Although I tend to be lukewarm on Latin poetry, I like Ovid more with every reread. Not only is his Metamorphoses entertaining but his self-conscious cleverness keeps me coming back for more.

this book is soooooo boring.......

Only book I ever read in Latin. Never again tbh. But also some funny stories.

Greco-Roman myth and legend in one place. It's essentially a Bible for the classic period, and because of this it suffers of some dry passages and over-complicated verse. It's okay though.

I am finally recognizing that I am not likely to go back to this. I read the first book and part of the second. I didn't particularly like Ovid when I was a student and going back to him after many years, I found that hasn't changed. Ovid is an important author, but he just doesn't work for me. His version of the myths tends to be too prettified and his Latin a bit too ornate.

a beautiful collection of greek mythology. any lover of these tales should read this book.

Read it in 2013, a Penguin Classics edition, but only now I found the book again. I remember thinking you have to read this if you want to understand the world.

I like Anderson's commentary, though it is occasionally off the mark grammatically. Re: Ovid - what can I say - it was a great re-introduction to Latin, and enjoyable poetry.

de stress die ik hiervan kreeg

In this review of Ovid's Metamorphoses, I will be highlighting Echo and Narcissus, Book III lines 350-500. In Metamorphoses, Ovid uses these stories to show the transformative power of love, loss, and grief. In many of these stories, the characters are transformed physically or emotionally through the intervention of gods, the uncontrollable power of desire, or natural causes of time.

For this blog, I am referencing a very fragile 1858 edition of The Metamorphoses of Ovid: Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes and Explanations, by Henry T. Riley, B.A. of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Much appreciation to the SMU Fondren Library for loaning this treasure from your Permanent Collection! [ I recently discovered from the Librarian that once I return this book, they will classify it as “recycled”, fate unknown. Unfortunately, Patrons cannot purchase “recycled” books from the Library. This made me very sad. I will continue to enjoy these stories from the few remaining pages of this treasure that have not been torn or cut—who cuts pages of a book?—and I’m very grateful that the Fondren Library kept this book in their permanent collection, thus far!] On to Echo and Narcissus.

Echo

Echo has been described as a very “talkative” nymph who caught the favor of the goddess Venus for her magnificent voice and song. Was she garrulous or loquacious, just chattering of trivial matters with wearisome persistence [thank you Merria-Webster] ? Or was she an articulate and cogent communicator that was misunderstood? I take issue a little here as I am also “talkative” and see her punishment as very harsh!

Ovid describes Echo as “a nymph whose way of talking was peculiar in that she could not start a conversation nor fail to answer other people talking”(line 360). She liked to chatter and would stall the goddess Juno off by talking until the other nymphs had fled. Therefore, Juno punished her:

“The tongue that made a fool of me will shortly

Have shorter use, the voice be brief hereafter”(366-368).

Consequently, Echo was not just talkative, but basically inept, and rude! Also I sense a narcissistic behavior, as she liked to hear the sound of her own voice! This is one clue, perhaps, to her attraction to Narcissus.

Now Echo “says the last thing she hears, and nothing further”(370). In modern day, this is part of reflective listening… “So I think what you’re saying is…I hear you and I understand you”.

Echo, in her newfound silence [think of Ariel],

Saw Narcissus roaming through the country and

Saw him, and “burned, and followed him in secret,

Burning the more she followed, as when sulphur

Smeared on the rim of torches, catches fire. (370-371).

Love at first sight. Unfortunately, due to her curse, she can only respond to Narcissus “Is anybody here”? “Here”, said Echo. “Come to me!”, Narcissus beckons. “Come to me”, is Echo’s reply.

What to do? Words are not helping here so the next best thing is to fling your arms around his neck! No, not a good move. Narcissus orders, “Keep your hands off and do not touch me! I would die before I give you a chance at me.”(382-395).

