Line #100 Literature/TheMetamorphoses


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ovidius_naso___metamorphoses_del_mcccclxxxxvii_adi_x_del_mese_di_aprile___1583162_carta_a1r.jpeg]]
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3
4	->''"flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella." [[note]](And golden honey was dripping from a green oak tree.)[[/note]]''
5	-->--'''Ovid''', ''The Metamorphoses'', Bk.I:112
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7	''The Metamorphoses'', completed in 8 AD, is a NarrativePoem by the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso, better known today as Creator/{{Ovid}}. The fifteen books of the poem consist of many stories from [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek and Roman mythology]].
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9	These stories range from the origin of the world from Chaos to the deification of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and the celebration of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}'s rule over Rome. Countless tales from mythology are told in between, including the stories of "Apollo and Daphne," "Orpheus and Eurydice," "Baucis and Philemon," "Daedalus and Icarus," et cetera.
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11	''The Metamorphoses'' has served as the primary source for Myth/ClassicalMythology and an enormous influence throughout the ages on writers like [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]], [[Creator/GeoffreyChaucer Chaucer]], and especially Creator/{{Shakespeare}}. The Bard borrows a lot from ''The Metamorphoses''; for example, ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' and ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' borrow from "Pyramus and Thisbe", one of Prospero's speeches from ''Theatre/TheTempest'' is derived from Medea's in Book VII, and the plot of ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' is compared to "Procne and Philomena" in the play itself.
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13	Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' is available online [[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid.html here]]... (What, can't read the Latin? [[GrumpyOldMan Kids these days]]... A.S. Kline's English translation is available [[http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Ovhome.htm here.]])
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15	The poem is not to be confused by Antoninus Liberalis' ''The Metamorphosis''[[labelnote:*]]A Greek collection of brief prose stories written a few hundred years later, which shares a similar theme and many of the same tales.[[/labelnote]], or Apuleius' novel ''Metamorphoses'' (AKA ''Literature/TheGoldenAss'').
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17	It's also not to be confused with Creator/FranzKafka's ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis''.
18	----
19	!!''The Metamorphoses'' provides examples of:
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21	* ActionGirl: The huntress Atalanta is the first to strike the Calydonian boar in an expedition of dozens of experienced male warriors. More impressive, she later proves to be so fast that even demigods need her to go easy on them and stop racing three separate times to beat her in a footrace.
22	* AdamAndEvePlot: The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha sees the two survive TheGreatFlood alone and with no recourse to restore the human population. It is only through their devout prayers that humanity is saved when the goddess Themis teaches them how to create new men from the stones of the Earth.
23	* AdaptationalSympathy: Earlier versions of Medusa myth portrayed her as a garden variety monster with little to no backstory beyond being one of the three gorgon sisters; Ovid was the first one who wrote her as a helpless victim of the JerkassGods, turning her into a TragicVillain.
24	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Cupid often makes gods fall in love with maidens who want nothing to do with them.
25	** Apollo is willing to run across Greece to make love to Daphne, but she's willing to give up her life and turn into a tree not to give into him.
26	** Clytie fell hard for Sol, but he couldn't care less about her. She turned into a heliotropium, which is still in love with him to this day.
27	** Neptune saw the daughter of Coroneus and immediately fell in love with her, although she would rather be turned into a crow than give into the sea-god.
28	** Narcissus is beloved by all the women who see him, but in his madness, he only loves his own reflection. Echo is especially enamored with him, leading to a situation where Narcissus' declarations of love for himself are repeated to him and refused by him endlessly as he spurns Echo for a shadow.
29	** Alpheus has a LoveAtFirstSight moment with Arethusa, who responds differently and runs across the mountaintops to escape him until she can hide in moon-fog and turn into a Stygian lake all to escape the rapey river-god.
30	* AngelUnaware: Philemon and Baucis give food and lodging to a disguised Jupiter and Mercury.
31	* {{Animorphism}}: In a work called ''The Metamorphoses,'' you'd expect there to be a lot of this.
