Ovid's Metamorphoses

Based on Rosalie F. Baker’s interpretation of the qualifications of an Epic in her article “What is an Epic?”, Ovid’s Metamorphoses is an authentic and unique example of a great Epic poem. The qualifications she mentions are few but difficult to attain in a single piece of writing. Once met, this is what makes an Epic poem such as the Metamorphoses truly epic. Primarily, a few qualifications are related and can be placed under the same umbrella. For instance, the idea of moral characters and superhumans is emphasized by a few of the key points of the criteria: including gods and goddesses. the appearance of a hero with superhuman qualities, moral lessons, and giving respect to the muse of epic poetry Calliope. In the Metamorphoses, a number

Daedalus differs from Orpheus however, because he is not only an Epic hero but a tragic hero -- to a minimal extent. His advanced confidence had made him assume his invention was foolproof and ultimately successful; this ignorant decision results the unfortunate death of his son. Ovid’s work almost hardly fits the next bullet point of an epic, a display of moral themes of lessons. In most epic poems, the heroes and deities are often showcased for their good actions and thus are the role model characters that the reader reflects upon. However, Ovid focuses more light on more relatable characters and shame the deities as a way of spreading moral messages, a twist on the common interpretation. For example, he portrays Apollo and Cupid as feisty boys who begin conflict simply by patronizing each other and resulting in Apollo forcing Daphne to love him. Though it

Traditionally, an epic must be of great length, composed of several short stories, written in dactylic hexameter and include historical legends. The Metamorphoses contains fifteen books and nearly 250 mythical short stories within its book covers, clearly passing above and beyond the first two requisites. It also is impressively written completely in dactylic hexameter. “Why is this important?”, you may ask. Dactylic hexameter is otherwise known as “heroic hexameter” and “the meter of epic” and is composed of dactyls and spondees. It is highly impressive to have a book of hundreds of pages all written in this form yet, Ovid’s efforts paid off because it flows perfectly and sounds beautiful read out loud. The final and last qualification of an Epic poem is its concentration on historical events, people or legends. The Metamorphoses covers a wide number of years and events ranging from the creation of the universe to the death and following adoration of Julius Caesar, two universally impactful historical