Ep. 27: Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VII (trans. Rolfe Humphries)

<p>In this episode we mainly discuss two complicated love stories: Jason &amp; Medea, and Cephalus &amp; Procris. Both these stories begin with happiness for the lovers, but end with madness, violence, and death. What does this say about the place of love in the <em>Metamorphoses</em>? The overwhelming power of desire is a constant in this poem, but those possessed by desire rarely (never?) come to good ends. There is a sensuousness and a romantic quality to the poetry in the <em>Metamorphoses</em>, but the arcs of the individual characters often involved them being punished, somehow, for their pursuit of their beloveds? Love produced envy and jealousy, even insanity, along with a host of other bad consequences. Yet it also motivates and ennobles human action (and generates poetry). How should we understand this? What does Ovid think about love?</p>