Resistance, Revenge and Recalling the Dead: The Power of Art in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’
*Note: this essay was originally submitted for a university assessment as part of a Classics & Cultural Translations module.
Peter Paul Rubens, Tereus Confronted with the Head of his Son Itys, 1636–38
Throughout the ‘Metamorphoses’, Ovid weaves together tales of artistry and the artist with the connecting thematic thread of transcendence. An artist himself, Ovid expresses the profound power of art through his retellings. Art, in its various forms, is the tool with which the artists of Ovid’s mythological landscape push certain boundaries, often transcending them entirely. These transgressive artists challenge the sacred hierarchy between gods and mortals, resist the earthly hierarchy between men and women, or indeed transcend the laws of nature and mortality altogether. As Charles Segal writes, “Orpheus and other artist figures, such as Daedalus [possess] the creative power to cross the boundaries between matter and spirit, and this is also the creative power of art.” (*Segal, 28) In the cases of both Orpheus and Daedalus, the limitations of their mortal status pose a challenge which they both use this ‘creative power’ to overcome. However, such power comes at a price; the inherent human fallibility of the characters leads each to ultimately fail at their respective tasks. Arachne’s mortal status is similarly the root of her suffering. She is punished for her artistic talents when they are perceived as a threat to the hierarchy that dictates no mortal may be more skilled than a god, by the goddess Pallas. All of these stories can therefore be read as a warning against attempting to transcend the limitations of mortality. The story of Tereus, Procne and Philomela, conversely, highlights the power of art between mortals, as opposed to between mortals and nature or the gods. The brutal tale, though ambiguous in its ending, presents art as an effective tool for communication, and subsequently revenge. Instead of a heavenly hierarchy, an earthly one (patriarchy) is challenged - and successfully so.
Ovid’s presentation of humans using art to cross boundaries takes several forms throughout the ‘Metamorphoses’. The tale of Arachne in Book VI demonstrates the way in which “human artists are punished, or simply victimised, for challenging a god’s professional expertise.” (Fantham, 79) Arachne’s sin lies not in the fact that she possesses a talent for weaving to rival Pallas, but her own acknowledgement of her aptitude. Pallas’ attention is drawn by the way Arachne “accepted praise that set her / above the goddess in the art of weaving,” (Ovid, VI 9-10) implying that the hierarchy which places gods above mortals in all respects can be easily challenged. The stories of both Daedalus and Icarus in Book VIII and Orpheus and Eurydice in Book X focus on the “disorder of the material world on the one hand and the drive for order and transcendence on the other.” (Segal, 9) ‘Daedalus and Icarus’ involves the use of human inventive power to transcend nature. The imprisonment of the father and son on Crete is in this case, the “disorder of the material world”, and Daedalus’ construction of wings is born out of a “drive for order and transcendence” - a desire to escape by transcending the capabilities of their human bodies. Rather, Daedalus’ “transgressive art” (Ovid, VIII 300) is made to “resemble bird’s wings.” (Ovid, VIII 268). Like Arachne, Daedalus and Icarus have crossed a boundary; by Daedalus granting them the power of flight, they have come dangerously close to aligning themselves with gods. As they fly away, “some plowman at his plow looks up and sees / something astonishing, and thinks them gods, / who have the power to pass through the air.” (Ovid, VIII 305-307). ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ similarly sees Orpheus use art, in the form of his song, to venture into the realm of the gods. Upon Orpheus’ quest to plead the gods to recall his recently deceased wife Eurydice from the dead, Ovid emphasises the song he sings to the inhabitants of the underworld, detailing his plea, in a way that other retellings of the myth do not. Ovid conveys the emotional power of Orpheus’ artistry, “not with elaborate detail of the performance, but by reporting its effect on even inhuman listeners.” (Fantham, 87) The power of his song is such that “overcome / by the effects of the song, the Furies wept, / nor could Persephone reject his prayer, / nor he who rules the underworld deny him; Eurydice was called up from her place / among the newly dead.” (Ovid, X 60-64) Orpheus has thus achieved an inhuman feat, transcending the bounds of mortality by reversing death. Like the characters of the previously mentioned stories, he has crossed a line into the territory of the gods - something for which he, and the others, will pay.
