Ovid’s (Publius Ovidius Naso) Metamorphoses is a set of poems based on Greek and Roman myths that appeared in the Golden Age of Latin Literature and for centuries served as an inspiration for many writers from different countries. Metamorphoses is a complex profound work that has become a brilliant example of classical immortal literature of European civilization.
In this paper I am going to compare and contrast three versions of the creation of the world: the Greek one presented in the first chapter of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and two Indian myths of the beginning of the world about Brahma and Purusha. Ovid’s myth of world creation and two Hindu myths of the origin of the world reveal that the world and the universe were created by some supreme God, different in each culture, who emerged out of chaos in Ovid’s version and out of ocean in Hindu myth about Brahma, meaning that everything was derived from emptiness. Another Indian myth states that the world was created out of the body of a sacred man Purusha sacrificed by the Gods.
In diverse India several creation myths existed that explained the beginning of the world differently “ranging from familiar themes such as dismembered giants and magical eggs to the most delicately expressed doubts as to the possibility of knowledge on such a matter” (Solodow 5).
It is necessary to point out that as far as the myths are concerned, they are considered to be “an essential means of posing and clarifying the questions of human existence” in ancient times (Solodow 7).
Metamorphoses include fifteen chapters that concern “human beings whose bodies are changed into various new forms, into animals, trees, rocks, birds, springs, flowers, constellations, insects, reptiles, and so on” (Solodow 6). Ovid defines the book from the very beginning: “”I want to speak about bodies changed into new forms” (Ovid 30). Ovid commences with the description of the creation of the world touching every age and events that has taken place.
Three variants of the origin of the world I am going to compare have both similarities and discrepancies. In fact, all the creation myths have some motives common for every culture.
Ovid’s myth of the creation of the world comprises the creation of the earth, skies, living creature, the development of their life with gods and the events that preceded gods’ departure to heaven. Thus, Ovid describes the creation of the world that emerged out of chaos and emptiness: “Before land and was and sea – before air and sky arched over all, all Nature was all chaos, The rounded body of all things in one, the living elements at war with lifelessness; No God, no Titan shone from the sky or sea” (Ovid 30).
Similar to Ovid’s story, Indian myth of the god Brahma describes the origin of the world as coming from emptiness: “Before time began there was no heaven, no earth and no space between. A vast dark ocean washed upon the shores of nothingness and licked the edges of night” (Leeming 142). It is clearly seen that these myths are similar in that they identify the beginning of the world that comes from emptiness. However, in Indian myth the chaos of Greek myth is substituted for peaceful and silent waters of the ocean where the god Vishnu slept.
In Ovid’s version the God of Nature gave birth to the world when he “calmed the elements: Land fell away from the sky and sea from the land, and aether drew away from the cloud and rain” (Ovid 31). Similar to Hindu myth of Brahma, God creates everything: universe, earth, elements of nature, nature itself. Ovid presents a very detailed picture: “At God’s touch, lakes, springs, dancing waterfalls streamed downhill into valleys, waters glancing through rocks, grass and wild-flowered meadows; some ran their silver courses underground, others raced into seas and broader Ocean” (Ovid 32). It should be emphasized that the world is created by the separation of the Earth from sky.
Compared to Ovid’s myth, Indian myth of Brahma comprises a lot of similarities. One obvious similarity is that The Vishnu’s servant, the God Brahma, in Hindu myth also comes to create the world. Brahma appeared from a lotus flower that he broke into three parts and tossed while in Ovid’s myth the God of Nature used no additional materials. In Hindu myth the first part was heaven, the second was the earth, and the last one was the skies, similar to Ovid’s version of the world creation. Then Brahma set out to create nature, mountains and rivers, trees and flowers, animals and birds. In addition, Brahma taught the creatures how to see, feel, smell, and hear. As soon as the god finished, the world was created.
Brahma also gave birth to creatures that in their turn were the forefathers of people. It is noteworthy that these creatures appeared not from the body of Brahma but out of his mind. Contrary to this myth in Ovid’s version people were created directly in their human form and had no forefathers. The core idea of this myth is the recreation of substance in every new god, i.e. Brahma is derived from Vishnu, people from Brahma.
Ovid’s God of Nature also creates people, to be precise, a man. Contrary to the Hindu myth, Ovid tells that a man was created “from the living fluid” of the god (Ovid 35). Contrary to the myth about Brahma in Ovid’s version people were created directly in their human form and had no forefathers. The similarity between these two creation myths lies in the creation of gods; both Brahma and the God of Nature create gods themselves.
As it has already been mentioned Indian mythology embraces several variant of world origin myths (Dimmitt 12). One of them is the myth of Purusha. Comparing Ovid’s story of creation of the world with this myth we can trace a lot of differences.
