c3109550 AHIS3310 Critical Commentary - Metamorphoses

The uniqueness of Ovids Metamorphoses when compared to other poems of its Alexandrian context has led to much speculation surrounding Ovids work and whether or not it can be correctly defined as an epic. The poem is characterised by a rough chronology containing an abundance of inconstancies, incorporating a range of internal and external references and regular plot changes, discrepancies and interruptions; features which distinguish it from other existing epics of its time. A major distinction between the Metamorphoses and its contemporaries is its length. When the chief trend of the Alexandrians compositions was brevity, the Metamorphoses, with its 15 book length is clearly problematic, and this is only one of many evident differences from other Alexandrian texts. For example, the epics form written in epic hexameter, but divided into pentads the Metamorphoses is quite the hybrid, and its content, in its scope, is a reflection of this. One conclusion to these apparent problems is that Ovid juxtaposes and interweaves a series of tales in order to produces a sequence of miniature epics which happen to result in one long poem. (Toohey, 1992) As a consequence, many of the stories contained within the Metamorphoses can be examined for both their independent value as well as their significance to the epic as a whole. For example, the rape and punishment of Callisto (2.409-65), which is definitely a component of the epic that is significant in determining the importance of contextual influences and agendas behind the poem to its content. Certain relevant allusions and references within the narrative of this extract reveal Ovids potential reasons for including this particular story in his epic, and this relates to how the Metamorphoses can be interpreted.

c3109550 AHIS3310 Critical Commentary - Metamorphoses

The story of Callisto in the Metamorphoses is, like other accounts of rape in the epic (Io, Semele) a report of the repetitive and predictable gratification of Jupiters lust. (Nagle, 1984)The concision in which Ovid represents the king of the gods divine sexual encounters partly reflects the ease with which a god can overcome [any] such resistance as [may be] offered. (Nagle, 1984) In this way it can be seen a praise of the gods power and omnipotence. However, when the poem says an Arcadian virgin suddenly caught his fancy and fired his heart (2.409-11) (Ovid, 2004) this is a commentary by Ovid, a suggestion that Jupiter is more fickle and self-focused than duty-bound, as he was only one minute before conducting a tour of inspection around the walls of the sky (2.398-99) (Ovid, 2004) when he became so easily distracted by a woman who could provide him with a form of self-gratification. His only concern when he didnt hesitate to indulge himself was that he should receive a scolding should his wife should discover his tiny betrayal , and he quickly decides that his own happiness will make up for her wrath(2.424-6) (Ovid, 2004) evidently a conclusion again made in self-interest. He so immediately proceeds to deceive and rape Callisto, abandoning her immediately afterwards in the flush of his victory. (2.433) (Ovid, 2004)When the epic consistently depicts the gods (those who represent the utmost power) as participants in such undeniably horrific and dismissive acts towards humans, and the final transformation of the Metamorphoses is Augustus impending deification, themes of a potent, if somewhat latent, antiAugustanism become apparent.

c3109550 AHIS3310 Critical Commentary - Metamorphoses

Despite the fact that the passage in the Metamorphoses on Augustus is apparently patriotic in tone, Little claims that its position - virtually at the end of the epic, deprives it of any notable significance and (Little, 1972) suggests that for Ovid the Augustanism of the Metamorphoses is not a theme, but an afterthought. (Little, 1972) He supports this by asserting that most of the epic is irrelevant to Augustus and Rome, (Little, 1972) but arguably here, he is incorrect. The conduct of the gods throughout the poem deliberately parallels Ovids interpretation of Augustus and his reign, and it is through the Metamorphoses that Ovid is able to protest, covertly, against the politics of Augustus, simultaneously masking and eternalising it in the epic. This manifests in Jupiters consistently selfish conduct (As Jupiter is most obviously Augustus divine parallel.) The helpless mortal victims of Jupiter in the epic, then, must be those who suffer silently under Augustus rule; and the way in which he depicts Callisto as powerless and helpless in her eternal punishment following her own rape is potentially atypical of how Ovid interprets the consequences on those who suffer the injustices of his reign.