This devastates Echo. She suffers. She cannot sleep. She frets and pines and becomes gaunt and haggard and her body dries and shrivels till voice only and bones remain. Her bones turn to stone. She hides in the woods and no one sees her now along the mountains,

“But all may hear her, for her voice is living” (396-403).

Theme: Echo’s unfulfilled love, or unrequited love, can be devastating and lead to painful consequences—sometimes for life!

Other Lessons to be learned here: Do not anger the gods and do not fall in love with a Narcissus. Thank you, Ovid.

Narcissus

Narcissus was a prideful, handsome, slender, stripling young lad of sixteen who was sought after by boys and girls (343-350). The god Nemesis (enemy) lured Narcissus to a solitary pool, silver with shining water in which no shepherds came, no goats, no cattle. This pool was so serene and still that it appeared as glass. No bird, beast, sunlight, or falling leaf “had ever troubled it”(410). Very isolated, very intriguing.

Narcissus was famished from thirst after many days of hunting and approached the delightful spring to quench his thirst. Suddenly, “a thirst deep inside him, deep within him, was growing, for he saw an image in the pool and fell in love”(424).


Narcissus Meets Himself

As he looked in the calm spring, a natural mirror, he saw his face and was charmed by himself, spellbound…”his eyes, twin stars, and locks as comely as those of Bacchus or the god Apollo, smooth cheeks, and ivory neck…

Everything attracts him that makes him attractive (love that line)”(426-429).

Narcissus tries to kiss the image in the water, Dips in his arms to embrace the boy he sees there, not knowing what he sees, but burning for it…No thought of food or rest can take him away from this image. He is vain and illusive and he almost drowns in “his own watching eyes” (440). The only thing that separates Narcissus from his newfound love is a “thin film of water” (445).

“You reach out your arms when I do and your smile follows my smile”, Narcissus cries to his lover. “Your lips answer when I am talking through what you say, I cannot hear”(462).

Soon, Narcissus discovers the truth: “He is myself…I burn with love for my own self; I start the fire I suffer” (465).

His sorrow takes all of his strength away as he realizes that “the boy I love must die; we die together”. Narcissus tears his garments and beats his bare breast with his hands, and the image in the water disappears. “Alas, farewell dear boy, Beloved in vain”, were his last words. His weary head sank into the greensward and death closed the eyes that once had marveled at their owner’s beauty” (471-473).

Even in Hell, he finds a pool to gaze in and watches his own image in the Stygian water.

Theme: Just as Echo, Narcissus ends up isolated and lonely as he cuts himself off from the outside world. In addition, this is also a story that explores the theme of unrequited love and affection–in a strange way!

I was thinking about how this story of Narcissus’ obsession with his own image relates to the impact of social media today with the constant sharing of self-images or “selfies” on platforms and the pursuit of validation through likes and comments. We have become a very self-obsessed society, and the term “narcissism” is widely used and is even recognized as a psychological condition (NPD-Narcissistic Personality Disorder). Ironically, Ovid wrote this story (43-17 BCE )before mirrors were manufactured. Instead, people had to use polished metals as reflective surfaces. Ovid was very creative in using the image of the calm pool in this story for Narcissus to reflect on.

“A cautionary tale: 1. Focus more on the inside beauty of our soul and being rather than the outside beauty which fades. 2. There is an important distinction between being in love with yourself as a narcissist versus self-love. “

A cautionary tale: 1. Focus more on the inside beauty of our soul and being rather than the outside beauty which fades. 2. There is an important distinction between being in love with yourself as a Narcissus versus self-love–“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting” (William Shakespeare (Henry V) and Andre Gide said, “Loving yourself isn’t vanity, it’s sanity”.

Work Cited

Henry T. Riley. The Metamorphoses of Ovid. H.G. Bohn, York Street: Covent Garden, 1858.

The book is a collection of tales from Greek and Roman mythology all of which have a common theme: The transformation of people to different shapes such as animals or plants.
I started reading it but never finished because I found it a bit repetitive. I suspect that a lot of its poetic value has been lost in the translation.