"O Icarus," he said, "I warn you: fly a middle course. If you're too low, sea spray may damp your wings; and if you fly too high, the heat is scorching."
Do sons ever listen to their fathers?
His eyes were glittering with fire and blood; his neck was bold, erect; his bristles were as stiff as rigid spears; his giant flanks were flecked with hot foam as he grunted, hoarse; his tusks could match an Indian elephant's; his mouth flashed lightning; and his breath, in passing, scorched the boughs; and now he tramples fledgling corn, and now he means to make the farmers mourn - to reap but tears: he ruins ripened ears.
I really liked this passage, although transposing it was a bit rough.
Althaea: "O you, my brothers' souls, you, new-made Shades, accept this honor that - to you - I pay; accept the deadly offering I make - it is so dear, so costly - for your sake: the evil fruit my womb has reaped."
This appears to be a theme in Metamorphoses: the mothers bear their children, the children then are killed in battle, the mother weeps and seeks vengeance for the murderers of her sons/daughters. Womb to earth.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Images of Metamorphoses VII
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| Eugene Delacroix, The Fury of Medea, 1862 |
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| Herbert James Draper, The Golden Fleece, 1904 |
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| Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vision of Medea, 1828 |
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| Hans Broek, Medea |
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| Medea Kills Her Son, Louvre Museum |
Metamorphoses VII
"Medea, you are doomed to fail: the force you face must be some deity. I wonder if this power (or something like it) is not the power known to men as love."
"I am aware of what I do; if I'm undone, the cause is surely not my ignorance, but love. You shall be saved; but when that's done, maintain the vow you made."
And if Medea had not soared on high with her winged dragons, she'd have had to pay a bitter price.
The foreshadowing of the arduous, ill-fated life of Medea is nicely placed here by Ovid.
"I am aware of what I do; if I'm undone, the cause is surely not my ignorance, but love. You shall be saved; but when that's done, maintain the vow you made."
And if Medea had not soared on high with her winged dragons, she'd have had to pay a bitter price.
The foreshadowing of the arduous, ill-fated life of Medea is nicely placed here by Ovid.
Metamorphoses VI
Minerva tore to pieces that bright cloth whose colors showed the crimes the gods had wrought; a boxwood shuttle lay at hand - with that, three and four times she struck Arachne's forehead.
This shows Athena punishing the hubris Arachne has committed in her tapestry; the outlining of the gods wrongs.
And Niobe now sat childless, among cadavers - daughters, sons, and husband; grief had made her stony, stiff. The air is still, not even one hair moves, her face is deathly pale; above sad cheeks her eyes stare motionless. Even her tongue is frozen in her mouth; her palate now is hard; her veins can pulse no more; her neck can't bend; her arms can't move; her feet can't walk.
Niobe's punishment for her hubris.
But they, despite her prayers, still refused; and then they added threats, and insults, too. And as if that were not enough, they soiled the water with their feet and hands, and jumped - maliciously - to stir the bottom mud.
Latona: She lifts her hands to heaven, and she cries: "Live then forever in that pool."
Lycian peasants punished for their hubris also. This chapter is full of metamorphoses borne of the hubris transgressions against the gods.
This shows Athena punishing the hubris Arachne has committed in her tapestry; the outlining of the gods wrongs.
And Niobe now sat childless, among cadavers - daughters, sons, and husband; grief had made her stony, stiff. The air is still, not even one hair moves, her face is deathly pale; above sad cheeks her eyes stare motionless. Even her tongue is frozen in her mouth; her palate now is hard; her veins can pulse no more; her neck can't bend; her arms can't move; her feet can't walk.
Niobe's punishment for her hubris.
But they, despite her prayers, still refused; and then they added threats, and insults, too. And as if that were not enough, they soiled the water with their feet and hands, and jumped - maliciously - to stir the bottom mud.
Latona: She lifts her hands to heaven, and she cries: "Live then forever in that pool."
Lycian peasants punished for their hubris also. This chapter is full of metamorphoses borne of the hubris transgressions against the gods.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Images of Metamorphoses VI
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| Niobe Vase |
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| Mt. Sipylus, Niobe's fabled bed of anguish, the porous limestone sheds "tears" |
Metamorphoses V
King Cepheus: "Beneath your very eyes, you saw her chained; you were her uncle and her promised mate, yet you did nothing then; you brought no aid."
Now Athis' close, inseparable friend was the Assyrian Lycabas, a man whose love was true - a love he did not hide.
And dying, Lycabas, with eyes that swam in darkness, turned to search for Athis and, beside the body of the boy, collapsed but bore this comfort even as he left to join the Shades: he shared death with his friend.
Two modern semi-taboos visited in these verses.
Perseus: "If you want proof, then I will give it to you. let the others hide their eyes." - and with Medusa's head held high, he left that skeptic bloodless, petrified.
And Minerva looked at length at where the waters had sprung up beneath the horse's hoof when it struck hard. And then her eyes took in the ancient forests, the inmost groves, the grottoes, and the flowers - those countless points of color on the meadows. She said the daughters of Mnemosyne, in what they did and where they lived, were blessed.
Now Athis' close, inseparable friend was the Assyrian Lycabas, a man whose love was true - a love he did not hide.
And dying, Lycabas, with eyes that swam in darkness, turned to search for Athis and, beside the body of the boy, collapsed but bore this comfort even as he left to join the Shades: he shared death with his friend.
Two modern semi-taboos visited in these verses.
Perseus: "If you want proof, then I will give it to you. let the others hide their eyes." - and with Medusa's head held high, he left that skeptic bloodless, petrified.
And Minerva looked at length at where the waters had sprung up beneath the horse's hoof when it struck hard. And then her eyes took in the ancient forests, the inmost groves, the grottoes, and the flowers - those countless points of color on the meadows. She said the daughters of Mnemosyne, in what they did and where they lived, were blessed.
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