Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Unit A
For this week's reading, I'm exploring classic Greek tales through Ovid's Metamorphoses. If there's anything I really got from each of these stories, it's that Zeus is a far worse figure than the mythology books of my childhood made him out to be. Below are some of my takes on the stories that stood out to me this week:
Io
I've always really enjoyed the story about how the peacock got its spots, and the tale about Argus' fate, but this backstory is interesting, and quite sad, as well. I've never heard the bit about Io's father and his grief at her fate. I think this one could be interesting to retell from Io or Hera's perspective, since they are both at the center of the plot and are both subject to great injustice at Jupiter's hands. I'd also want to extend the story to include the bit from the beginning of the next story, Phaethon's parentage, to explain how Io fared after she became human again.
Phaethon's Parentage
This story is beautiful in this prose. I've never heard this telling, or this backstory for the sun god's loaning out of his chariot. Again, I think a first person account from Phaethon would be most interesting in a retelling since the subject matter would be so deeply personal to him (perhaps in the form of multiple diary entries?). I think the content of the story would change quite a bit — there's a whole section in the original where Phoebus tells his son of the dangers of driving his chariot, but if you heard the story from Phaeton's perspective, the young boy probably wouldn't have heard a word of those warnings. To retell this story, I would definitely combine it with the next two stories in this series, Phaethon's Ride and The Death of Phaethon, to explore the fate of the sun god's son (telling in a first-person perspective from Phaeton, there's obviously only so far I could go with this).
Semele
Semele's story is another sad and cautionary tale about the philandering of Jupiter and his tempestuous relationship with Juno. I think a very different retelling of Semele's story could be from the perspective of a news reporter writing about the circumstances surrounding her death and tying back to the multiple tragic fates of the women who encounter Jupiter (he and Juno are quite the literal partners in crime).
Bibliography: Tony Kline, Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Io
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| Argus, Hermes, Jupiter and Io. By Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Source: Wikipedia Commons. |
I've always really enjoyed the story about how the peacock got its spots, and the tale about Argus' fate, but this backstory is interesting, and quite sad, as well. I've never heard the bit about Io's father and his grief at her fate. I think this one could be interesting to retell from Io or Hera's perspective, since they are both at the center of the plot and are both subject to great injustice at Jupiter's hands. I'd also want to extend the story to include the bit from the beginning of the next story, Phaethon's parentage, to explain how Io fared after she became human again.
Phaethon's Parentage
This story is beautiful in this prose. I've never heard this telling, or this backstory for the sun god's loaning out of his chariot. Again, I think a first person account from Phaethon would be most interesting in a retelling since the subject matter would be so deeply personal to him (perhaps in the form of multiple diary entries?). I think the content of the story would change quite a bit — there's a whole section in the original where Phoebus tells his son of the dangers of driving his chariot, but if you heard the story from Phaeton's perspective, the young boy probably wouldn't have heard a word of those warnings. To retell this story, I would definitely combine it with the next two stories in this series, Phaethon's Ride and The Death of Phaethon, to explore the fate of the sun god's son (telling in a first-person perspective from Phaeton, there's obviously only so far I could go with this).
Semele
Semele's story is another sad and cautionary tale about the philandering of Jupiter and his tempestuous relationship with Juno. I think a very different retelling of Semele's story could be from the perspective of a news reporter writing about the circumstances surrounding her death and tying back to the multiple tragic fates of the women who encounter Jupiter (he and Juno are quite the literal partners in crime).
Bibliography: Tony Kline, Ovid's Metamorphoses.
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