Great Works of Literature I, Spring 2014

Dante’s “Cantos 1-8”, is an epic poem that links to the old saying “Sometimes you’ve got to go through hell to get to heaven”. In order to find unity with God, one must be adventure through Hell to be clear of their sins.

Inferno takes form of symbolizations in which each circle of hell represents the category of sins that have been created. The punishment that applies to each circles of hell corresponds to the sins themselves. For example, the second circle of Hell indicates lust. Therefore, those who committed lustful sins are now lying in the dark, the same position in which acts of lust generally partake.

Another interesting aspect of the poem that I find interesting is when Dante opens up Canto III with “THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY”. Dante refers Hell as a city rather than a world or a realm. When you think of the word “city”, the idea of congestion and overpopulation comes into mind. In the poem, Dante describes how the circles are populated with lost and sinful souls. Whereas to the term “world”, you would typically think of a much more open and “freely” space.

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.

The reading Metamorphoses emphasis change and transformation since the beginning of time. In particular in the poem, “The Creation”, the reader is introduced to how the world and man was created through mythology.  Gods and Goddess is a strong belief the Romans have and it shows in Ovid’s style of writing. He says, “Now when that god (whichever one it was) had given chaos form, dividing it in parts which he arranged, he molded earth into the shape of an enormous globe, so that it should be uniform.” (1077) He is saying that the world man lives on, is made in the shape of a sphere by a god so that it will always remain the same. Ovid writes different poems about the gods such as, “Apollo and Daphne”.

Ovid’s poems remind me of many different readings because in the books such as, The Odyssey and The Aeneid, there is always the mentioning about Apollo, Cupid, Aphrodite’s, etc., but the reader doesn’t really know their stories. The story about the goddess, Daphne’s, love life reminds me of Penelope’s (The Odyssey). Daphne says, “Many men sought her, but she spurned her suitors, loath to have anything to do with men.” (Ovid, 1080) She is saying that a lot a of men want her, but she doesn’t want to be with anyone and her father is forcing her into marriage just like Penelope was being forced into being married with one of the many suitors who wanted to be with her. I enjoy reading about the Greek’s belief in gods but Ovid adds an interesting twist by using the gods through the process of transformation such as he did in the poem The Creation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilz8kYYjKwM

Tragic irony is the incongruity (disharmony) created when the (tragic) significance of a character’s speech or actions is revealed to the audience but unknown to the character concerned.

Example from Oedipus the King: Oedipus vows to find the murderer and curses him for the plague that he has caused, not knowing that the murderer he has cursed and vowed to find is himself.

Peripeteia (Reversal) is a change from one state of affairs to its exact opposite.

Example from Oedipus the King: the Messenger comes to cheer Oedipus by relieving him of fear with regard to his mother, but by revealing his true identity, he does just the opposite of this.

Anagnorisis (Recognition) is a change from ignorance to knowledge, leading either to friendship or to hostility on the part of those persons who are marked for good fortune or bad.

Hamartia is a mistake or error of judgment, sometimes translated as “tragic flaw” – but for Aristotle it is not a moral defect.

Katharsis is the process of releasing strong repressed emotions; an uplifting of the spectators “through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emoitons.”

Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier

The Pythia commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the name of any priestess throughout the history of Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, beneath the Castalian Spring (the new priestess was selected after the death of the current priestess). The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC, although it may have been present in some form in Late Mycenaean times, from 1400 BC and was abandoned, and there is evidence that Apollo took over the shrine from an earlier dedication to Gaia. The last recorded response was given about 395 A.D. to Emperor Theodosius I, after he had ordered pagan temples to cease operation. During this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks. The oracle is one of the best-documented religious institutions of the classical Greeks.

From the Wikipedia entry on Delphic oracle

Before I start with Ovid’s Narcissus and Echo from Metamorphoses, I would like to mention that the version I read is from the following website: http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/mmarassa/mythology/echo.html

“…Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible…” -Maximilien de Robespierre

After reading Ovid’s Narcissus and Echo, I gathered that the purpose behind it was to prove that being vain and cruel could lead to terror, by terror I refer to the aforementioned quote. This is evident in the actions of Narcissus. Narcissus’s vanity leads Echo to pursue a love that would be unrequited. His rejection of Echo’s love is cruel because it leads to her physical form to wither away. Meanwhile, Narcissus stumbles upon a pool where he caught a glimpse of his own reflection so beautiful and captivating that he desired a love similar to the love Echo and all mortals alike felt for Narcissus

I feel as though the terror he was plagued with was indeed proper. In a sense he had a taste of his own medicine, in this case, his vanity. However, I may have taken a very direct approach to this myth. If you feel the message was similar or completely different, I’d love to read  your opinions!