Introduction
Metamorphoses by Ovid is one of the greatest works of the early Roman. Metamorphoses constitute a collection of poems that feature myths of creation in early Romans and Greek. As implied by the title, the poems are about various changes in the society of the author. Transformation is the major theme featured in all the fifteen books that make up Metamorphoses. Besides transformation, the book accounts various myths on different aspects of the society. In modern days, Metamorphoses can be compared to a collection of fables. Ovid succeeds in using various literary tools such as humor, self irony, allusion and irony. Ironic elements in the fifteen books bring out meaning of various issues in the work.
Overview
Metamorphoses is a collection of stories about transformation and change. Ovid tries to explain how change occurs in his society and what motivates the changes. Ovid tells about the changes by featuring one transformation tale to another. In most cases the poems retell well known Greek myths but in a different approach. Metamorphoses is written as an epic (Forey 23). It constitutes a long narrative structured in the form of a poem. In most cases Metamorphoses is referred to as mock epic because of how it makes use of various literary tools to mock different aspects of the society.
The dominant transformative force in Metamorphoses is love. Although Ovid does not believe that love is necessarily a positive thing, he is strongly moved by the ability of love to change people (Brunauer 43). Stories in Metamorphoses explore various transformations that result from love. Indeed, Metamorphoses can be seen as an epic about love. Unlike other love poems, Metamorphoses is in dactylic hexameter. This different approach creates an impression that Metamorphoses is not merely a love story but a narrative with a higher meaning. Although the stories in the collection of poems are mostly disjointed, the theme of transformation is clearly seen in all stories.
Irony in Metamorphoses
Irony is an important literary tool in literature. Irony is used where the meaning of a statement or a phrase in literary work is different from the conventional meaning of the phrase. Irony also occurs from the meaning of a phrase or event as used in the context of the literary work. There are different kinds of irony in literature. Verbal irony, dramatic and cosmic irony are the major usage of irony in literature. Verbal irony is quite straight forward; it is the irony that occurs when a speaker say something but has a different meaning to what is said. Dramatic irony occurs where the audience is aware of the truth about something while a character or characters in a drama act as if they do not. Cosmic irony, on the other hand, occurs where fate or gods manipulate the occurrence of some events.
Ovid makes use of irony in various forms in Metamorphoses. Metamorphoses, as an epic of Greek myths should be evaluated within the context of the Greek mythology. Various ironic elements are seen in how Greek myths are portrayed in Metamorphoses. In mythology, metamorphosis refers to narrative where one or many characters undergo changes (Galinsky 311). Myths try to explain the occurrence of something in a certain society. Because of this, myths are assumed to be static. Although myths ought to be static, they as well undergo metamorphosis over time. The myths that are established in communities are those myths that are retold frequently that they become fixed. In comparison with the myths in Metamorphoses, various ironic discrepancies are noted.
Metamorphoses is introduced as if it is a conversation between the author and the gods. Ovid addresses the gods and asks them to bless his work. Irony is set out right from the beginning of the first poem. The readers expect the poem to be a conversation between man and the gods but this does not follow. Narration on transformations starts with a narrative on how the earth came into being. Ovid explains how the earth, heavens and other things were created from chaos (Galinsky 53). Transformation is expected to be a change for the better (Brunauer 89). However, ironically, transformation in Metamorphoses is from good state to bad. The stages of transformation are represented by gold, silver bronze and irons stages. The Gold stage is the initial stage of man after being created. Silver, bronze and iron stages come about from transformation. Transformation of man results from the way in which he relates with the gods. The irony of the story result from the way the gods allow man to transform to a lower state while it is clearly implied from the beginning that the gods had power over man. The same gods that create man turns against him to become his enemy.
