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How Is Scylla Portrayed In Ovid's Metamorphoses?

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In Ovid’s Metamorphoses many of the women are portrayed in a lesser light in comparison to the males. In this example, Scylla has just pulled out her father’s magical purple hair that keeps their country safe from intruders. Her infatuation with King Minos has led her to betray her family and her people which makes her seem irrational. The imagery created from these lines paints a picture of a weak, illogical woman who will do anything for a male to return her love.
Scylla seems almost insane for going against her father who has been protecting their people for King Minos that she has never met. She just assumes that everything will turn out just as planned. This shows she as a naive woman who believes that everything will happen the way she wants it to happen. Her plan is to pull out her father’s hair, let King Minos win the war, and they will fall in love, though she has no knowledge of Minos’ personality. She offers him all she has in exchange for his affection. She is the reason he could defeat her father, yet is not grateful for her actions. This showcases the desperate woman stereotype that will try to create a romantic …show more content…

She falls in love and is infatuated with a man she has not once met. She betrays her own and stabs her father into the back in order to help King Minos. She acts very hastily and without consideration of how King Minos will take her love for him. Her actions makes she seem very foolish and almost brainless, but Minos would have not defeated her father without her help. She tries to be helpful and accommodating, but her plans fail her. She does not step back and think about what her actions might cause or if King Minos would want to be in relationship. The women are used for what they can do in favor of the males, but are never thanked or given what they want in return making them be seen as just a tool being used by the male to meet their

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