First, Purusha is regarded as the universe itself, the time and the space; he was the one the world was created of. The obvious difference is that the God of Nature in Ovid’s myth was not the chaos itself but only emerged from it. Thus, Purusha, sphere in shape, is torn apart to form the world, trees, mountains, rivers, animals. Moreover, Purusha’s mind gave birth to celestial bodies, air, earth and the sacred Vedas (Dimmitt 17).
Another difference is that the God of Nature created everything himself and had no intention to tear some parts of his body. Here the leitmotif of sacrifice is basic and underlies the creation of the world whereas the Greek myth in Ovid’s Metamorphoses suggests that the god of Nature did not sacrifice himself.
It should be stressed that one more sticking difference between Ovid’s and Hindu world creation interpretation is that in Ovid’s version the God that creates the world and the universe is not yet known: “When God, whichever God he was, created the universe”, while in Indian myth the name of God is known – Brahma (Ovid 33). In the myth about Purusha we know that some supreme gods called Purusha to sacrifice but the names are not given.
Proceeding with narration of the myth Ovid points out that initially people lived in peace through the first age, Golden Age. People were provided with everything they needed for living, “nothing forbidden, no fears, all the men knew of earth were shores of home” (Wheeler 123). Contrary to the two Indian myths of world creation Ovid goes into details and divides the time of world creation into several Ages while Hindu myths possess no details about the development of humans and gods.
At that time when Titans ruled the world the gods came to overthrow them. The Silver Age brought Jove, the main God, to rule the world. During this time people discovered that it is possible to live in houses and to run a household. Besides, four seasons were created then. The Bronze and Iron Ages were full of cruelty: “Hard steel succeeded then: And stubborn as the metal, were the men. Truth, modesty, and shame, the world forsook: Fraud, avarice, and force, their places took” (Wheeler 124). As opposed to Ovid’s myth two Hindu myths under consideration state that no additional forces came to ruin the world but it were the Gods themselves that ruined it in a certain period of time in order to recreate it, i.e. “creation is always recreation” (Dimmitt 18).
Thus, in Ovid’s myth the Giants War followed the four Ages as a consequence of their attempt to get hold of Olympus where gods lived. Contrary to this, in two Hindu myths under discussion the gods lived in the heavens and never rested in the mountains or even the earth.
While Ovid’s myth reasons the gods’ decision to kill people, the gods were tired of human hatred and brutality; two Hindu myths reveal no reason for the same decision. In Indian myths of world creation it is natural to kill and recreate the world regardless of peoples’ behavior.
Similar to Ovid’s myth where Jove sends heavy pouring rains that partially destroy people, and then Neptune sends waters that leave only two people on the world, in two Hindu myths the waters are also sent to earth to destroy human race. However, the difference lies in that in two Hindu myths the heat preceded the flood (Dimmitt 18). In Ovid’s myth, the human race has not wiped from the face of the earth: the stories about the mother earth that the survivors tell turn into people. And a new circle of life fills the world. Contrary to Ovid’s myth the human race in two Hindu myths have been destroyed by the Gods and recreated again. And as we can clearly see in Ovid’s myth people survived.
What differentiate Ovid’s story and Hindu myths is that Hindu myths assume that “various cosmic forces which might have fashioned the universe” concluding with the words: “But, after all, who knows, and who can say whence it all came, and how creation happened” (Leeming 146). Ovid, on the other hand, is certain that it is only the God of Nature that created the whole universe. Another difference is that in Ovid’s myth the gods initially lived on the earth together with people and only then had to leave to the heavens whereas Brahma and the gods he created never lived on the earth.
Another similar tendency is traced in Hindu myths of the origin of the world. As well as Ovid’s interpretation of Greek myth unfolds the story of four consequent ages Indian myths of the origin of the world state that “the world is created, destroyed, and recreated in an eternally repetitive series of cycles. It continuously moves from one Maha Yuga (great age) to the next” (Leeming 147). At the end of one age the gods destroy the human race and create a new one (Leeming 147). As it has been already mentioned, in contrast to Greek gods that used flood to kill people, the Hindu gods use heat to evaporate the water from the earth and thus, leave no chance for any living creature to survive (Leeming 147). In doing so the circle of life is ensured to experience a new survival.
Concluding it should be mentioned that, this way or another, the world-view of ancient people of such different cultures as Indian and Greek and Roman, still possessed many fundamental features though different in details.
Works Cited
Dimmitt, Cornelia. Classical Hindu Mythology: a Reader in the Sanskrit Purāṇas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978.
Leeming, David Adams. “Indian.” Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2009.
Ovid, Horace Gregory. The Metamorphoses. New York: Signet Classic, 2001.
Solodow, Joseph B. The World of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. NC: UNC Press, 2002.
Wheeler, Stephen M. “Imago Mundi: another view of the creation in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses.’” American Journal of Philology. 113 (1995): 121-124.