Metamorphoses

I did not enjoy reading Ovid’s epic poem Metamorphoses. I found its text rather confusing and difficult to understand while reading along, more so than Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis. Near the beginning of the poem, Ovid begins his tale of transformations by describing how the earth, the heavens and the rest of life were created out of Chaos. This leads into the story of creation and the flood. He describes the progression of mankind to be degenerative as time advances from Gold to Silver to Brazen to the Iron Age. This notion of the progressive deterioration and corruption of mankind is interesting, as I feel it can be paralleled with modern-day man. The appalling behavior of man instigates an attempt by the giants to seize the heavens. Jove’s response to all this corruption is to unleash a great flood onto the earth, which eradicates all living things except one pious couple, Deucalion and Pyrrha. After the flood recedes, this couple repopulates the earth by obeying the commands of the goddess Themis and throw rocks over their shoulders. These rocks then transform into a new “brood” of men and women. The epic then reveals more story lines, such as Daphne and Io, creating even more confusion in my mind. It moved all over the place and seemed like it was never going to end. However, the epic did share striking similarities to the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis.