Change in the Metamorphoses
In the Metamorphoses, by Ovid, the poems are all connected by a metamorphosis, or a change, in one or more of the characters. Dictionary.com defines change as “to make the form, nature, content, future course, ... different from what it is or from what it would have been if left alone” (dictionary.com) In contrast, the definition of transformation is “change in form, appearance, nature or character” (dictionary.com) There is one noticeable difference, that being the change of future course. In Ovid’s story “Ceres and Proserpina”, the changes the gods imposed on the humans are not only physical, but the future course of that person is drastically changed as well, revealing the god’s rash, chaotic and indifferent nature.
The god’s indifferent nature is displayed in “Ceres and Proserpina” by Ceres, Proserpina’s mother. Shortly after her daughter, Proserpina, was taken by Pluto, the god of the underworld, she went to an old ladies house to get a drink. While she was drinking “...a boy came up to her; and scornful, rude, he laughed and said she drank to greedily. Offended, Ceres... threw the brew... full in his face... the goddess shrank him... a starry newt” (pg. 915, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). After Ceres lost her own daughter, she still feels like she can go and turn a boy into a newt, a boy that was someone’s son. Though, without even a second thought, even though her own daughter was taken from her, Ceres still takes the boy away from his family. She did not kill the boy, she turned him into a newt but he would never be able to return to them. Another example of the god’s indifference to humans is when Venus and Cupid plot to strike Pluto with one of Cupid’s arrows. Though at first it may seem like they were plotting against the gods, in fact their original plan was to strike against Proserpina. Venus says to her son Cupid: “ Do you not see how both Athena and the hunting goddess, Diana, would defy me?” (pg. 913, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). Since both Athena and Diana are maiden goddesses and pledged to never marry, Venus did not like them because they were out of her “domain”. She noticed that Proserpina “like them: she is so bent on chastity. But for the sake of all I share with you, please join that goddess-girl, Proserpina, to her great uncle Pluto” (pg. 913, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). Venus wanted to destroy Proserpina, without a thought as to how it would affect Proserpina or her mother. In both of these cases, the gods were indifferent to the people around them and their feelings. Along with their actions being indifferent they also had chaotic consequences.
The dictionary definition of “chaos” is “a state of utter confusion or disorder...” (dictionary.com). The way the story of Ceres and Proserpina starts is when Venus sees Pluto above the ground and hatches her scheme with Cupid. This in itself does not seem that strange except for one thing. Pluto was the god of the underworld and was rarely above the ground. So, why was he above ground in the first place? In the story it says that Sicily was mounted atop the giant Tophoeus. On this particular day, Tophoeus was stirring and it was disrupting Sicily. “The earth quakes. As it trembles, even he who rules the kingdom of the silent dead is anxious, for the crust of Sicily may split and a wide crack reveal things secret...his fear...led that the lord of darkness to leave his sunless kingdom” (pg. 912, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). The very start of this story is grounded on the chaos happening in Sicily. From the foundation of chaos only comes more chaos in this story. When Ceres found out that her daughter had been abducted she was indescribably saddened and since she is the goddess of grain and harvest the ground suffered. “Now Sicily’s fertility - renowned throughout the world - appears to be a lie: as soon as the grass is in the blade, it dies, undone by too much rain or too much sun...the crop is blocked by chokeweeds, tares, and thorns” (pg. 916, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). Unfortunately for Sicily in this story, the chaos that brought Pluto up to the ground continued on into Ceres’ grief and Sicily unjustly suffered. Chaos is carried out throughout the story and the chaos bleeds through into future events.
Along with many of the characters the future events also are changed in one way or another. Many myths like Ceres and Proserpina are told to explain why something happens
the way it does. The reason for this particular story is an explanation for the changing of the seasons. While Proserpina was in the Underworld, she ate food from the Underworld and when one eats food from the Underworld, that person is forever bound to the Underworld and is not allowed to leave. Despite this rule, Jupiter, Pluto, and Ceres strike up a deal with Pluto where “... he divides the turning year into two equal portions. Proserpina is shared by the two kingdoms: ... six months beside her husband and six months beside her mother...” (pg. 919, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). Her time with her mother above the ground is characterized by summer and her time in the underworld is winter. If this had never happened, there would never had been a need for winter and it would have been forever summer. When Proserpina was in the Underworld, she ate seven pomegranate seeds and Ascalaphus saw her. Because of this, Proserpina “...changed that witness. He was made a bird of evil omen... He has become the bird that men detest - that would announce calamities...bringer of bitter auguries...” (pg. 918, Ovid, Ceres and Proserpina). This innocent witness was changed for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, showing the rashness of Proserpina’s actions. Along with showing the rash character display, it also changed his future, and others. He became something that every man, woman, and child would detest and he was the mark of evil omen and disaster. In one fell swoop he goes from an innocent witness to a detestable creature. The changes in Ceres and Proserpina change the whole world’s future along with the individuals’ in the stories future.
In Ceres and Proserpina the changes in the story affected the world, with the creation of winter, and the individuals’ futures, like Ascalaphus turning into a hated omen. The story started in chaos and the chaos ran through to the end and the god’s indifference towards others merely spurred the story on to an ending that was not so “happily-ever-after”. The god’s chaotic and indifferent nature was displayed clearly in Ceres and Proserpina and those actions the future was drastically altered.