Justification In Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'

The fifth book found in the epic poem Metamorphoses, written by Ovid, tells its readers of many unique and various transformations. Many of the transformations that the gods and goddesses bestowed upon the mortals were completely justified due to the fact that the offending mortals had slighted the gods. This is the precisely the case when it comes to transformations of the newt, owl, lynx, and magpies. Interestingly enough, the goddesses had left behind a few human characteristics in each of their transformations, perhaps to remind the other mortals of the amazing powers that the goddesses were capable of. In the end, each of the transformations that the various goddesses bestowed upon the mortals was morally justified due to the fact that

He was transformed for being utterly rude to the goddess Ceres. The book states, “As Ceres drank what she gave her, / an insolent, coarse-looking boy strolled up in front of the goddess, / burst into laughter and jeered, ‘What a greedy female you are!’” (Metamorphoses 5: 450-52). Obviously, this boy had insulted Ceres for no true reason at all. Thus, Ceres was completely justified in transforming him when she, “threw what was left of her drink / in the prattling idiot’s face and drenched him in barley mixture” (Metamorphoses 5: 453-54). She did this in order to enact the transformation that would teach him a lesson about being insolent towards others. His transformation is described as, “As his body changed, it acquired a tail / and shrank to a tiny size which made it comparatively harmless, / shorter in length than the smallest lizard” (Metamorphoses 5: 456-58). Thus, the boy had transformed into a star-speckled newt. The boy is described as a loud and arrogant child, who acted as if he was more importance than he actually was. Therefore, it would seem that Ceres transformed him into a tiny lizard in order to put him in his place and remind him of his true size, which is nothing more than a mere little child. The book also states, “His soaking cheeks were instantly covered in spots” (Metamorphoses 5: 455). In other words, the boy is described as a rough looking child, so Ceres transformed

Proserpina was not supposed to eat any food from the Underworld; however, she ended up eating “seven pomegranate seeds and crunched them between her teeth. / No one at all observed her eating, except for one, / Ascálaphus” (Metamorphoses 5: 538-40). Ultimately, Ascálaphus could have warned Proserpina about the consequences of eating such food, but he did not. In the end, Ascálaphus had “turned informer and cruelly prevented Proserpina’s / homeward return. The queen of Erebus wailed in distress / and transformed the tell-tale witness into a bird of ill-omen” (Metamorphoses 5: 541-43). Proserpina transformed Ascálaphus into a screech-owl, which was his just punishment for being an informer and aiding in keeping her trapped. Proserpina was completely justified in her turning Ascálaphus into a screech-owl; in fact, she was being kind by simply transforming him instead of killing him for his insolence. According to the Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, “The cry of the screech owl at midnight is said to portend evil” (“Screech Owl” 1372). This is similar to the characteristic of Ascálaphus, whose own voice was used for evil purposes as well. In this way, the screech-owl bears the human characteristic of informing in the sense that both Ascálaphus’ screech and