Lecture Outline Creation and Flood in Ovid s Metamorphoses We do not know when he wrote this but we know it was finished by 8 CE Mistake Became involved with Julia Augustus daughter Poem One about love I Ovid s Metamorphoses a Roman poet Ovid 43 BCE CE 17 b Metamorphoses transformations c 8 CE Ovid s exile d critical of Augustus 63 BCE CE 14 Brings peace to the Roman empire Gets rid of the republican form of government II Creation in Ovid s Metamorphoses a metamorphosis of universe creation b mythical and philosophical Combines these views of creation c in the beginning chaos 1 NOT Hesiod s Chaos Hesiod s chaos means nothingness Hesiod s Chaos is also a god 2 disordered elements Is what Ovid is describing exact opposite of Hesiod 1 5ff Before the ocean and earth appeared were there congested in a shapeless heap d unnamed creator god 1 cf Stoic architect god A god putting things together at the time of creation 2 neither monolatrous nor monotheistic He does not say that there is only one god just a god that creates things 3 cf Mesopotamian Mami Nintu 4 god s job creation Takes the elements out of the heap and starts forming them into groups e creator god 1 separates out elements 2 earth sea sky 3 animals fish birds f creation of humans 1 Greco Roman myth many versions 2 humans an afterthought g creation of humans acc to Ovid 1 creator god OR 2 Prometheus earth water water OR 3 Earth blood of Giants Second creation myth maybe Prometheus created human beings out of earth and Third creation myth Gaia gives birth to a race of giants and the giants wage war on the gods The gods defeat the giants and when their blood soaks into the earth human beings are born OR 4 Myth of the Ages Fourth creation myth 5 with 1 and 2 positive view of humans We can look up to the skies to the gods while animals cannot 3 is a negative view blood of evil giants 4 is a mixed view 6 humans civilize earth They do the work of the creator god 1 76 88 But one more perfect and more sanctified and so it was that shapeless clay put on the form of man till then unknown to earth III Myth of the Ages a Hesiod and Near East b metals gold silver bronze iron descending value Each age is associated with a group of people c mythical idea devolution of people d philosophical idea humans civilized Opposite of the metal idea Ovid s idea combined mythical idea with philosophical idea e Ovid combines c and d f humans morally worse more technologically civilized g Golden Age First human beings Gods created them Men and women at the same time Like a paradise 1 peace abundance 2 Saturn Kronos Rules over the people of the Roman age Syncratism People die off so they create new people the silver age h Silver Age 1 caves agriculture Becoming more technologically civilized Golden age was a time of peace now people are more afraid Seek shelter and have fears of other people 2 Jupiter Jove Greek Zeus People ruled by Jupiter king of the Roman gods i Bronze Age warlike not evil They constantly wage war on each other and kill each other off j Iron Age our own 1 sailing mining wealth Technologically more civilized but getting greedy Digging in places or sailing places they shouldn t be going Sailing caused anxiety for the Greeks and Romans trying to conquer other places 2 depravity murder greed treachery Every depravity you can imagine is happening IV Iron Age vs Augustan Age a Augustan propaganda 1 Augustan Age Golden Age peace abundance Propoganda living in the age of Agustus is like living in the mythological Golden Age 2 cf Ara Pacis Augustae Altar of Augustan Peace a 9 BCE b golden age fertility b Ovid s Golden Age matches a c BUT Ovid s Iron Age his own age 1 Iron Age horrible 2 criticism of Augustan policies V Lycaon a Jupiter angry at wicked humans He wants to test them b tests them human guise b xenia hospitality xenos guest host Greeks and romans believe that this happened often You better be good to people because you don t know when they are gods in disguise Hospitality or guest host relationship Sacred idea to the Greeks Zeus would strike you down if you were a bad guest or a bad host People believe him and start to worship him They don t know what c Lycaon king in Arcadia Greece Jupiter goes to Arcadia d Jupiter reveals he is god god he is f Lycaon disbelieves tests him g kills hostage serves flesh to Jupiter h Jupiter thunderbolt house Knows instantly what is up House represents hospitality In anger throws a thunderbolt at Lycaon s house i Lycaon wolf Lycaon tries to run for it but he is transformed into a wolf Lycanthrope wolf man Jupiter is now angry at human beings He is show that they are wicked He decides to send the flood VI Flood in Ovid s Metamorphoses a Jupiter destruction 1 rejects fire lightning 2 cf Atrahasis 3 Stoic doctrines b sends flood 1 rain a ekpyrosis conflagration b kataklysmos flood 2 Neptune Greek Poseidon 1 Jupiter s brother 2 God of sea rivers 3 cf Genesis 8 2 c topsy turvy world adynaton impossible When the flood comes things get turned upside down For ex fish are stuck in the trees and lions walk on the sea bed Ovid is playing with a literary device called adynation e Deucalion smarter and Pyrrha dumber 1 son of Prometheus smart daughter of Epimetheus dumb First cousins 2 Mt Parnassus 3 boat no animals 4 no warning Two big differences They had no time to round animals up because there was no warning It seems that by luck they managed to get in a boat and survive e Deucalion and Pyrrha pray to 1 mountain gods 2 nymphs nature fertility landscape 2 Themis Divine Justice ironic Binatural Irony gods send a flood to destroy human life yet Deucalion and Pyrrha pray to divine justice what is the justice 4 NOT Jupiter 5 private vs public worship These are lesser gods that you might actually run into closer relationship to humans They don t sacrifice because there is nothing to sacrifice f Deucalion good Pyrrha devout Maybe this is why they are saved in the flood We do not know Maybe Ovid just added this coincidental detail g Jupiter ends flood why We don t know why Maybe because Deucalion is so good and Pyrrha is so devout we don t know Also could be a criticism of the Emperor Agustus h Themis Has a temple on Mt Pernassus Also has 1 oracle temple Where you can talk directly to the god 2 bones of mother P I don t want to dig up my mother s bones D No the bones of the earth aka stones From oracle stones i Throw them behind their …
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