In the first passage of The Creation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, he writes an ode to the gods, explaining the exact reason why he wrote the song to come. The Creation begins, “My soul would sing of metamorphoses. But since, o gods, you were the source of these bodies becoming other bodies, breathe your breath into my book of changes,” (Ovid, Book 1, lines 1-4). He sings the song of the world as he knows it, and how it came to be, a song of changes. Ovid writes The Creation to explain how man was made and how he came to know the world, and himself, while also explaining how man and his world would be chaos without divinity. The main idea of Ovid’s The Creation is that man needs a creator in order to make sense of the world. Without a god, (no
…show more content…
The god who created the world and other gods, was made of a part of nature as anything else was, but man also recognizes himself as being cast in the gods’ image in order to understand his place in the world. Ovid writes of how man was created either by the “Architect of All” to beget a better world, or by Prometheus, son of Iapetus, a titan who created men in the gods’ image. This explains how men view themselves as being similar to the gods, who bring order amongst chaos, and prove examples to men so that they may make sense of their own lives. Ovid continues to describe how men view themselves in this passage, saying, “And while all other animals are bent, head down, and fix their gaze upon the ground, to man he gave a face that is held high; he had man stand erect, his eyes upon the stars,” (Ovid, Book 1, lines 87-92). Man is also described as a noble creature made to rule the rest. Looking up to the ether, where the stars shine in the heavens, man longs that one day he may be so divine. To man, to be like the gods is to live in harmony, in control, to understand and to live in perfect peace. Man understands himself in this way to be a creature meant for better things, even if he himself is an imperfect, earthly thing. To be man means to hope; this is what Ovid says when he explains man and his …show more content…
In his passages, Ovid describes man as being a creature made for the earth, and the earth as being an imperfect thing, writing of “earth’s impurity.” In the first few passages the reader can connect how earthly man is as Ovid describes earth’s nature in the beginning, before godly intervention, “…all were at war; in one same body cold and hot would battle; the damp contended with the dry, things hard and soft, and weighty things with weightless parts,” (Ovid, Book 1, lines 22-25). This description is eerily similar to man, who as an imperfect being, is constantly at war with himself. From the day he is born and throughout the rest of his life, man must contend with the competing forces in his same body; the cold (which can be interpreted as rationality and self-reflection) versus the hot (vivid emotions such as intense joy or rage), the hard (his bones) versus the soft (his flesh), the bodily elements, and the weighty (life and death, love, destiny) versus the weightless (frivolous, daily concerns). From this the reader can understand how man is made of the same impurities as the world he was born into. Ovid also describes how the god linked the elements together to bring peace. Because of this, as a reader, one can understand how man views himself, and what man strives to
The god who created the world and other gods, was made of a part of nature as anything else was, but man also recognizes himself as being cast in the gods’ image in order to understand his place in the world. Ovid writes of how man was created either by the “Architect of All” to beget a better world, or by Prometheus, son of Iapetus, a titan who created men in the gods’ image. This explains how men view themselves as being similar to the gods, who bring order amongst chaos, and prove examples to men so that they may make sense of their own lives. Ovid continues to describe how men view themselves in this passage, saying, “And while all other animals are bent, head down, and fix their gaze upon the ground, to man he gave a face that is held high; he had man stand erect, his eyes upon the stars,” (Ovid, Book 1, lines 87-92). Man is also described as a noble creature made to rule the rest. Looking up to the ether, where the stars shine in the heavens, man longs that one day he may be so divine. To man, to be like the gods is to live in harmony, in control, to understand and to live in perfect peace. Man understands himself in this way to be a creature meant for better things, even if he himself is an imperfect, earthly thing. To be man means to hope; this is what Ovid says when he explains man and his …show more content…
In his passages, Ovid describes man as being a creature made for the earth, and the earth as being an imperfect thing, writing of “earth’s impurity.” In the first few passages the reader can connect how earthly man is as Ovid describes earth’s nature in the beginning, before godly intervention, “…all were at war; in one same body cold and hot would battle; the damp contended with the dry, things hard and soft, and weighty things with weightless parts,” (Ovid, Book 1, lines 22-25). This description is eerily similar to man, who as an imperfect being, is constantly at war with himself. From the day he is born and throughout the rest of his life, man must contend with the competing forces in his same body; the cold (which can be interpreted as rationality and self-reflection) versus the hot (vivid emotions such as intense joy or rage), the hard (his bones) versus the soft (his flesh), the bodily elements, and the weighty (life and death, love, destiny) versus the weightless (frivolous, daily concerns). From this the reader can understand how man is made of the same impurities as the world he was born into. Ovid also describes how the god linked the elements together to bring peace. Because of this, as a reader, one can understand how man views himself, and what man strives to