32	* AnthropomorphicPersonification: A couple of the characters are personifications of abstract concepts, such as Sleep or Hunger.
33	* AuthorTract: Possibly Pythagoras' hella long speech near the end of the poem.
34	* BattleCouple: A non-human example: the centaurs Cyllarus and Hylonome fight side by side in the battle against the Lapiths.
35	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Bacchus grants Midas the wish of turning everything he touches into gold. Midas soon learns this includes food and drink, which causes him to go hungry.
36	* BestHerToBedHer: Atalanta holds a race and anyone who can defeat her in it is allowed to marry her--and those who lose, she kills. She goes unchallenged mostly, until she meets Hippomenes, who she actually falls in love with and laments that he will have to die when he loses the race. Since, of course, he has no hope to win against her with her great speed, he simply cheats using some golden apples from Aphrodite and he and Atalanta end up HappilyMarried.
37	* {{Bifauxnen}}: Apparently Iphis, considering that Ianthe (who ignores her true gender) can't wait for their wedding night...
38	* BittersweetEnding: The lovers Orpheus and Eurydice are separated by Eurydice's death by snakebite, and Orpheus' attempt to bring her back from Hades fails. They are finally reunited, but only in Hades after Orpheus too has been killed.
39	* BlackComedy: Icarus' death is written in a playful manner in the original Latin. In English, the humor has been LostInTranslation.
40	%%* BlindSeer: Tiresias. %% Zero Context Example
41	* BreakTheHaughty: Niobe, oh so much. She [[BlasphemousBoast boasts she's a better mother than the goddess Latona]]. [[ParentsInDistress Latona's children]] then go and kill [[DisproportionateRevenge all 14 of Niobe's children, causing her husband to commit suicide]] and [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen Niobe herself turns to stone in her grief]]. See {{Hubris}} below.
42	* BrotherSisterIncest:
43	** A one-sided case with Byblis and her brother Caunus. While Byblis likes him, and admits her feelings, he is completely disgusted by her affection.
44	** Naturally, several gods fall in this category. Juno-Jupiter, Ops-Saturn, Neptune once chased Ceres as a horse...
45	* CrossoverCosmology: The Egyptian gods appear a few times. Io is worshipped as Isis, according to the story, while the Olympians become the Egyptian gods while hiding from Typhoeus. Isis also plays an important role in the story of Iphis and Ianthe.
46	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Oh so many. There is a graphic depiction of a satyr being [[DisproportionateRetribution flayed alive for losing to Apollo in a music contest.]] Additionally, Actaeon is [[{{Metamorphosis}} transformed]] into a [[{{Animorphism}} stag]] and torn apart by his own dogs.
47	* CuteMonsterGirl: The female centaur Hylonome. In contrast to the common depiction of centaurs as uncouth and savage, she is described as a beautiful creature (both her human and her horse parts) who bathes in the streams every day and wears flowers in her hair.
48	* DeathOfAChild:
49	** Niobe has to witness all seven of her daughters being slain by Diana before her eyes.
50	** Sol knows full well what fate is in store for Phaethon, and can do nothing to stop it but watch.
51	* DisproportionateRetribution:
52	** Juno sends a horrific plague upon the island of Aegina, killing hundreds. Why? Because the island is named after a woman who slept with Jupiter, king of the gods.
53	** Medusa, a priestess of Athena, is [[RapeAsBackstory raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon.]] An infuriated Athena [[ForcedTransformation turns her into a hideous, serpent-haired monster]] and exiles her to a barren island with nothing but statues for company.
54	* DoesNotLikeMen:
55	** Diana reacts poorly when Actaeon accidentally stumbles across the pool where she's bathing.
56	** Possibly Daphne too, or possibly she simply didn't like Apollo in particular.
57	* DoubleStandard: Cross with ValuesDissonance: Iphis goes on a long monologue about how wrong and unnatural is love between two women but the poem has also many relationships between men (Jupiter and Ganymede, Apollo and Hyacinthus...) that are not treated the same way.
