Metamorphoses

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Ovid’s Metamorphoses
“The Metamorphoses” by poet Ovid is a culmination of literary prowess that is termed as one of the most influential literary works of the medieval age. These work was so acclaimed, that renown English literary geniuses, such as Shakespeare conceded to its influence. The very first line in this narrative sheds significant light on the possible thematic concerns of the author. It is a declaration of the author’s intent and reads: “In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora” which translates as “I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities” (Booth 95). The author describes a series of changes, hence the name metamorphoses. Also, one of the author’s main thematic concern is the idea of beauty. The nature of this phenomenon, how different persons define and view it and its benefiting value.
From a reading of this works, the nature of beauty in itself is multifaceted meaning that it can take up various forms. Ideally, the beauty can have both physical and spiritual aspects here: the physical primarily refers to that which is tangible and perhaps worthy of admiration while the latter refers to surreal aspects of said beauty (Booth 96). Some characters who embody beauty and admiration in the narrative include Atalanta, the princess who was admired by Meleager, Cassandra who escapades with Apollo are an open secret and Adonis who was described as an astonishingly handsome young man. On the other hand, the spirituality of beauty was apparent when individuals were either regarded or punished through the casting of spells whose rationale lay in ideas of beauty.

An excellent example of this is the beauty of Ardonis which survived him after his demise. The goddess Venus saw it fit to transmit the beauty into an anemone flower to be admired forever. Also, the author speaks of one Actaeon; who gaped at the goddess Diana’s naked beauty which attracted the wrath of the supernatural. He metamorphosed into a stag for his wrongdoing.
The author also describes the possession of beauty as supposedly beneficial to those who have it. Primarily, admiration sometimes meant the difference between life and death and this was perhaps the cradle of the benefits (Booth 98). Such was the case when Myrrha, armed with her beauty, seduced her father for her gain, the result of which was Adonis. However, she was also metamorphosed into a myrrh tree as her punishment. On the other hand, it may be detrimental to those around the beautiful as was seen when Iphis committed suicide after he failed to woo the beautiful maiden Anaxarete.
The definition of beauty is also a subject that does not escape the author’s mind. He highlights that different historical periods have varied interpretations and presentations of beauty and that this may have changed further in the modern day society (Booth, 95). However, he stresses no particular reference to actual changes in what is viewed as beautiful. The changes in presentations of beauty are explicit in the case of Ardonis. He leads a life as the quintessence of beauty and upon his demise, assumes a new state of beauty as anemone flowers and this in itself is an exemplary instance of metamorphosis.

Work Cited
Booth, Allyson. ““The change of Philomel”: Ovid’s Metamorphoses.” Reading The Waste Land from the Bottom Up. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015. 95-99.