Ovidius' "The Metamorphosis" Synopsis and Comments - A short story about ancient Greek and Roman mythology that had a huge impact on European art! Also connections to Bernini and Dostoevsky.
I would like to introduce "The Metamorphosis" written by the ancient Roman poet Oedipus (43 BC - 17 AD). I have read "The Metamorphoses (Upper and Lower), Wide Edition, Iwanami Bunko 313" translated by Yoshiya Nakamura, published by Iwanami Shoten in 2009.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
This work, in which the ancient Roman poet Ovidius, who was a naturalized poet, fully demonstrated his skills as a storyteller, contains 250 stories, large and small, including "Narcissus and Echo," in which metamorphosis is a major motif. It is, in a sense, a collection of Greek and Roman myths and legends. A prose translation that beautifully transfers the narrative style of the Latin original. (Volume 1)
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Oedipus is the previous article.'Vergilius "Aeneis" Synopsis and Impressions - The Founding Myth of Ancient Rome! A masterpiece of Latin literature that also lets us know its relation to Greece!"He was a Roman poet a generation after Vergilius, introduced in
The translator's commentary at the end of the book on his masterpiece, "Tales of Metamorphosis," says the following.
The Metamorphosis is not only the author's greatest work in Roman literature, but it is also one of the most famous works in the history of Western literature. Its enormous influence on the literature and art of later generations is undeniable. This massive work of 13,000 lines in fifteen volumes is a compilation of Greek and Roman mythology, with the motif of "metamorphosis" as its central theme.
Iwanami Shoten, Ovidius, translated by Yoshiya Nakamura, "The Tale of the Transfiguration (Part 2), Wide Edition Iwanami Bunko 313," p. 366.
As will be discussed here, "The Metamorphosis" is a collection of ancient Greek and Roman myths.
Here is the first half of the table of contents of the upper volume, and as you can see, there are a tremendous number of entries. As you can see, there are a tremendous number of entries, each of which is a Greek or Roman myth. As you can see, each of these myths is a Greek or Roman myth. As you can see from the number of pages, each story is quite compact. Therefore, you can choose only the myths that interest you and read them quickly.
As mentioned in the commentary above, "The Metamorphosis" had an enormous influence on later European art.
A famous example of this is Bernini, the king of the Roman Baroque.
Bernini is famous as the man who designed the interior of St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square, and various fountains in Rome, and is known as a genius along with Michelangelo.
And the following image, left.Apollo and Daphne.The right is theThe Plunder of Proserpina."These are the works of Bernini, and they are marvelous sculptures that he created in his early twenties.
These two sculptures are inspired by the very myths preached in Ovidius' "Metamorphoses" (see "The Metamorphoses" for more information on these statues). (For more information on these statues, see "(17) Bernini's "The Plunder of Proserpina" - Amazing flesh! Incredible and superbly crafted! An early masterpiece from the Borghese Museum collection!", ,(18) Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne" - The greatest masterpiece of his early years! A miracle of art, a Borghese Museum treasure!"(Please refer to the article in the following section. (It describes my actual experience in the area.)
As a student of Dostoevsky, I also cannot miss "Landscape with Achis and Galateia" by Claude Lorrain, which is in the collection of the Dresden Picture Gallery.
Dostoevsky is known to have loved and been strongly inspired by this work. Especially in his later years, his magnum opusEvil Spirits."andMinors."The impact has been significant in the (See(10) Mr. and Mrs. Dostoevsky's stay in Dresden: "The Sistine Madonna" and "Achis and Galatea" and other masterpieces."(See article in)
The subject of this work is "Galateia and Achis Polyphemos" from "The Metamorphosis". I would like to present the full text of the book here, but that is not possible because the book is a bit long. However, this book is about 9 pages long, so it is quite compact as a story.
As the story goes, the beautiful Galateia and the beautiful young man Achis meet under the cover of Polyphemos, the one-eyed giant. The reason why they meet without the eyes of the giant is that the giant is also madly in love with the beautiful Galateia.
They thought that if they were seen making love, all would be lost and their love rival, Akis, would be killed.
But as expected, they are discovered and Akis is killed by a giant who is mad with jealous rage.
And interestingly, this giant Polyphemos is thatThe Odyssey.He is the same person as the one-eyed giant in
After all, Homer'sThe Iliad., ,The Odyssey.are inseparable when considering Greek and Roman mythology. As I only knew the painting "Landscape with Achis and Galateia," I was surprised to find that "The Odyssey" was involved in this myth, which was the original source of the painting.
And there is one more myth I would like to introduce in this "Tale of Transformation".
It is the myth of "Pygmalion" that inspired this painting.
This is a famous painting that is often introduced in books on Western European painting, and it still has a powerful impact. For more information on this painting and its mythology, please seePen BOOKS The Origins of Beauty, Ancient Greece and RomeThe following is a simple explanation of the difference between the two.
A statue receives a kiss in a room that appears to be the sculptor's studio. Greek sculptures and masks from Greek tragedies are placed in the room. The highlight is the depiction of the transition from the lower half of the body, still in stone, to the bloody upper half. Bernard Shaw's stage play "Pygmalion" and the movie "My Fair Lady" are based on this story.
Neoclassical or devotional, art that transcends nature.
King Pygmalion of Cyprus was a fastidious man and disillusioned with flesh and blood women.
One day, he made a statue of a woman out of ivory for his own free time, and she was so beautiful that he fell in love with her. He fell in love with the statue, and he prayed to the goddess Venus to give him a maiden who would resemble the statue. The statue gradually transformed into a human being when Pygmalion kissed her on the mouth.
She becomes known as Galatea and they marry.
The story of the statue's transformation into a real maiden was a favorite motif of neoclassical artists who believed that "the ultimate art transcends nature. It was also considered to be in keeping with the Latin idiom that "true art conceals art. It means that when you master an art, you cannot even recognize it as an art.
Creating statues that look as if they are alive is one of the ideals of their creators, and in this sense, they attracted the interest of artists.
Hankyu Communications, Pen BOOKS The Origins of Beauty, Ancient Greece and Rome, P204-205
There were already myths in ancient Greece that were inspired by the ultimate ideal and love for art. What is more, it is astonishing that it continued to inspire artists at the end of the 19th century!
Many other well-known myths are included in "The Metamorphosis." Another important aspect of this work is that the ancient Greek and Roman myths were sung not in Greek, but in Latin, the language of Rome.
Vergilius in the previous article.Aeneis."was the founding myth of Rome. Oedipus followed his example and summed up the spirit and culture of Rome in this work. The existence of these two Roman poets, Vergilius and Oedipus, had a tremendous influence on later European culture. They are truly the fountainhead of European art. It was a very interesting experience to read the works of these two poets.
Both "Aeneid" and "Tales of Transfiguration" have been reworked into a prose style in the Japanese translation, making them very easy to read and not requiring that much elbow grease. They are quite easy to read. In particular, "Tales of Transfiguration" is an easy read.
This will increase your chances that when you come in contact with European painting, sculpture, and literature, you will say, "Oh, this!" I am already encountering more and more such situations. I am already encountering more and more such situations. This is interesting.
I highly recommend this work. Why not pick up a copy?
The above is a synopsis of Ovidius' "The Metamorphosis" and my impression - A short story of ancient Greek and Roman mythology that had a huge impact on European art! The above is a summary of "The Metamorphosis Tales" by Ovidius.
*Please visit this category page for recommended books to learn about Rome and Italy.
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, the Vatican, and Roman Catholicism."
The Italian Renaissance and the Revolution in Knowledge."
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