58	%%* DrivenByEnvy
59	* TheEmpire: Love, as overseen by Cupid, is described by Venus as an "imperium" that dominates two-thirds of the universe through its control of Jupiter, Neptune, and all their godly allies. On Venus' request, the imperium expands even further as Cupid attacks Pluto/Dis with his arrows and puts the Underworld under the tyrannical rule of Love.
60	* ExtraEyes: Argus, though they don't help him once he falls asleep.
61	* FirstLawOfGenderBending: Inverted; Iphis and Caenis/Caeneus' female-to-male transformations are permanent, while Tiresias' male-to-female transformation is reversed after seven years.
62	* FirstLove: Apollo's first love was Daphne, which was not caused by unwitting chance, but by the fierce wrath of Cupid...
63	%%* {{Flight}} %% Zero Context
64	* FoodChains: Proserpina ate six pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld and is thus forced to stay there for six months out of every year.
65	%%* ForcedTransformation: ''Many'' examples, inflicted upon mere mortals by the gods. %% Zero Context
66	%%* FriendToAllLivingThings: Orpheus. %% Zero Context
67	* GadgeteerGenius: Daedalus. Also his young nephew, Perdix/Talus, who gets tossed down the Acropolis and turned into a bird.
68	* GenderBlenderName: It's specified Iphis is a unisex name, which lets the character use it whether presenting as a man or woman.
69	* GenderBender: Iphis, Caenis/Caeneus, and Tiresias all have their sexes changes--twice, in the latter's case.
70	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg:
71	** In later books, the text goes out of its way to show how affected the gods were by an event by mentioning that Juno herself is moved by it.
72	** For Hecuba, it's actually to point out that even Trojans' worst enemy [[PetTheDog feels bad for their queen.]]
73	* {{Gotterdammerung}}: The beginning of the poem, with the deposing of the Titans.
74	%%* TheGreatFlood %% Zero Context
75	%%* GroinAttack: How Adonis is killed. %% Zero Context
76	* HappilyMarried: Baucis and Philemon. Orpheus and Eurydice (before Eurydice's death), Iphis and Ianthe and Atalanta and Hippomenes also qualify.
77	* HeavenAbove: The gods live in the Milky Way far above the Earth, with their palaces neighboring the constellations that they created. This becomes a problem once Phaethon sets the sky on fire with his father's chariot, since the gods' living spaces start going ablaze with the stars.
78	* HeavensDevils: The Furies, Harpies, and other cthonic monsters Orpheus charms are agents of justice imposing punishment on wicked men. They may be intimidating, but they punish those who offend the gods and are not themselves tortured like Christian devils.
79	* HideYourLesbians: Despite their love, Iphis can't be happy with Ianthe until she's finally turned into a boy. Mainly because of ValuesDissonance.
80	%%* {{Hubris}}: There's a lot of [[BlasphemousBoast that going on]]. TemptingFate is not a good idea. %% Zero Context
81	* IWantGrandkids: Daphne's father was pretty insistent about this:
82	-->Saepe pater dixit "Generum mihi, filia, debes."\
83	Saepe pater dixit "Debes mihi, nata, nepotes."
84	%%* {{Jerkass}}
85	* JerkassGods: Though they arguably get better over time. Maybe not to the point of TookALevelInKindness, but they are a little more sympathetic.
86	* JerkJock: Apollo behaves this way towards Cupid, gloating about having killed a dragon and mocking Cupid's little bow. Cupid retaliates by shooting him with an arrow of love.
87	* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Unlike in other versions of the story where Medea is a tragic figure, Ovid's version has her using her magic to kill random people for no reason, even before Jason ever wrongs her. No explanation is ever given for her actions.
88	%%* JumpingTheGenderBarrier: Iphis for Ianthe. %% Zero Context
89	* KillItWithFire: Though not much is made of it, Jupiter seems to be uncomfortable with fire, apparently remembering a vague prophecy about how fire would one day be the end of him. He remembers this while Phaethon nearly burns Heaven and Earth while driving his father Sol's chariot.
