Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses II, Part A

Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline, Books 5-7: Link

The thing that most strikes me about these passages is the extent to which they could be reversed. From end to beginning:


According to Theoi, Latona is known as a protector of the young, having given birth to Artemis and Apollo while evading the Juno's jealous rage. If that's true, why does she give in to the same rage when Niobe refuses to worship her? How about a story where Niobe's children, instead of being murdered, carry out an assault against the gods to protect their family? How about a story where mortals assemble an army for the right to worship what they want, or not worship at all?

Or a story where Minerva and Arachne's weaving contest ends in a tie--what would happen if Minerva and Arachne discovered they could cultivate mutual respect for each other? Minerva creates the spider not to jealously teach Arachne a lesson, but allows Arachne to keep her humanity and constructs the spider to honor the human woman whose ability matched Minerva's own?

Finally, (Greek names for simplicity,) Persephone and Hades. Cupid reverses his choice, and his arrow pierces Persephone's heart instead. She is driven to steal the King of the Underworld from his throne. She traps him with vines, thorns, things that grow from the earth. The pomegranate is replaced with something earthy, like a vegetable, grain, or spice. In this story, Persephone isn't a naive maiden who accidentally condemns herself to the underworld by eating seeds. Instead, she is a powerful goddess, more strongly associated with the power of spring: wind, storms, floods, abundant flora. Here, she shows her heritage as the daughter of the King of the Gods and the goddess of the harvest.

Elusinian Mysteries and the cults of Demeter and Persephone
Queen of the Underworld and the worship of Persephone
List of vegetables

Images:
Greek Goddess Persephone, by MJ Flowers. Web Source.
Pomegranate, taken by Poswiecie. Web source.