A PowerPoint presentation for week 5 for English 203.

1. WEEK 5 POWER POINT
Ovid’s Metamorphoses

2. METAMORPH
OSES --
THEMES
The stories of our selections all
involve the desire of one of the
major gods for a much less powerful
maiden (daughters of river deities,
etc.). The imbalance of power in
sexual relationships is therefore a
recurring theme. Rape is “the
ultimate imposition of control”
(1092).

3. METAMORPH
OSES --
THEMES
1) Creation is an act of violence (see p.
1095).
We see tension between chaos and
order in creation (p. 1094, 1095).

4. METAMORPH
OSES --
THEMES
2) competition as an
element of masculinity:
We see Apollo scold
Cupid for playing with
arrows and identifies
himself as a real archer,
whereupon Cupid shows
him the power of his
archery.
Daphne is collateral
damage.

5. METAMORPH
OSES --
THEMES
3) possession – as a tree, a laurel, Daphne
will belong to Apollo (1099); a similar story
of possession is that of Pan and Syrinx
(1103).

6. METAMORPH
OSES --
THEMES
4) gender – in all these stories, men pursue and women flee.
Yet in “Ceres and Prosperpina,” we can see a nascent
feminism, as women take control of the narrative. The story is
told by goddesses (the Muses) to another goddess (Minerva).
•Proserpina’s childlike innocence (1110) is
contrasted with Pluto’s power. He destroys a
river deity, Cyane, who challenges his right to
abduct Proserpina. All the same, the river
deity finds a way to help grieving mother
Ceres. In this story we see female figures
helping each other.