90	%%* LoveAtFirstSight: Not that it's [[AllLoveIsUnrequited requited]], mind you. %% Zero Context
91	* LoveImbuesLife: Pygmalion was a sculptor who creates a beautiful ivory statue. He falls in love with the statue, and eventually Venus brings her to life for him. The statue was not named in the original myth, but later adaptations would name her Galatea.
92	%%* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Particularly when it's caused by a vengeful Cupid. %% Zero Context
93	* ManipulativeBastard: Venus in the tale of Ceres and Proserpina. Pluto falling in love with Proserpina was her idea (with Cupid' help, of course), as doing so would a.) allow her power (love) to spread to the Underworld, thereby claiming it along with Earth and Sky as under her domain, and b.) doing so would prevent Proserpina from remaining a virgin, thus allowing her to defy Venus, as Minerva and Diana had done.
94	* MayDecemberRomance: There's a generational gap between Pluto and Proserpina. One way to interpret this is Pluto appearing as like a middle-aged man, while Proserpina would be physically in her mid-to-late teens.
95	%%* MayflyDecemberRomance: Venus and Adonis. %% Zero Context
96	* {{Metamorphosis}}: Every single story has one, albeit sometimes one that's only tangential to the main point. Many of them are into birds and trees, often as escape or punishment (which is sometimes both).
97	* MidasTouch: Midas asks Bacchus for the ability to turn what he touches into gold, and this wish is granted. Turns out this applies to ''everything''. TropeNamer.
98	* TheMourningAfter: Defied with Baucis and Philemon; their wish to die at the same time is granted by the gods.
99	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Ovid uses language and style associated with epics to describe things like the appetizers in Roman peasants' dinner.
100	* NoBodyLeftBehind: The nymph Cyane slowly dissolves into tears after Dis abducts Prosperina. Her dissolution is quite graphic, with Ovid describing her nails and bones getting softer before her nails and soft limbs turn to water, followed by her back and sides, leaving only her weak veins to melt into water and sink into Dis' infernal crevice.
101	* NoodleIncident: More than once, there are offhand mentions of metamorphoses whose stories are not elaborated. Some of them are known by other authors, others are not.
102	%%* OffingTheOffspring %% Zero Context
103	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The gods punish Lycaon by transforming him into a wolf. He's said to retain some human traits, much like many werewolves in modern pop culture.
104	* ParentalIncest: Myrrha (daughter) and Cinyras (father); entirely unintentional on the latter's behalf. When he learns the truth, he is clearly repulsed.
105	* PatrioticFervor: Theoretically Book 15. In reality, probably quite Tongue In Cheek, seeing as this is [[TheExile Ovid]] (as he'll later be).
106	* PlotHole: There are several, since it is based on conflicting mythology.
107	** Generally deliberate allusions, rather than accidental confusions. For example, the narrator directly calls the Argo the "first ship", despite the fact we'll already had several voyages in the narrative.
108	** Orpheus is the son of Apollo and a Muse, yet he is presented as mortal, while other god-children like Mars and Proserpina are shown to be immortal.
109	%%* ThePowerOfLove %% Zero Context
110	* {{Pride}}: A recurring theme; it usually spells the downfall of many a mortal. Can also cross over with DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu, such as in the case of Niobe and the Titaness Latona.
111	%%* PygmalionPlot: One of the stories told in the poem, and one of the few with a truly happy ending. %% Zero Context
112	* QuestionableConsent: Many couples. Notably, Thetis and Peleus. Thetis quickly goes from fighting him off and refusing to marry him, to HappilyMarried and protecting him at the cost of her own family.
113	* RaisedAsTheOppositeGender: Iphis' mother raises her daughter as a boy on divine orders to avoid exposing her at birth.
114	* RomanticFusion: A nymph named Salmacis lusts after a young boy named Hermaphroditus, but he fights back when she [[AttemptedRape tries to force herself on him]], prompting her to wish that they could never part. The gods, [[ValuesDissonance who side with Salmacis]], respond by merging their bodies into one.
115	* SacredHospitality:
116	** Hospitality is extremely important, particularly in the Baucis and Philemon story. They get turned into trees for their trouble (it's actually rather sweet).
