Western Literature

The Ancient Period (Metamorphoses)

The Metamorphoses, by the Roman poet Ovid, is a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the history of the world from creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico historical framework. Completed in AD 8, it is recognized as a masterpiece of Golden Age Latin literature. The most read of all classical works during the Middle Ages, the Metamorphoses continue to exert a profound influence on Western culture. It also remains the favorite work of reference for Greek myth upon which Ovid based these tales, albeit often with stylistic adaptations.( Brooks, 136)

Publius Ovidus Naso (Ovid), the famous Roman poet was born in 43 BC at Sulmo near Rome. 'Metamorphoses' is one his greatest poems in which he has described the history of the world since its creation till the times of Julius Caesar. Metamorphoses means transformation or change and was completed in 08 AD. 'Metamorphoses' consists of fifteen small sections or books or can be called chapters. He has used mythical characters as examples for his readers. These characters were punished or rewarded by the higher authority as a result of their deeds or action, good or bad. The poem is a series of tales collected mostly from Greek mythology and literature. At that time the study of Greek poetry, literature, culture and history was considered as a sign of heritage in the educated Roman society. That is the main reason why Ovid focused on Greek subject for his Roman audience. Ovid was an excellent storyteller and was able to keep the reader's interest and attention till the end.

The word metamorphosis means change and Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' is about the stories of change or transformation of human beings into animals, beasts, trees, stones and other objects as described in Greek folk tales. These changes were ordered by the gods sometimes against the good and evil deed of the humans and at times to show their power or for the sake of mere pleasure. The chapter fourteen of Metamorphoses describes a number of incidences about gods and goddesses falling in love with each other or with human beings. Their internal rivalry results in wars and ends in changing each other and their rival human beings into other shapes. The author has tried to show the odds of the world and the reasons behind these events and also the interferences of gods in human lives. The gods had misused their powers for their selfish desires and played foul games with their opponents and created chaos on the face of earth. The chapter includes tales about Circe, the daughter of Sun, who longed for Glaucus, a sea-god. Glaucus was in love with a mermaid named Scylla. Out of jealousy, Circe transformed her into a monster to repel Galucus.

The Middle Ages(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. In the tale, Sir Gawain accepts ...