Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a collection of poems that explain the existence and significance of many material/natural things that exist to this day. The Greeks had a strong belief in the Gods, which the Romans adopted, and Ovid uses his personal beliefs to create a collection of fables. Ovid was known for going against traditional beliefs and norms, however, with his consistent mockery of society, sex, and many of the actions of Gods, and I believe this shows in his writing.
In the “Proem” and “Creation”, Ovid certainly refers back to the centuries-old beliefs of the Greeks, of how the cosmos were formed and the birth of Chaos. Yet in “Creation”, he says “Some God or kinder nature”(ln.26) and “Now when that God, whichever it was”(ln.41), and these lines in particular ring out to me. While I may be minsterpeting these few words, as the Ovid and others may simply just be unsure of the beginning of creation, it seems to me as though Ovid is poking fun or at least expressing some disbelief at the creation myth. It is very obvious he believes in the Greek’s concept of creation, as the poem beautifully describes the heavens being torn apart and the earth being molded, but rarely do I see such uncertainty in writings relation to myths and Gods. He also has his own unique take on the treatment of love between Gods and mortals, and it is nice to see such a different spin on the myths that are taken so seriously by the writers of that time. Rarely are the Gods and their interactions portrayed in such a way.
I liked the way you connected it to the present, because he was a unique poet at that time period but his ideas can be connected now. I felt that he took the gods and mortals and created sexual love, his ideas were different to the people and unacceptable thus he was sent to exile. I found some of the things really creepy when he describes jupiter kissing the tree that was originally a girl. The sexual love is been given a lot of importance with affairs and multiple relationships taking on. It was good reading but surprising to know that it was written in a time period where morals and values were so strict.