Metamorphoses III

In the story of Scylla and King Minos, I think Scylla was portrayed as rather psychotic in my opinion.  Granted, she did have time to develop her feelings over the course of the war, she should have expected that Minos wouldn’t have easily reciprocated those feelings, after all.  She adores this man as a god, and basically scalps her father and tries to betray her realm in order to win him over.  She got the heartache she deserves for being so treacherous?  What would stop her from turning on Minos if someone more legendary came by one day?

The story of Daedalus and Icarus has the classic lesson of quitting while you’re ahead.  Just because he had the ability of flight at the time, didn’t mean that he was like a god, and I think the incidence put him in his place…rather permanently.  He should have followed his father’s instructions.  After reading the classic stories of Icarus and Theseus vs the Minotaur in the labyrinth, I honestly thought they were based on longer poems.  I suppose they may have been short, but they were sweet and to the point.

In Meleager and the Calydonian Boar, the goddess Diana throws a tantrum because she is the only deity that doesn’t get their due honor/tribute.  She sends out this massive boar to lay waste through the land, and I was immediately reminded of Ishtar and the Bull of Heaven.  This seems more epic in ways, and less in others.  It’s more epic in that the story includes a multitude of different heroes.  I’m only assuming that most of the names I don’t recognize (or had a hard time keeping up with) are also heroes of renown.  It’s only less epic in that the boar is restricted.  The Bull of Heaven was killing thousands, but each were devastating in their own ways.  I enjoyed the fact that Atalanta (a woman) was the first to draw blood.  Meleager was the first to notice, and gave her the highest of honors at the end of the battle.  Unfortunately, this would be his ultimate undoing, which leads me to my second favorite part of Book 8.

I was fascinated by Meleager’s background story.  After he kills his uncles in a skirmish over who deserved honor for killing the boar, his mother has mixed feelings and goes back to an old prophesy spoken over Meleager.  Apparently, When Meleager was a babe, the Sisters Fate cast a curse (albeit, it could be a blessing in some ways) that his lifeline would be tied to the integrity of a log.  Interesting that his mother had been tempted to burn it several times over the course of his life to extinguish him, but I guess killing her kin was the last straw, and she finally did it.  She did have a lot of inner turmoil before she finally did it, but I don’t condone her past and present behavior in the least.

The story of Erysichthon (that’s a mouthful) is, perhaps, my favorite story in Book 8.  He is one of the most impious of men I’ve read thus far in Ovid’s collection, and he gets his just desserts (a little food is hidden in there somewhere).  He hacks away at this sacred oak tree that houses a wood nymph, begging for compassion.  He even beheads one of his own men for showing respect to the divine realm.  Erysichthon fells the tree, but the spiritual world won’t let him get away with it.  A wonderful game of telephone ensues (dryads to Ceres, Ceres to mountain spirit, mountain spirit to Hunger), and the punishment is afoot.  The description of Hunger incarnate on page 332 is both fascinating and grotesque.  If Hunger were to be given form, I imagine this would be it!  And what a punishment Erysichthon suffers.  Nothing satiates his appetite…not even his own flesh.

To conclude my blog for now, I will lastly mention the sad/happy tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.  It may be a better known story, but this was my first time reading it.  I wasn’t sure what to think at first, but it definitely makes me think back to Lot’s wife turning to a pillar of salt in Genesis.  It was stressful enough that Orpheus should go through all that trouble to win the hearts of the denizens of the underworld, and Pluto/Hades himself.  Now that he had Eurydice back, he was just supposed to guide her up without glancing back.  If a god gave me his word, I would do my best to stick with the plan, especially after going through all that trouble.  It was sad that he lost her prematurely a second time, but as the story goes, she could rest easy knowing that he looked back out of love and concern.

Questions

Was giving honor to Atalanta for wounding the boar such a bad thing?  Do you think extinguishing Meleager’s life was acceptable?

What are some similarities and differences between the Calydonian Boar and the Bull of Heaven?

Do you think Hades/Pluto’s stipulations on removing Eurydice from the underworld were more than accommodating (being so moved by the song), or do you think he knew Orpheus would turn around?