Well personally I see the theme of Augustus and Ovid's digs at him running throughout the whole so far. Augustus has restored order like a god, (kind of reminds you of Cassius's line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "why man, he doth bestride the world like a Colossus..." ). But that was Julius Caesar. In Augustus's case, the restoration to order is fragile, he keeps reminding us it's fragile, and liable to fail, (especially in the hands of an heir of Augustus). And in the fall of Phaethon it really almost did create permanent Chaos again.
It's funny I don't see any struggle for power here. Jupiter is it. There IS no struggle, all the gods know their places, he's it, the pantheon of gods are afraid to stand against him, just like the Senate was against Augustus: yes men, all. The ancient reader would have known this, too. However THIS Jupiter is fearsome perhaps because of his lack of judgment whereas in Greek mythology he's the great judge and a bit more temperate, affairs aside, that's something the male ordered Roman society would have understood and probably not condemned.
But boy does he fly off the handle here, destroying an entire world because one man dissed him at dinner, without trying to see if there were any who were worth saving. And here he comes again.
And here the scorched earth appeals to him, I liked her reasoning in Lombardo. If you don't care about me, the earth, after all I've done, bring out the lightning bolts, but what has your brother Neptune, god of the sea, done to deserve this? And think of your own residence, it's smoking, did you not consider that? That this could touch YOU? Take heed! You're about to burn your own mansions to cinders.
So it looks to me as if Jupiter is more moved by the possibility of its hurting him than anything else.
The descriptions here of the effects of Phaethon are absolutely stunning.
As you read them, which one is your favorite, which description? Can you share some of the lines here?
There have been some wonderful works of art on this as the constellations burn, I have two I'd like to share once the Latin classes get going this morning, they are staggeringly fine.
I love this bit. As a further aside, do you know anything about driving horses? My blacksmith told me years ago that it was much more dangerous than riding. He had given up riding because he felt his balance was not reliable, but in driving, forget the old Westerns where the driver jumps down on the yoke of the run away horses and works his way forward?
That's a cowboy movie. In real life usually death results if the horses get their heads. If you've ever been ON a runaway horse you know what happens, they are unstoppable. Hauling on the reins does not work. Turning them in a circle does not only not work, it can turn the horse over. Very very dangerous. One wonders again why the father agreed to "anything." as a gift. Neither father nor son considered the consequences in this great moment of emotion?
What are your thoughts this dramatic morning with run away horses and flames everywhere?
