Reading Notes : Ovid's Metamorphoses Part B

For Part B of Ovid's Metamorphoses, the stories that interested me most were the ones about Narcissus and Pyramus and Thisbe. What attracted me to these in particular was the tragic endings that befell the characters, one out of pure love and one out of vain infatuation. After reading them together, it is hard to not compare the two. In both, I could understand (but not relate) to the intesity of each person's emotions, which ultimately caused everyone's untimely death.

Both stories were not afraid to use the extreme end of the dramatic spectrum to describe the depth of feelings. I like this technique; there is no wishy-washiness and the reader is very clear at where each character stands. Part of this is because the characters take out their emotions on their own bodies, and the consequence is clear. When Narcissus cannot embrace his own appearance, he beats his own chest and bruises his marble-like body. Pyramus, after finding Thisbe's bloody scarf, stabs himself in the side. Both males could not live without what they desired most, Narcissus being himself and Pyramus being Thisbe. What I couldn't quite get on board with was Narcissus being celebrated after his death as a beautiful flower. In his scenario, he personally does not bring much to his table, but his beauty is practically worshipped even after his death. Pyramus and Thisbe's ashes being kept in the same urn gave me a measure of comfort that finally in death, they can be together.

It would be interesting to have some similar comparison between two chapters in the storybook. Two stories with similar intensity of emotions, but different motivations that leave a different impact on the reader. With Narcissus, I realize that it characters need not be only good or evil; while I don't find anyting particularly substantial to him, his death was still tragic as he never hurt other intentionally. These types of ambiguous characters could be useful in illustrating a specific moral or lesson to be learned. One thing is for certain, from all the stories I read in this unit, the stupidity and lust of men is ever present, ever having consequences, and yet men never seem to learn from their mistakes (*cough cough, Jupiter).

Echo and Narcissus by John Waterhouse; source: Wiki

The Metamorphoses, Ovid. Translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.

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