Journal on Ovid and Pomegranate myth for Creative Writing

Journal on Ovid and Pomegranate myth

The theme of transformation in the two stories is envisioned differently in that in Ovid Metamorphoses, there is a physical change to a person (or deity) ; whereas in Calvino the transformations are not happening physically, but metaphorically through changed perceptions of the same city. In Metamorphoses one character turns into a wolf, another into a tree, and another into a mountain. In Invisible Cities we often see contradictions between the different ‘cities’ but also contradictions within cities, that is in effect a transformation from, say good to evil. This is repeated ad nauseam.

As far as similarities, each story in each of the works there is a theme that ends with some sort of pushed moral value. They are a bit more subtle in Calvino, but there are definite moral endings and overall theme.

In Metamorphoses the Gods used the humans as a means of playing trickery, or other mischievous happenings that were mean spirited. Still, the humans revered the Gods. The Gods though, are a reflection of the humans, with their own vices as well. When the humans were in warfare, so were the Gods (and in peace, peace etc.).

The beginning of Metamorphoses was almost the exactly the same as the creation myth in the Torah, the old testament, The Bible. I actually thought I was reading that when I started. The whole thing with light not being in the land, and in the Bible, god said let there be light (I am paraphrasing).

Ovid’s tone is very earnest in displaying the authenticity of the individual myths. It is both poetic and serious, without satire.

The Homeric Hymn to Demeter was in a poetic style while the other by Hawthorne was in a modern traditional narrative form. Homer wrote this a long time ago, for a different audience than a 19^th century AD author had. The modern story has more details and more back story, such as with the sea nymphs or details of the underground lair.

The figures are drawn in a different light, primarily in Persephone and Hades/Pluto. Their relationship is more complex in the Hawthorne version. Persephone has mixed feelings, and wants to stay a bit, which after eating the pomegranate; it is not such a bad deal. Pluto cares for her, but has no heart. This is a bit of a contradiction; he has a heart, but can’t express himself in any other way.