws (18/17 BC) sponsored by Augustus - ___ benefits for large families, but penalties against those without children / adultery among upper classes triable in court and punishable through fines and exile (_____ were punished more harshly)
  
  • _____ class reaction = highly unfavorable
• Augustus banishes Ovid to Tomis, _____ Sea coast, 8 AD, banned poetry until death (17 AD)

Answer 1

Julian, tax, women
upper
Black

Question 2

Metamorphoses (c. 8 AD)
- Major theme of _______________: Beginning of the universe there is only chaos (disconnected entities) and one god (bringing order to chaos)
- Influence of _____ and _________ philosophies
- Human Origins: either created by god or by Prometheus
- The Four Ages of Humans: golden (time of the ______ / blessed, no laws, no work, no conflict), silver (time of the _________ / creation of houses, farming), bronze (humans “ready for arms” but not wicked), iron (exploiting the Earth, inequity, travel by ships, war)
- influenced by ______’s Works & Days

Answer 2

transformations
Stoic and Epicurean
titans, Olympians
Hesiod’s

Question 3

• Jupiter calls council of gods to punish humanity, because ______ refused to acknowledge the gods, fed him human flesh, and tried to kill him
  
  • Ovid compares the council of gods to _____ class Romans, comparing Jupiter to ________
• Only Deucalion and Pyrrha survive Jupiter’s attack: they consult Themis, throwing stones (likened to the bones of mother Earth) that result in men & women reentering the world)

Answer 3

Lycaon
upper, Augustus

Question 4

Story of Apollo and Daphne
- Cupid shoots Apollo with love arrow to fall for Daphne, Daphne is ‘saved’ when turned into a ____ (but Apollo still takes from her)
- Ovid commentary: Apollo = ________’s favorite deity + lives next to Temple of Apollo)
Story of Jupiter and Io
- Jupiter seduces Io, the daughter of a river nymph. To hide his infidelity from Juno, he turns Io into a ___ and gives it Juno as a gift.
- Io falls into the herd of _____; Jupiter commands Mercury to kill Argus (he does so by playing his reed pipe and telling the story of Pan and Syrinx, before decapitating Argus)
- In the end, Io becomes human again and worshipped as a goddess

Answer 4

tree
Augustus’s
cow
Argus

Question 5

• Diana & Actaeon: Cadmus family curse, grandson Actaeon = skilled hunter. Actaeon sees Diana nude, for which he is turned into a ____ and torn apart by his dogs.
  
  • Themes: ____ and _______ (F&F), nature of divinity (fallible but all powerful) / Possible parallel between Ovid and Actaeon
• Contest of Arachne & Minerva: Arachne = great ______, contest with Minerva and wins, but driven to hang herself and turned into a ______
  
  • Themes: Consequence of lack of ______ (respect for the gods), parallels between the divine vs. human and elite vs. plebeian, limits of pride (don’t defy the gods)
• Aesculapius: Starts with a plague in Rome, Romans send delegation to get Aesculapius from Epidauros, arrives in Rome as big _____ and plague ceases
  
  • Themes: Human dependency on the ____, image of devout Romans (i.e. smells of smoke from sacrificial altars)
• Deification of Caesar & Envoi: Caesar fated to die contrary to the wishes of the gods / Ovid ends the book on his own terms

Answer 5

deer, fate and fortune
pietas
snake
gods