Rapping the story.

In Baucis and Philemon I saw a contradiction. In the story of Midas, it teaches that we shouldn’t be greedy and that money and the materials around us do not lead to happiness. We can see that through what happened with Midas. He gained the ability to turn anything into gold, which represents the greediness of people. As a payment for that ability, he lost his daughter, which represents relationships between people, the heart of the people. However, in the story of Baucis and Philemon, Baucis and Philemon gained a better life in a sense that there are better quality materials around them, for sharing what they have with people who don’t have. The idea of bigger house and perfection is stuck to our minds like oil. Even the gods offered such materialistic things.

Let's be original.

Poem inspired by Metamorphoses, Phaeton



The lack of friends, support, belief, and love.

Has made a big distress to son of sun.

This lead to cause the life on earth, like dove,

Completely vanish just like eating bun.

Love. Is the theme

Phaeton

This scene of Phaeton, the one when his friend didn’t believe that the sun was the father of Phaeton, reminded me of the question that has also been in my mind but couldn’t answer. I always thought, how do people figure out what the others are saying is true? I mean we decide to think that “it is not true” when what the others are saying is not what you wanted or when it doesn’t sound reasonable to you. Just like how Epaphus couldn’t believe what Phaeton was saying. If I was in his position, I would also doubt if what Phaeton was saying is true. But when I think about the question I mentioned previously, I end up feeling quite sad, or maybe lonely is a better word to describe that feeling. What if what the others were saying was actually true and I couldn’t believe them just because of my ignorance? How sad would it be that no one can believe you? So, I always end up concluding that I should try my best to believe whatever thing someone important to me is saying, without being a fool that believes lies. Which will be quite a mess.

Eros and Psyche

I like the idea of Eros being blind. Love makes you lose your self-control, distracts you from being objective, and makes you be greedier. Or at least that what I think it causes you to be, probably because I am still a child.
Anyways, in the story it shows how the people for immortality. They see eternal as happiness. We can clearly see this from page 75, “Yes, And further, he gives Psyche a special potion and she becomes immortal. Then he declares that their marriage will last forever.” (Metamorphoses, Eros and Psyche) and later A says, “It has a very happy ending.” (p.76 Metamorphoses, Eros and Psyche)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Luny2ei7o

*Please watch or listen to this music as a background music.



There were quite a lot of messages in these two stories, Myrrha and Pomona & Vertumnus. One was the beauty and importance to be you. We can see that from the story of Pomona & Vertumnus, “When at last the god revealed himself just as he was, much to his surprise, he had no need of words, Little Pomona was happy with what she saw, unadorned and undisguised. Soon enough, the vine was clinging to the tree.” (Metamorphoses, Pomona & Vertumnus, p.62) This message of “be yourself” is ironic since the society of civilization sometimes requires being someone else, it requires the necessity of hiding some of your characters or desire to fit in to the society.
Another message is that some unavoidable and impossible to solve thing or situation exists. The whole love problem of Myrrha is so. She falls in love with the person she most shouldn’t. Sadly, it was her father who caused this. He was the one who “seized Myrrha for a passion.” And this is also another message, “think well before you act.” In this case it’s wish, rather than act.
Finally, one of the last messages is that love is something you can’t control. Out of this message, I think it will depend on the audience to decide whether that love is a good or bad thing. One might think, “oh then love should definitely be something I should avoid,” or “I knew that! Love is like energy. It makes people move and take an action.” Or maybe other more things.

Erysichthon and Orphes & Eurydice

Erysichthon

So after all there is a reason for why people began to believe in gods. Not only to explain the things we can’t explain with our knowledge, but to make some order in their country or nation, to teach some moral lessons to the people. The line that made me think of this is the following,

Erysichthon: cut it down
Narrator: Sir, that tree is centuries old-
Erysichthon: We need the wood, cut it down.
Narrator: Sir, this is a sacred grove; and this tree is beloved by Ceres.

Metamorphoses, Erysichthon, p.33

Well, I hypothesize that the author of this story wanted to teach a lesson to the audiences, through a fiction story.

However, it was surprising to hear a lesson, “do not cut down a tree”, from a culture that was more a conqueror and agriculturist. For me, it sounded ironic to hear such things from someone that was actually part of a community in which no longer lives with the nature in harmony. Or maybe it was that the author tried to make a change on the way his society lived.



Orpheus and Eurydice

Maybe life is just like Orpheus and Eurydice. Or better say our goal of life, our desire. Our goal in our lives is more or less the reason or the purpose to live. It’s so hard to accomplish and maybe its existence is something like a ghost that we never notice it. Just like Eurydice couldn’t recognize Orpheus at the end.

Alcyone and Ceyx

One of the things we, the humans, most fear is death, or the insecurity after death. And people have come up with many ideas or beliefs to overcome this horror. The story of Alcyone and Ceyx is indeed one of the ideas to shoo away the anxiety we feel. The story about two lovers who unite together even after death.
One of the great roles that this story plays is not only a function as a broom to sweep away the anxiety towards death. It not only sweeps away, but it makes you accept it as part of the life-cycle on earth. We can see that from, “For the dead body was changing, restored to life, and renewed as another seabird.” (Alcyone and Ceyx, p.32) We can see it tries to bring in peace among the audiences who reads the stories.

comparison of the interpretations of Metamorphosis

“How was life born on earth?”
This is a popular but yet to be answered questions, that is my theme for this blog today. Many theories are out there, including scientific and religious, but none of them are proven right neither wrong. But people continue discussing about it and believing it. Today I would like to compare the two interpretation of Metamorphosis written by Ovid that explains the origin of Earth, one by Mary Zimmerman and the other by Mary M. Innes and Frank Justus Miller.
First of all, Zimmerman writes in the form of a play. She wrote two possible ways to explain the origin of life. One that says, at the beginning there was only one whole thing, and it began to separate, creating the world we know now. The other one goes the opposite way. It says that the world started as blank and things began to just pop out. Either way, Zimmerman explains it through a conversation with many people, including a scientist. On the other hand, the one translated by Mary M. and Frank J., sounded more religious and absolute.