Deucalion and Pyrrah
Surprising to see it closely resembles the bible with flood and 2 survivors, Deucalion even mentions his father breathing life into the earth
Jupiter = Zeus
Neptune = Poseidon
Juno = Hera
Deucalion and Pyrrah survive by going to Mount Parnassus. They were both worshippers of the gods so they were allowed to survive.
The couple prays to Themis to revive the human race, and they are told to throw stones behind them back into the temple. The stones change form after they are thrown and become mankind.
Io
Jupiter tricks the goddess Io and rapes her. Juno suspects her husband has done wrong and goes to search for him, so he changes io into a heifer. Juno falls for it and takes the heifer as a gift.
Io realizes she is a heifer and runs away after seeing her reflection even though she was always being watched by Juno’s guard. She goes to her family and tells them what happened. Argus, her watcher takes her back and takes her to a mountain top.
Jupiter sends his son to kill the guard, which he does. Juno takes the guards eyes and puts them in the feathers of her bird. To quiet Juno’s anger Jupiter turns Io back into her original form.
Phaethon and the Sun
Phaethon, son of the sun god Phoebus Apollo, goes to his mother for confirmation of who his father actually is. She assures him he is the son of Apollo, and he sets off to find his fathers temple.
Once in the presence of Phoebus, Phaethon is once again he is the son of Phoebus. This excites Phaethon and he then asks his father for his flying chariot and the horses that drive it. His father gives him many warnings that it would not be safe and the story concludes.
Phaethon’s Ride
Io realizes she is a heifer and runs away after seeing her reflection even though she was always being watched by Juno’s guard. She goes to her family and tells them what happened. Argus, her watcher takes her back and takes her to a mountain top.
Jupiter sends his son to kill the guard, which he does. Juno takes the guards eyes and puts them in the feathers of her bird. To quiet Juno’s anger Jupiter turns Io back into her original form.
Phaethon and the Sun
Phaethon, son of the sun god Phoebus Apollo, goes to his mother for confirmation of who his father actually is. She assures him he is the son of Apollo, and he sets off to find his fathers temple.
Once in the presence of Phoebus, Phaethon is once again he is the son of Phoebus. This excites Phaethon and he then asks his father for his flying chariot and the horses that drive it. His father gives him many warnings that it would not be safe and the story concludes.
Phaethon’s Ride
Phaethon once again ignores his father’s warnings and insists on driving the sun chariot.
After starting their journey, the chariot immediately gets off course and Phaethon is unable to control the horses. He gets scared of creatures he sees in the sky and drops his reins.
The horses continue to go wild and when they get too close to the earth it becomes engulfed in flames.
The Death of Phaethon
Noticing that the Earth was about to be destroyed, Jupiter throws a lightning bolt at Phaethon and kills him. This also causes the horses to break from their restraints and separate from each other.
Phaethon’s sisters randomly turn into trees and his friend becomes a swan?
Phoebus feels his son did not deserve to be killed, and refuses to drive the chariot through the sky. He eventually goes back to his horses and takes his anger out on them.
Callisto
Jupiter is observing the Earth and fixing what the fires had destroyed when he spots a nymph, Callisto. Much like io, Jupiter deceives Callisto and then rapes her. The goddess Diana discovers what has happened and banishes Callisto from her community. Juno finds Callisto, and knowing what she has done, turns her into a bear out of anger. Jupiter turns Callisto and her son into constellations, the great and little bear.
Semele
Semele is yet another woman who Jupiter has had sexual relations with, and bears his child. Juno is once again enraged and and kills Semele in a fire storm.
Echo
The child of Jupiter and Semele is born from Jupiter’s leg. Jupiter and Juno are having a friendly argument about which gender love-making pleasures the most. They ask a man named Tiresius and he confirms Jupiter’s argument that it’s more pleasurable for a woman. Juno gets upset and punishes Tiresius to eternal blindness, but Jupiter rewards him with knowledge of the future. As a result of this, people throughout the world consult Tiresius.