The injustice of Callistos fate is undeniably horrific, and Ovid emphasises this from the outset, when he exhibits empathy for her situation during the rape by highlighting the fact that Callisto resisted Jupiter as far as a feeble woman was able. (2.428) (Ovid, 2004)He extends this sympathy in the next few lines: (if only Juno had seen it, she would have been more understanding), Callisto fought back; but indeed what man could a girl be a match for, let alone Jupiter?(2.429-33) (Ovid, 2004)This claim that she was indisputably helpless to change her situation only

c3109550 AHIS3310 Critical Commentary - Metamorphoses

makes the ensuing punishments on the girl by both Diana and Juno seem more horrific; emphasising that such conduct by Jupiter only ever leads to terrible suffering. Thus Ovid has manipulated the myth of Callisto in order to serve his particular interests. We know that before Ovid compiled the Metamorphoses There already existed various versions of the Callisto myth that agree only in the most basic details - instead of copying all the details of any one of these many variants, Ovid combined elements of each into a completely new version. (O'Bryhim, 1990)The metamorphoses theme within the poem is evidently not just about physical transformations of the characters, but also of changing the forms of the stories from some of their traditional or existing forms into his own. To this end, Ovid manoeuvres certain aspects of the Callisto myth, creating complex textual techniques that integrate a range of intertextual and contextual references and allusions.

One of the most potent of these techniques that Ovid uses in his account of Callisto is his extended subversion of nature and Callistos relationship to it, as this emphasises the potentially damaging effects of patriarchal society, and implicitly patriarchs such as Augustus. At first, nature is obviously something that is incredibly important to Callisto, and throughout the story it becomes hated of her, then dangerous to her survival. Ovid accomplishes this not only through his depiction of Callisto, but also through his reference to her father Lycaon, who was transformed into a wolf as a punishment for attempting to deceive Jupiter. (1.211-243) For Callisto, a nymph in Diana's following, nature was her "nunnery" and her refuge from the patriarchal society that had defeated her father. (Wall, 1988)This reference to Lycaon is one

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example of a notable inconsistency in Ovid, as Lycaons narrative supposedly occurred before the great flood, in which everything living (except Deucalion and Pyrrha) was destroyed. Ovid disregards this by claiming that both he and he daughter Callisto are alive; it reveals that he perceived the emphasis of his theme of metamorphoses as more important than the epics chronological consistency or accuracy. As a result of Callistos pregnancy she is rejected from Diana and forbidden from bathing in a sacred spring as she would pollute it. (2.462-3) Furthermore, Juno transforms her into a bear, and the huntress becomes the hunted; nature is now dangerous to her survival. When she is again transformed into a constellation, she is again prohibited from having any solace in nature: this time the sea. And so the natural world, once for her a voluntary refuge soon became an involuntary exile, and all in this is a direct result of her rape, which represents a punishment on the woman for possessing a place of relief from the patriarchal society. (Wall, 1988)

Ovids techniques within his version of Callistos rape and punishment support the conclusion that the story is an important part of his construction of the complexity of the Metamorphoses, which is simultaneously a collection of independent stories, a Perpetuum Carmen and a political commentary on the reign of Augustus. This multiplicity of functions is really what distinguishes the Metamorphoses from its contemporary texts, and this is reflected through the books unique interpretation and presentation of the Callisto myth, clearly a very specific construction based on a precise agenda.
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c3109550 AHIS3310 Critical Commentary - Metamorphoses

Works Cited Little, D. (1972). The Non-Augustanism of Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Mnemosyne , 25 (4), 389-401. Nagle, B. R. (1984). "Amor, Ira", and Sexual Identity in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Classical Antiquity , 3 (2), 236-255. O'Bryhim, S. (1990). Ovid's Version of Callisto's Punishment. Hermes , 118 (1), 75-80. Ovid. (2004). Metamorphoses. (D. Raeburn, Trans.) London: Penguin Books. Segal, C. (1971). Ovid's "Metamorphoses": Greek Myth in Augustan Rome. Studies in Philology , 68 (4), 371-394. Toohey, P. (1992). Reading Epic. London: Routledge. Wall, K. (1988). Callisto Myth from Ovid to Atwood : Initiation and Rape in Literature. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.