Reading notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 5-7), part A
As I've mentioned before, Calliope is my favorite muse and the story of Persephone my favorite myth, so I decided to focus on the part of Ovid's Metamorphoses about Persephone and Demeter that Calliope sings. (Because the readings use both the Greek and Roman names, I'll stick with the Greek names just for simplicity's sake.)
My favorite character in this story is Kyane, the nymph who tries to stop the rape and abduction of Persephone. So deep is her compassion and sorrow that upon her failure to save Persephone, drowns herself in her own tears and turns into nothing but water.
But the part of these stories that stands out the most to me is the beautiful language. Right away, in "Cupid and Dis," Calliope is described as having "loose hair bound with ivy" and declares that Demeter "is truly a worthy subject for my song." The imagery is vivid, and so is the way that Calliope speaks.
In "Ceres and Jupiter," when Demeter goes to Zeus for help after discovering that Hades has raped and kidnapped their daughter, she says, "See, the daughter I have searched for so long, has been found, if you call finding to lose her more surely..." which I thought was a beautiful way to express the sorrow and horror felt at the discovery of the horrible fate Persephone had received.
Finally, in "Persephone's Fate," I loved the way Ovid described Persephone's feelings toward splitting her time between the underworld with her husband and the earth with her mother: "The aspect of her face and mind alters in a moment. Now the goddess's looks are glad that even Dis could see were sad, a moment ago. Just as the sun, hidden, before, by clouds of rain, wins through and leaves the clouds."
My favorite character in this story is Kyane, the nymph who tries to stop the rape and abduction of Persephone. So deep is her compassion and sorrow that upon her failure to save Persephone, drowns herself in her own tears and turns into nothing but water.
But the part of these stories that stands out the most to me is the beautiful language. Right away, in "Cupid and Dis," Calliope is described as having "loose hair bound with ivy" and declares that Demeter "is truly a worthy subject for my song." The imagery is vivid, and so is the way that Calliope speaks.
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| Rembrandt's "The Rape of Persephone." Source: Wikipedia |
In "Ceres and Jupiter," when Demeter goes to Zeus for help after discovering that Hades has raped and kidnapped their daughter, she says, "See, the daughter I have searched for so long, has been found, if you call finding to lose her more surely..." which I thought was a beautiful way to express the sorrow and horror felt at the discovery of the horrible fate Persephone had received.
Finally, in "Persephone's Fate," I loved the way Ovid described Persephone's feelings toward splitting her time between the underworld with her husband and the earth with her mother: "The aspect of her face and mind alters in a moment. Now the goddess's looks are glad that even Dis could see were sad, a moment ago. Just as the sun, hidden, before, by clouds of rain, wins through and leaves the clouds."
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