Tiresius is consulted about a boy named Narcissus and is asked if he will have a long life. “If he does not discover himself,” is the reply from Tiresius.
We learn of a nymph named Echo who can only repeat the last words she has heard. Echo sees a beautiful boy, Narcissus, walking in the woods and wants to talk to him. She can’t until he speaks though, but they eventually find each other and end up in a hug.
Narcissus gets scared of the stranger and she runs back into the woods. She still remains there today, repeating the last words she has heard.
Narcissus
Narcissus’s discarding of the nymph Echo also causes all other nymphs to be offended as well. ‘So may he himself love, and so may he fail to command what he loves,’ is what the nymphs cry. The goddess Nemesis hears this and complies.
Narcissus sees himself in a fountain and is amazed by his own good looks. He falls in love with himself and then realizes he can’t have his own reflection. He does not realize that he is looking at his own reflection and stays by it, trying to get closer for days. He begins to hit himself with stones and eventually dies, with Echo repeating his last words. After he dies he becomes a flower.
Pyramus and Thisbe
Pyramis and Thisbe are an exceptionally good-looking young boy and girl who live in Babylon. They were neighbors who wanted to wed but their parents prevented it. They agree to escape together and when Thisbe gets to the meeting place she sees a lion and runs off. Her veil is left behind and the lion gets its blood on it. After seeing this, Pyramis kills himself. Thisbe then sees her dead lover and and kills herself as well.
Mars and Venus
This short story involves the god Vulcan, his wife Venus, and the god Mars. Vulcan learns that his wife is having an affair with Mars and crafts a net out of bronze that will cling to anything that touches it, then places the net on a bed. When Venus and Mars begin their adulterous acts on the bed, they become trapped in the net and Vulcan opens the doors so every god and goddess can see the two and shame them.
This story almost served as comic relief from some the previously intense and fatal stories!
Perseus and Andromeda
The story begins with Perseus flying across the world while holding the head of recently slain Medusa. He stops by the home of Atlas and asks for a place to rest. After Atlas refuses, Perseus turns him into stone using Medusa’s head, creating Mount Atlas.
Persius continues his flight and sees the princess Andromeda, who is chained to a rock. Perseus goes to Andromeda and offers to save her from the sea monster and in return they offer him the kingdom and their daughter’s hand in marriage.
Perseus and Medusa
Perseus fights the sea monster and eventually kills it. He then frees Andromeda and returns to her parents, where they get married and he begins to tell the story of how he killed Medusa. We do not learn much of this but we do learn why Medusa has snakes for hair. She was a woman with beautiful hair but was raped by Neptune. Her hair was then changed to snakes to ward off all other suitors.
After starting their journey, the chariot immediately gets off course and Phaethon is unable to control the horses. He gets scared of creatures he sees in the sky and drops his reins.
The horses continue to go wild and when they get too close to the earth it becomes engulfed in flames.
The Death of Phaethon
Noticing that the Earth was about to be destroyed, Jupiter throws a lightning bolt at Phaethon and kills him. This also causes the horses to break from their restraints and separate from each other.
Phaethon’s sisters randomly turn into trees and his friend becomes a swan?
Phoebus feels his son did not deserve to be killed, and refuses to drive the chariot through the sky. He eventually goes back to his horses and takes his anger out on them.
Callisto
Jupiter is observing the Earth and fixing what the fires had destroyed when he spots a nymph, Callisto. Much like io, Jupiter deceives Callisto and then rapes her. The goddess Diana discovers what has happened and banishes Callisto from her community. Juno finds Callisto, and knowing what she has done, turns her into a bear out of anger. Jupiter turns Callisto and her son into constellations, the great and little bear.
Semele
Semele is yet another woman who Jupiter has had sexual relations with, and bears his child. Juno is once again enraged and and kills Semele in a fire storm.
