Suggested Essay Topics
Book I
1. Book I of the Metamorphoses presents numerous similarities to the Judeo-Christian traditions of the Creation and the early history of mankind. What are some of them?
2. There are many contrasts between the Greek traditions and the Judeo-Christian traditions. What are some of them? Specifically, comment on the different conceptions of divinity. What are some of the characteristics of Graeco-Roman gods which set them apart from the Judeo-Christian conception of God?
Book II
1. In several of the tales of seduction and/or rape by a god, the victim gets blamed, called ugly names, and punished or at least abandoned. Comment on this attitude of “blaming the victim” in the light of attitudes toward rape victims today.
2. Which of the myths in this book may be used to illustrate: a) nature myths; b) moral instruction; c) politico-religious history?
Book III
1. Juno’s hatred and jealousy of Europa and Semele eventually extended to all of their relatives and even the whole community of Thebes. How do you feel about this concept of collective guilt or “guilt by association?” Are there examples of this concept still alive today?
2. Serpents are mentioned several times in this Book. Give examples of the many roles they play in the lives of the characters. Compare them with modern attitudes toward serpents.
Book IV
1. In each book, Ovid introduced us to more and more of Jove’s far-flung offspring. If we accept Graves’ theory of the symbolic meaning of these “rapes” and the resulting offspring, how do these myths show the expansion of the patriarchal system with its primacy of the worship of the sun over the older matriarchal system and its moon-worship? Be specific by identifying some of the geographical designations found in the poem. (For example, Europa is taken by Jove from Sidon to Crete. Trace this on the map.)
2. This book, more than the previous ones, employs casual, colloquial speech. Give examples and discuss whether in your opinion they are appropriate to the speaker and situation or not, and why.
Book V
1. Comment on Perseus’ behavior during his wedding “festivities.” Granted that Phineus attacked him first, can you justify the savagery of his subsequent deeds? Note especially the fates of the innocent bystanders. Comment also on his behavior immediately following his victory.
2. The song of the woman who turned into a magpie gives an interesting twist to the characterization of the Olympian gods. Analyze the text by comparing each “portrait” to the orthodox image of each divinity. What does this section tell you about Ovid’s own belief in the Olympians?
Book VI
1. If you compare this book with the earliest ones, do you find an increasing complexity of characterization? Give examples.
2. This Book is especially rich in figures of speech, particularly extended similes. Give examples.
Book VII
1. In this book, Ovid makes the most important change in his poem so far. He shifts from the relationships of gods and mortals to relationships among mortals. Give examples and comments on the effect of this change on you, the reader.
2. In Medea’s great soliloquy, Ovid made use of many of the rhetorical devices taught to him in the course of his excellent education, intended to make him a candidate for political office. Analyze Medea’s soliloquy as a model speech, such as one would use for persuasion.
Book VIII
1. What do Medea, Scylla, and Ariadne have in common? What was their motivation, what act did they perform, and what was their “reward”? In sum, what was antiquity’s (and Ovid’s) judgment concerning women who do what...
(This entire section contains 1203 words.)
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they did?
2. The stories of Philemon and Baucis on the one hand, and Erysichthon on the other share the common motif of respect for trees. Is there a lesson in them for our own times? Explain.
Book IX
1. This book provides ample illustrations of the principle that what is permitted for the gods is not permitted for morals. Give examples.
2. Trace the tortured arguments in the interior monologue of Byblis by reducing it to an outline. This was the kind of rhetorical “homework” favored by the schools attended by students in antiquity; even St. Augustine complained, centuries later, than he had to practice putting himself into the mental states of ancient heroines.
Book X
1. Several episodes in this book and the preceding one portray “guilt by association,” a questionable principle. Discuss the cases in which the capricious divinities inflict punishments on a whole nation because of a transgression of a single individual. How do you feel about this kind of “divine justice?”
2. Discuss the cases in which an individual was punished because of some innocent transgression. Do you feel that a person can be punished for committing an act that was unintentional? What about cases of compulsion which the person could not help?
Book XI
1. Many of the metamorphoses in this Book are punishments for individual transgressions. The theme, “to make the punishment fit the crime,” is generally quite obvious. But the punishment of Laomedon was quite out of proportion with his transgression: his refusal to pay a debt led to the eventual destruction of his whole city and its people. Comment on “divine justice” in this Book. What about human justice? Does it still happen that one nation “judges” another and then destroys it?
2. The female characters in this Book range all the way from the crazed Ciconians to the saintly Alcyone, and many shadings in-between. Comment on Ovid’s skill in introducing so many different female characters. What does this say about stereotypical comments, such as “All women are…”
Book XII
1. There is a school of thought which maintains that, even though Homer wrote the greatest epic of the Greek nation, his real sympathies lay with the Trojans. Can you give examples of Ovid’s “divided sympathies” also?
2. Comment on the relative magnitude of divine intervention in this Book compared to the earlier ones. How many miraculous transformations are there in Book Twelve?
Book XIII
1. Ulysses, as depicted by Ovid, is very different from the Ulysses depicted by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. In those two poems, while “resourceful,” he is basically worthy of admiration and respect. The reader’s sympathy tends to be generally with him, even when he is cruel (as with Polyphemus) or savage (as with the suitors of his wife). After all, he is fighting for his life and kingdom. In this Book, both in the portrayal by Ajax and by the account given of his actions by Ovid himself, he is a far-from-sympathetic character. Give instances.
2. Euripides, the great Greek playwright, wrote a tragedy, The Trojan Women. From your reading of this Book, which scenes would you think constituted the plot of that tragedy, Euripides’ anti-war manifesto?
Book XIV
1. Discuss the effect of the rather sudden change of scene from Greece and Troy to Italy and the Western Mediterranean.
2. Because Ovid assumes the reader’s familiarity with Aeneas and his descendants, his characterizations of them are largely perfunctory. In view of this, how do you feel about the three deifications described in this Book?
Book XV
1. Summarize the teachings of Pythagoras concerning the killing and eating of animals.
2. Summarize the teachings of Pythagoras concerning change in general and metempsychosis in particular.