117	** Latona turns the Lycian peasants into frogs for being hostile toward her and not allowing her to drink from a fountain.
118	%%* ScyllaAndCharybdis: Faced by Aeneas at one point. %% Zero Context
119	* SecondHandStorytelling: The whole thing is a collection of earlier myths and folktales, which are occasionally told by characters in-story. If you're not paying close attention, [[RecursiveReality it can get confusing]]. The worst (best?) example of that is Alpheus. In order: A visiting Minerva is told by an unnamed Muse how Calliope in a competition was singing how [[KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy Arethusa was telling Ceres what Alpheus said]].
120	* SeparatedByTheWall: Pyramus and Thisbe, who can only communicate through the literal wall separating their parents' properties.
121	* SmiteMeOhMightySmiter: Myrrha, after she gets pregnant [[spoiler:with her father's child. She gets turned into a myrrh tree, but still gives birth to a boy]].
122	%%* StarCrossedLovers: Pyramus and Thisbe. %% Zero Context
123	* TagTeamSuicide: Pyramus, thinking Thisbe has been killed by a lion, commits suicide. Thisbe discovers his body, and kills herself with the same sword he used.
124	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Mercury tells the hundred-eyed monster Argos a story that causes Argos to fall asleep, upon which Mercury kills him.
125	* ToHellAndBack: Orpheus entered Hades to rescue his wife Eurydice. Unfortunately, he was told that he might not look back upon her until both were out of Hades, and Orpheus was unable to follow this one command. As a result, Eurydice vanished back to the Underworld.
126	* {{Transflormation}}: Quite a few of them:
127	** Myrrha is turned into a myrrh tree after committing incest with her father, and gives birth to her child through the bark.
128	** Baucis and Philemon are the only ones in their town to welcome the disguised Zeus and Hermes into their home. Part of their reward for upholding SacredHospitality is that when one of them dies, the other will die also; when death comes for them, they are changed into a pair of intertwining trees to symbolize their EternalLove.
129	* TheTransmogrifier: Juno likes to use transformations to punish her husband Jupiter's lovers/rape victims. Among other things, Callisto was transformed into a bear and Io into a cow. In another case, Lucina (goddess of childbirth), was ordered by Juno to prevent the birth of one of Jupiter's illegitimate children but was tricked and ridiculed by the maid Galanthis - who in turn thereafter had to live as a cat or weasel.
130	* TrappedInAnotherWorld: Proserpina is abducted and brought to the Underworld.
131	* UnprovokedPervertPayback: You can't really blame Actaeon for seeing Diana naked, he just walked into her bathing in a spring. But because Diana DoesNotLikeMen, he gets turned into a stag and ends up being [[CruelAndUnusualDeath killed by his own hunting dogs]].
132	* VirginVision: Discussed. Ovid says that Diana couldn't see that Callisto lost her virginity to Jupiter because she's herself a virgin. The other nymphs on the other hand did notice...
133	* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Not very common (except when used by gods), but the daughter of Erysichthon has this ability.
134	* WerewolfThemeNaming: The name of King Lycaon, who is turned into a wolf by Jupiter, already contains "lycos", the Greek word for 'wolf'.
135	* WholesomeCrossdresser: Since Iphis' father wanted [[HeirClubForMen a male heir]] so badly, her true sex was concealed and she was raised as a man.
136	%%* WomanScorned: Juno and Medea are the most egregious examples. %% Zero Context
137	* WretchedHive: Thrace, having [[WarGod Mars]] as a patron deity, tends to be filled with rather unkind men, Orpheus being the exception.
138	%%* YouCantFightFate: With the Greek myths, which take up a good three-quarters of the poem. The Roman myths? Not so much. %% Zero Context
139	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: This was the case for Aeneas in one of the many stories, who had escaped the recently destroyed Troy.
140	* YouAreWorthHell: Orpheus says that he will stay in the underworld with Eurydice if he isn't allowed to return with her.

Context Literature / TheMetamorphoses