Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses Books 1-4, Part A

The two stories I want to focus on this week are Phaethon's Ride and Callisto. These were the two stories I found more interesting and might was to retell for this week!

Phaethon's Ride

This story was similar to the famous story of Icarus in that a son ignores his father's warning and is consumed by fire as a result. I had never heard Phaethon's story before and I enjoyed reading it. Phaethon was a young man, overly confident in his parentage, who thought he could wield Phoebus' own chariot, even though he explained not even Jupiter himself could do so. It fits in with other classic tales warning against arrogance and pride. 

If I retell this story this week, I would leave Phaethon's actions the same, but maybe set it in more modern times and have Phaethon's horrible driving be like an unknown cause of global warming/climate change. That is was I was thinking about reading the section that detailed the consequences to the earth for his mistakes. 

(Phaéton on the Chariot of Apollo by Nicolas Bertin)

Callisto

(tw: rape mention)

This was another story I had never heard before, but this one really got me going. It's no secret Jupiter was never able to keep it in his pants, that I hate. What I also hate is how Juno always made it out to be the woman's fault, in this case Callisto, even though Jupiter raped her. Victim blaming was alive and well in ancient Rome and Greece. 

I really felt awful for Callisto in this story because she was thrown out by Diana when she realized Callisto was pregnant. Callisto lost everything and was then turned in to a freaking bear, almost killed by her own son, and then turned into a constellation. 

If I retell this story this week, I would want to change multiple things. first off, the setting. I would set it more modern in like a large city. Second, the character's would be different and I would have Diana and her followers be in like a girl gang. In my story, when Jupiter rapes Callisto, the gang would come together, not shun her, find and beat the hell out of Jupiter. We'll see, I guess! 

(Diana and Callisto by Peter Paul Rubens)

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Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Phaethon's Ride and Callisto, translated by Tony Kline