Myths, Epics & Heroes - 2
Voices of Women
Metamorphoses is a collection of ancient stories of mythology written in verse poem form by the Latin author Ovid around 17 or 18 B.C. Using vivid and dynamic depictions of women, the work provides reflections on the moral customs of the Roman society from that time. Jealousy, spite, desire, and punishment are consistently present in the stories and so is violence. Violence in the stories is presented as the ultimate manifestation of male power and the only means of escaping it is transformation. The women who are subjected to it are usually depicted as virginal girls running from the gods who want to violate them. Women who are indirectly affected by the despicable actions of men are portrayed as powerful, malicious, and vengeful goddesses. Ovid uses animated and colorful details to describe the suffering of women and makes it easy for the reader to immerse in the tales. The narrative Apollo and Daphne Apollo chases Daphne through the forest until she is completely exhausted and calls out to her father who transforms her into a laurel tree to rescue her. In the story of Jove and Io Jove becomes obsessed with Io. He overpowers and violates her against her will and then turns her into a heifer to hide his wrongdoing from his vengeful wife, Jove. The men who cause suffering to the women in these stories remain unpunished and the victims never receive justice. This is true as well in the story Juno, Jove, and Semele where the proud and beautiful Semele is in a relationship with Jove. She is outplayed by the smart and vengeful Juno who convinces her to ask Jove for proof of his love and thus seals her own fate of being incinerated by his gift. The source of pain for both women, Jove, and his unfaithfulness remains unpunished. The exposure of women to these ruthless acts of violence by men defines the Metamorphoses as a true epic about the act of silencing women through male power, dominance, and control.
Ovid describes the horror of the experiences for the women through violent language because he wants to emphasize the impact it has on them. In Apollo and Daphne Daphne is violently pursued by the seemingly playful Apollo because Cupid has struck him with an arrow of love, but Daphne wants a life where she is free to live as a virgin. In her desperate attempt to avoid Apollos assault, Daphne pleads with her father, the river god Peneus, to save her from Apollo who is described as a hound hunting a rabbit: In an open field, one runs for game, one for safety (1.737). Daphne challenges both her fathers wishes of bearing him grandchildren, as well as the wishes of Apollo by denying him her body. Daphnes last moments as a nymph are filled with fear and horror as she is transformed into the Laurel. Even as a tree she cant fully escape Apollos physical assault when he puts his right hand / against the trunk, and even now can feel / her heart as it beats under the new bark; / he hugs her limbs as if t...