Echo
The child of Jupiter and Semele is born from Jupiter’s leg. Jupiter and Juno are having a friendly argument about which gender love-making pleasures the most. They ask a man named Tiresius and he confirms Jupiter’s argument that it’s more pleasurable for a woman. Juno gets upset and punishes Tiresius to eternal blindness, but Jupiter rewards him with knowledge of the future. As a result of this, people throughout the world consult Tiresius.
Tiresius is consulted about a boy named Narcissus and is asked if he will have a long life. “If he does not discover himself,” is the reply from Tiresius.
We learn of a nymph named Echo who can only repeat the last words she has heard. Echo sees a beautiful boy, Narcissus, walking in the woods and wants to talk to him. She can’t until he speaks though, but they eventually find each other and end up in a hug.
Narcissus gets scared of the stranger and she runs back into the woods. She still remains there today, repeating the last words she has heard.
Narcissus
Narcissus’s discarding of the nymph Echo also causes all other nymphs to be offended as well. ‘So may he himself love, and so may he fail to command what he loves,’ is what the nymphs cry. The goddess Nemesis hears this and complies.
Narcissus sees himself in a fountain and is amazed by his own good looks. He falls in love with himself and then realizes he can’t have his own reflection. He does not realize that he is looking at his own reflection and stays by it, trying to get closer for days. He begins to hit himself with stones and eventually dies, with Echo repeating his last words. After he dies he becomes a flower.
Pyramus and Thisbe
Pyramis and Thisbe are an exceptionally good-looking young boy and girl who live in Babylon. They were neighbors who wanted to wed but their parents prevented it. They agree to escape together and when Thisbe gets to the meeting place she sees a lion and runs off. Her veil is left behind and the lion gets its blood on it. After seeing this, Pyramis kills himself. Thisbe then sees her dead lover and and kills herself as well.
Mars and Venus
This short story involves the god Vulcan, his wife Venus, and the god Mars. Vulcan learns that his wife is having an affair with Mars and crafts a net out of bronze that will cling to anything that touches it, then places the net on a bed. When Venus and Mars begin their adulterous acts on the bed, they become trapped in the net and Vulcan opens the doors so every god and goddess can see the two and shame them.
This story almost served as comic relief from some the previously intense and fatal stories!
Perseus and Andromeda
The story begins with Perseus flying across the world while holding the head of recently slain Medusa. He stops by the home of Atlas and asks for a place to rest. After Atlas refuses, Perseus turns him into stone using Medusa’s head, creating Mount Atlas.
Persius continues his flight and sees the princess Andromeda, who is chained to a rock. Perseus goes to Andromeda and offers to save her from the sea monster and in return they offer him the kingdom and their daughter’s hand in marriage.
Perseus and Medusa
Perseus fights the sea monster and eventually kills it. He then frees Andromeda and returns to her parents, where they get married and he begins to tell the story of how he killed Medusa. We do not learn much of this but we do learn why Medusa has snakes for hair. She was a woman with beautiful hair but was raped by Neptune. Her hair was then changed to snakes to ward off all other suitors.
Oh my gosh, this is GREAT, Jeremy - you are the first person to have done a reading diary assignment for this class. I am glad the instructions were clear, and I hope this is going to turn out useful. Especially if you are thinking of doing a Greek myth project for class, having these notes as you work ahead could come in handy! Aren't those stories intense??? Reading through the notes you took makes the stories seem even more wild and dramatic! And yes, often the shape changes seem arbitrary: sometimes the change is signaled in the name, but sometimes Ovid is working with local religious traditions (a sacred tree, a sacred animal), so he just repeats the local story... without even knowing just why they worshiped a particular tree or regard a particular animal as sacred in that particular place. Ovid was doing work kind of like what you will do in this class: he had not even visited the places he was writing about; he just knew about them from poems and books (often poems in Greek, while Ovid himself wrote in Latin, but he knew Greek perfectly) ... so based on what he learned from other books, he spun the stories together in his own way!
ReplyDelete