Ovid makes a hypothetical situation of the early man. The first men lived in a state that can be referred to as the Gold Age. At this age, there was peace amongst the people. People who lived during this era enjoyed the produce from nature without much struggle (Brunauer 43). Ironically, Jove castrates Saturn. This action leads people from the Gold Age to the Silver Age. In the Silver Age, people have to work for their food and struggle to fulfill their needs. From the Silver Age, the Bronze Age follows where people start to have conflicts amongst themselves and are pushed away from the gods. The state of men continued to deteriorate as they enter the Iron stage. In the Iron Age people become even more evil resulting in an increase in greed and violence. The Gold and Iron that are initially seen as a gifts turn, ironically, to be the source of evil (Galinsky 217). People use Gold provided to make money while iron is used to make weapons. The myth as narrated here contrast to other myths in Greek mythology (Forey 74). From the myth, giants learn from the evil men how to disobey the gods. The irony in this narration arise where the giant learn from men while it would be expected that men would learnt evils from the giants.
As the main intervener between the men and the gods, Jove is expected to uphold a high level of morality. When men and giants rebel against the gods, Jove asks the gods to punish them. Ironically Jove, a supernatural being, becomes attracted to human beauty. The meaning of beauty as used in the poems evokes different meaning. The term is used sarcastically to show the elusive nature of beauty. When Jove notices a beautiful young girl from Nonacris, he is not able to control his feeling and rapes her. This action is not expected of the deity (Brunauer 89). The pregnancy acquired by the girl becomes the origin of another generation of evil men. From this narrative, the author does not intend to imply that evil resulted from the deity but satirize human pretence to be deity. The myth also satirizes the people who pretend to be moral only to commit evil in darkness.
Love is the main transformative force in Metamorphoses. As it is conventionally known, love is a positive force that leads to positive effect. Instead, as used in Metamorphoses, force of love lead to both positive and negative effects. Ironically, love in Metamorphoses is portrayed as a source of pain and instability among the people. For example, the force of love transforms Jove and causes him to rape the beautiful girl. The term love is used in an ironical way to satirize lust. From the narrative, a reader develops a negative attitude toward love because of how it leads to negative effects rather than bring harmony.
Use of humor and seriousness bring out irony in the Metamorphoses. Ovid uses both light and serious phrases in the poems. The transformation of Apollo to a cow is one episode where Ovid uses humor to bring out irony. The irony of this story comes out when contrasted to the context of Greek mythology (Forey 208). Ovid pretends that the events that follow after Battus is changed to a stone are coincidence. However, he allow the flight of Mercury to Athens coincide with Panathenaic festival (Brunauer 103). This coincidence brings out the irony of the festivals. Through transformation, the festival had lost their meaning. Mercury’s behavior brings out ironic use of love in the epic. Mercury does not continue to stay at Athens because of love for Mimerva and Lyceum but for lust for basket bearers in the festival. Ironically, Mercury is referred to as Deus even after his lust. The irony of referring Mercury as Deus comes out clearly when he is compared to an animal later in the poem.
Ovid uses humor to portray his characters in a light ways but humor helps bring out irony. With humor, Ovid portrays the gods as human and amorous. The human and amorous natures of the gods bring out irony in the gods. Immorality in the deities keeps being repeated in the poems in Metamorphoses (Galinsky 179). This repetition brings out Ovid attitude towards the Greek mythology deities. Unlike other poets, Ovid avoids creating a serious picture of the deities.
Self irony is highly used in Metamorphoses. Although Ovid takes the story on Greek myths seriously, his temperament was different from the serious issues he narrates (Forey 217). Ovid succeeds in being able to create irony without necessarily having a different meaning as the phrase used. He is able to use humor and sympathetic detachment in his account. Ovid frequently uses irony to amuse himself other than other characters. Self irony helps him to breaks monotony of his narration of Greek myths.
Conclusion
Metamorphoses is among the most important accounts of Greek myths. Ovid’s ability to use different literary tools has allowed the work to be relevant for a long time. Ovid is very successful in use of irony in his work. Irony enables him to bring out the theme of transformation in a clear way. Love is the main transformative force in Metamorphoses. Ironically, love is portrayed as a negative and destabilizing force that leads to evil. Self irony in Ovid’s work enables him to create humor on serious issues.
References
Brunauer, Dalma. The metamorphoses of Ovid. New York: Research & Education Assoc., 1996.
Forey, Madeleine. Ovid’s Metamorphoses. New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
Galinsky, Karl. Ovid’s Metamorphoses: an introduction to the basic aspects. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.