ovid's metamorphoses

• written in 8 AD
• An epic poem charting the whole history of the universe, from the beginning to the 44 BC apotheosis of JC
• Aesculapius - Greek god of medicine and son of Apollo, who healed Rome during plague
• “A fiery comet” - refers to a seven-day cometary outburst seen in July 44 BC, interpreted as a sign of the deification of recently assassinated dictator, Julius Caesar
• Calydonian - of a Greek city
• "Anicent sisters" - the Fates
• Stygian - of the Styx, a river in the underworld
• Atrides - Menelaus
• “Cut in everlasting adamant” - mythological metal which cannot be destroyed, where all destiny is written on
• “Carry the burden placed upon him alone”- reminiscent of Aeneas and his burden of Anchises + the Lares. Positions Augustus as a similar shepherd to the Roman people
• Pharsalia - reference to the Battle of Pharsalus, fought between JC + Pompey
• “The one who holds Pompey’s great name” - Sextus Pompeius
• “Three-fold universe” - Heaven, Earth and underworld
• Ovid is critical of Augustus; his transformations are usually brutal so by having a smooth transformation from man to god, Ovid suggests the brutality as Augustus’ core
• Metamorphoses about “change with continuity” so may be commenting on the transformation from ruthless Octavian to kindly Augustus
• Ovid exiled in 8 AD for "carmen et error", a "poem and a mistake"
• Ovid thought to be exiled for offensive love poetry, being overcritical of Augustus in his Mets or being involved in a plot / scandal with Julia
• Augustus is glorified through his relationship with JC, but in reality, Augustus cannot catch up to JC

  • “Augustus his son”
  • “Augustus as heir to his name”
  • Augustus as divi fillus -> “in order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god”
• Augustus as imperator

  • References civil conflict -> “a Roman general” and his battle with “the one who holds Pompey’s great name”
  • “Most courageous avenger of his father’s murder”
  • “Sue for peace”
  • “Wherever earth contains habitable land, it will be his: and even the sea will serve him!”
  • “Earth is ruled by Augustus”
  • Not as good a commander -> Gaul is conspicuously absent in the list of JC’s achievements
• Augustus as moral leader

  • “Will turn his mind to the civil core”
  • “Will direct morality by his own example”
  • Has a “virtuous wife” in Livia
• Augustus' divine ancestry

  • Both him and JC linked to Venus , they are “all that is left…of Trojan Iulus”
• Harvard School of Thought

  • “In order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god” -> deification seen as a calculated political move
  • “Ruler of all” -> problematic, aligns Augustus as anti-Republican
  • Emphasises the dynastic rule by saying he will have Tiberius “take his name and his responsibilities"
• JC as essential to Rome

  • "do not allow Vesta’s flames to be quenched by the blood of her priest”
  • Grief at his death -> omen of the “Stygian owl”
  • “Sad omens” in a “thousand places”
  • “Ivory statues wept”
  • “Face of the sun darkened”
  • “Drops of blood rained from the clouds”
  • “Silent dead walked”
  • “Earthquakes shook the city”
• JC defined by his paternal relationship with Augustus

  • “There is no greater achievement among Caesar’s actions than that he stood father to our emperor”
  • “In order for the emperor not to have been born of mortal seed, Caesar needed to be made a god”
  • Gaul is conspicuously absent from his achievements
  • Compared to other great men whose sons surpassed them like Achiles and Peleus
• Importance of JC's deification

  • JC made divine -> “ascends to heaven as a god” “worshipped in the temples” “change it to a star” “deified Julius may always look down”
  • Emphasised through the use of intertextual reference to Aeneid + Iliad -> “tried to hide Caesar in a cloud”
• Contradictory in who is better, Augustus or JC

  • Caesar “delights in being surpassed” by Augustus and lists other great men whose sons surpassed them e.g. Achilles and Peleus and Saturn and Jove (linked to GA)
• Augustus following in JC’s footsteps

  • “As heir to his name, will carry the burden carried upon him…in battle”
  • Has his own military victories
  • Jupiter prophecises he will be deified also
• Very different relationship compared to the start of Augustus’ career

  • Augustus needed JC then, but now JC needs Augustus to avenge his death + ensure he is made god
  • He carries the “burden” of being the “most courageous avenger of his father’s murder” because he is “heir to his name”
• Vengeance

  • JC indebted to Augustus as he carries out the “burden” of civil war to avenge his death
  • It is his duty as a son to avenge his father (pietas) -> Orestes and Agamemnon. Orestes was found innocent in a trial for killing his mother. The need to avenge his father trumped the blood crime -> father-son relationship more important than mother-son.