The tale of Tereus, Procne and Philomela in Book VI is unique among this selection of stories. The art within it, a tapestry, is a powerful tool for communication, similarly to Orpheus’ song. However, this communication occurs solely between mortals. After her rapist has imprisoned Philomela and cut out her tongue, art becomes her mode of vengeance. In terms of literary symbolism, woven tapestries hold significance as a measure of women’s skill and as the “female counterpart to men’s poetry.” (Fantham, 84) Ovid emphasises art’s power by granting Philomela a level of agency that is not afforded to many mythological assault victims. By “depicting the crime” (Ovid, VI 833) and thus communicating her situation to Procne, Philomela’s tapestry quite literally gives a voice to the voiceless. This rare female agency allows the sisters to get their revenge on Tereus, by forcing him to unknowingly cannibalise his own son. By refusing to be silenced and punishing Tereus in this way, a patriarchal narrative of male domination and the silencing and control of women is subverted.
The aforementioned stories demonstrate the power artistry can grant to the artist; the ability to transcend great barriers. Ovid’s tales do not leave this power unchecked, however. All but one appear to come loaded with a warning of the dangers of challenging divine order and authority. When Pallas challenges Arachne to a contest to determine the better weaver, Ovid includes extended ‘ekphrasis’ (detailed description) of each tapestry. The use of this literary device here is “unique [...] in deliberately exploring two contrasting attitudes towards art and artistry.” (Vincent, 364) As a warning to Arachne, Pallas depicts scenes demonstrating the almighty power of the divine, and in each of the four corners, an example of humans who foolishly competed with the gods and suffered metamorphosis as their punishment. She “thus casts Arachne as the implied reader of her tapestry. It contains a message addressed specifically to her.” (Vincent, 367) Arachne’s contrasting tapestry portrays imagery of the gods abusing their power over mortals, depicting scenes of deception and rape. Bitterly resenting Arachne’s incredible skill, combined with the disrespect towards the gods her tapestry represents, Pallas punishes Arachne by transforming her into a spider. In the story of Daedalus and Icarus, both characters similarly feel the punishing effects of their transgression. Icarus, “unaware / of any danger in the things he handled” (Ovid, VIII 270-271), flies too close to the sun, melting the wax off his wings and falling to his death. For failing to comprehend the power of Daedalus’ artistry, both suffer; Icarus, death, and Daedalus, the loss of his son and the weight of the knowledge of what he has done. It is Orpheus’ human fallibility that leads him to failure also. Breaking with the conditions of his retrieving Eurydice from the underworld, Orpheus, “afraid / that she would fail him, and desiring / a glimpse of his beloved, turned to look.” (Ovid, X 75-77) Having proven he cannot handle the responsibility that comes with the power he has been granted, Eurydice slips back into the underworld for good. The question remains whether Procne and Philomela are punished. The metamorphosis into birds, undergone by both sisters at the end of the story, could be viewed as a form of punishment. However, it appears more likely a form of escape, as is often the case for female metamorphosis in Greek and Roman mythology. Daphne, for example, in the story of Apollo and Daphne in Book I, preferred to be transformed into a tree than have her chastity forcefully taken by Apollo; in granting her prayer the gods saved her.
Ovid’s tales of artistic power can therefore be understood in terms of who receives punishment, and why. In a series of stories linked by the theme of transcending the human body, it is the humans who attempt to utilise the power of art in order to transcend their humanity in some way, who are ultimately put in their place. “The Ovidian artist is himself subject to those laws of matter that human flesh must also obey, as Ovid shows in his tales of [...] Arachne, Daedalus and Orpheus.” (Segal 2, 16-17) Only Tereus, Procne and Philomela’s tale differs - one in which the characters use art for the purpose of justice and vengeance. While Philomela and Procne’s actions resist a hierarchy, it is one that exists between mortals - men and women. It does not challenge the gods, nor transcend what it means to be human; Ovid allows the sisters, therefore, to come away unscathed.
Bibliography
Ovid, and Charles Martin. Metamorphoses. Books VI, VIII and X. New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 2020.
*Segal, Charles. “Black and White Magic in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’: Passion, Love, and Art.” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, vol. 9, no. 3, 2002, pp. 1–34. JSTOR.
Segal, Charles. “Ovid’s Metamorphic Bodies: Art, Gender, and Violence in the ‘Metamorphoses.’” Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, vol. 5, no. 3, 1998, pp. 9–41. JSTOR.
Fantham, Elaine. Ovid's Metamorphoses, Chapter 4: ‘Human Artistry and Divine Jealousy.’ Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2004.
Vincent, Michael. “Between Ovid and Barthes: ‘Ekphrasis’, Orality, Textuality in Ovid’s ‘Arachne.’” Arethusa, vol. 27, no. 3, 1994, pp. 361–86. JSTOR.