Ovid's Metamorphoses Character Analysis

Decent Essays
Throughout the Quest I class, a few characters were faced with the dilemma of being different forms. The forms varied with human, God, and mythical creature. Beowulf was almost god-like with his strength and bravery; however, he did not have a choice and died as a human. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the multitude of characters’ forms were changed against their will into animals or inanimate objects. Medea had a choice and, ultimately, chose to be a God or rather God-like. The most famous choice was Odysseus. Despite his strength, bravery, and cunningness, Odysseus decided to stay a human with his family. These characters seemed to make their choices quickly; however if I was in that position, I would have to ponder the advantages and disadvantages …show more content…
These two attributes are favorable for those humans who like power. Most Gods also have a specialty like Zeus’s power with the lightning bolts, weather, mimicking, and shape shifting and Aphrodite who was the goddess of love and protector of sailors. Their powers made their followers afraid to do wrong by them in fear of the consequences and loved by the same people when the Gods blessed them. Because one would rather be blessed than cursed, the people built sanctuaries and temples to honor the Gods. For example, the Parthenon was built in Athens to honor Goddess Athena, whom was deemed as their patron. Not only were buildings built to show piety, but also statues. The most valuable statues were made in BC and a few pieces have survived. The most popular or known statue would be “The Statue of Zeus at Olympia”. The statue is Zeus sitting in a throne with Nike in one hand and a scepter in the other. The statue was made of gold, ivory, and wood. However, throughout several years, it was damaged through an earthquake, was stripped of its gold, was moved to another location, and was destroyed by a fire. From its original location, the Statue of Zeus is still outlined and fragments were found nearby. The magnificence of statue has made it one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Another example of a temple is mentioned in The Odyssey in Book 6 where it says, “next to Poseidon’s temple”. If one loves power, he or she would choose to be a God for the piety and respect and for the

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