Author Topic: Ovid's Metamorphoses  (Read 116231 times)

PatH

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #720 on: March 04, 2016, 06:10:10 PM »



The Fall of Phaethon by Sebastiano Ricci, 1703-04, Belluno



---http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph.htm#488381088---Translated by  A.S. Kline...(This one has its own built in clickable dictionary)...


---http://classics.mit.edu         /Ovid/metam.html...---Translated by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al


----    http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses1.html----Translated by Brookes More




Family Tree of the Gods and Goddesses of Greece and Rome:
-------http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/roman-gods/roman-gods-family-tree.htm

-------http://www.talesbeyondbelief.com/greek-gods-mythology/greek-gods-family-tree.htm




For Your Consideration:

“Week” Four: Phaethon!

Bk I:747-764 Phaethon’s parentage
Bk I:765-779 Phaethon sets out for the Palace of the Sun
Bk II:1-30 The Palace of the Sun
Bk II:31-48 Phaethon and his father

What Do You Think?

1. Are there any themes which appear in the beginning of the Phaethon story while it's still in Book I which could happen today?

2. Why is Clymene angry?

3. Ovid's description of the Palace of the Sun God is considered an ekphrasis (or ecphrasis)  a long detailed description which stands as a symbol or allegory for something else. What do you think it might stand for?

4. We in 2016 do a lot of things better than past ages. But what do they do better? the sense of wonder? Have we seen too many beautiful palaces in bad movies to be able to see them any more? (Joan K)

5. How many Universal themes can we see in the story of Phaethon which are alive and well today?

6. According to W.S. Anderson the Phaethon story contains is a "folktale motif of the 'fatal gift.'"  Who do you fault most in the giving of this gift, Apollo who sees all or Phaethon? If Apollo is all seeing and all knowing and is the god of prophesy on top of it,  how do you explain his mistake in giving the chariot?




Former Questions, Still up for  Grabs:


1. What to  you is the saddest thing in the Io story?

2. This story is full of beautiful descriptions. Which lines particularly struck you? Do they interfere with the plot line?

3. What effect do the flashback elements and the interruption of the Pan and Syrinx have on the reader's feelings for Io?

4. What would you say is the tone of the Io story?

5. This is quite a story, it has two metamorphoses and two aetiological myths in it. Which one is the most important?

6. What might Io's struggles to communicate symbolize in our own time?

7. Who actually has the last word in this section?

8. What's your impression of Io's father?

9. If you had to choose between being Io or Daphne, which one would you choose? Why?

Discussion Leaders: PatH and ginny


Thank you, Pat.

PatH

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #721 on: March 04, 2016, 06:12:42 PM »
Homer does indeed respect everyone.  Almost everyone has at least some little chance to have their say. Someone who is just in a battle scene as one more person to be killed is still given his bit of history.

Inanimate objects too--when Athena throws a rock at Aphrodite, it isn't just a rock, we learn its history as a boundary stone.

bellamarie

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #722 on: March 04, 2016, 06:38:39 PM »
JoanK., 
Quote
But his (Homer) basic empathy with all people comes through.

Yes, I agree, he has a way of making you feel what the characters are feeling even if you don't care for how they are acting. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

ginny

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #723 on: March 08, 2016, 08:11:59 PM »
Even tho this discussion is over I found this super representation in statuary of the hitching up of the horses of  Phaethon by  Gaspard  Marsy (1626-1681)  and thought it would be such a shame if it weren't included. Isn't it spectacular?



I don't know where this is located, and would like to, but you won't be surprised when looking at it to learn that Marsy worked for Louis XIV in the palace of Versailles. I wonder if this is there. It's absolutely out of this world, isn't it?

On St. Patrick's Day, we hope you will join us in our new discussion of all new stories in  Ovid's Metamorphoses! Our first selection is Philemon and Baucis, a story of constancy in love, humility, and generosity.  One of the many great things  about it is that it's unique to Ovid, it's entirely  his own creation.

The stories are all  online, and touch on themes alive in 2016. An exciting new venture to celebrate our 20th year as online book clubs.  Won't you join us for one or all of them?

More details and a new discussion going up soon.

Frybabe

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #724 on: March 09, 2016, 06:19:42 AM »
You guessed correctly, Ginny, The title of the statue is "Horses of the Sun" and they are at the Baths of Apollo, Chateau de Versailles.  http://www.versailles3d.com/en/over-the-centuries/xxie/2008.html

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6389919 This view gives you a prespective of the size of the grotto with the people in the foreground.

I am puzzled by these old garden plan etchings. Were these statues once part of an indoor display? Right click to see the interior displays of the Grotto.

Ah, this answers my question. http://rbsc.princeton.edu/versailles/grotto The original Grotto did not last long; only the statues were saved and resituated.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #725 on: March 09, 2016, 12:46:11 PM »
this one of Apollo at Versailles is marvelous
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #726 on: March 09, 2016, 01:02:03 PM »
What a fabulous site you found Frybabe - here is one of Enceladus - one of the giants born from Earth and Sky that was supposed to have been buried under Mount Etna.

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #727 on: March 09, 2016, 01:14:13 PM »
Barb, I think I read on one of the sites about the gardens, that the Apollo statue you just posted represents Apollo rising from the sea at daybreak.

The Latona Fountain was inspired by The Metamorphoses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmoTpYdrm9s
The Myth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSpBugCUC84
Personally, I think the fountain is a bit ugly, but the myth explains why the frogs and mutating humans rather nicely.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #728 on: March 09, 2016, 01:49:47 PM »
Frybabe I like this youtube because it tells the story of Latona - so all the water coming from the frogs are the insults from these peasants turned into frogs - fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSpBugCUC84&ebc=ANyPxKowbPRS1QvRU_e8JoFsGoQV34_pGQP4cNFJtNI-CkIS0LcxzG6z5bo1pNw4CYdFAPVx2PwS
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #729 on: March 09, 2016, 01:52:50 PM »
Ginny after seeing several youtube photos of the horses I think  your photo is so special because of the lighting - seeing these horses with the other three works of art about the sun they are nice but not as wonderful as this properly lighted photo.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Frybabe

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #730 on: March 09, 2016, 02:21:18 PM »
I agree, Barb. The grotto setting in real life without the back lighting diministhes the statues them. They day shots of the grotto as a whole make the statues look small and "stuck" on as an afterthought.

ginny

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Re: Ovid's Metamorphoses
« Reply #731 on: March 16, 2016, 12:43:05 PM »
Gosh what wonderful photos. That one of Apollo rising is out of this world, isn't it? 

Yes I also am surprised at the size of the statues of the harnessing of the horses, they seem quite small. I had envisioned something like the ones in the Tuileries or something, quite odd, that "grotto," also. But what beautiful work. I wonder why they were made so small. Everything else there is so big.

Not sure we'll ever know.

But one thing we DO know, we're off on a new adventure with all new stories in the morning, starting with Phinemon and  Baucis which you can read in about 2 minutes but which has a lot to say.

I think it's my favorite myth but it's not a Greek myth at all, is it?

Do come right on over here:  http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=4878.msg278644#msg278644  and pull up a chair!

We've a lot to talk about!