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Ovid's Metamorphoses Literary Analysis

1545 Words7 Pages

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there are many different stories we are introduced too. Since the title means, transformation, it would only fit to grasp a better understanding of how we are transformed though the epic poem. With that being said, there are also many different stories told inside other stories. I wanted to look more in depth in book three, where we hear the story of Echo and Narcissus. I chose to look more in its entirety about this story because it has numerous themes that are portrayed throughout Metamorphoses. For example, love is an ongoing theme for the overall plot, as well as inside this shorter story. We are given different examples of love such as amo, cupido, libido, and desidare. The first theme that arises from this story, …show more content…

At the end of the story, Narcissus died because he fell in love with his reflection, causing great sadness for all those who loved him. “While in the world above, his naiad sisters mourned him, and dryads wept with them, preparing the funeral pile, the bier, the brandished torches” (73). As we have learned throughout the who semester, mourning someone is a detailed processes and providing this quote at the end shows how everyone was affected by his death. Echo also felt a feeling of sadness right before he died. “The strength and hardihood and comeliness, fading away, and even the very body Echo had loved. She was sorry for him now, though angry still, remember; you could hear her answer “Alas!” in pity when Narcissus cried out “Alas!” (72). Echo’s sadness isn’t for herself, but more for Narcissus because she understands his outcome for life. It was the closure she needed even if he didn’t want her like she wanted him, she was still sorry for what was about the happen to him. Another ongoing theme we encounter in this story is death. Towards the end, Narcissus kind of accepts his fate by welcoming death. “If I could only escape from my own body! If I could only – how curious a pray from any lover – be parted from my love! And now my sorrow is taking all my strength away; I know I have not long to live, I shall die early, and death is not so terrible, since it takes my trouble away from me; I am sorry only the boy I love must die, we die together” (72). All through all of Metamorphoses, death is something that many didn’t fear, but accepted as their fate. Narcissus understands that once he dies, he doesn’t have to carry this pain and sorrows with him anymore, making it almost worth it to not be

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