Heroes or Zeros? Ovid’s Views on Manliness in Books 12 & 13

The short section on ‘The Fall of Troy’ presents an almost anti-war sentiment, which stands in contrast to the tales of heroism and great deeds that preceded it. However, reviewing the ‘heroic’ tales, one sees that there is a subliminal message of the same kind present in the sad stories of ‘The Fall of Troy’ …

Fate & Justice vs. The Untouchable Gods

The end of the "Meleager and the Calydonian Boar" story brings up questions of the roles of fate, justice and free will in the lives of mortals. We are told that when Meleager was born, “There was a log of wood which, when Althea was in labor, the three Fates threw into the fire as …

First They’re Sour, Then They’re Sweet?

Zeus turns ants into men. Drawing ca. 17th c. CE A question from last week that stuck with me is whether Ovid presents a clear system of justice. At first, I wanted to say yes, that there was order to the madness. But, the contrasting tales of the “Origin of the Myrmidons” and “Procne and …