Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Part A

My favorite tale of the stories told within the first two books of Ovid's Metamorphoses is the story of Phaethon and the Sun. This is a tale about the Sun god's son. All of his life he was told that his heritage was fake and was a lie. Because his mom was the only one who lived with him, they claimed he had no godly heritage. After an argument with his mom, he went to Helios's temple. This was the quickest way to discover if he had true heritage. At his father's temple, his father embraced him and told him to be proud of his heritage for there was no denying he was his son. His father told him that he wanted him to live his best life and if there was anyway he could aide in that he would! But, Phaethon wanted to drive the chariot. This was extremely dangerous for a god and increased exponentially in danger for a mortal. His father begged him for any other request. He went through the dangers that he would be facing and the process. Phaethon was set on the chariot ride. Helios gave in and applied ointment to stop the sun from burning as he went through the steps again. While in the air, Phaethon could not handle the heat. As soon as he was released from the gates, he lost control. He dropped the reins which caused the four horses to sprint in any direction. The Earth caught fire. In order to control the chariot, Jupiter threw a bolt straight at the chariot. Phaethon dies and they scattered his bones near a river for his mother to find. This caused the god of the Sun to go into darkness of grief. The sun did not shine for days. Until each of the gods came to pay their respects and tell him how important it is that the sun still shines.

The only downside to this story, along with many others, is this gives Jupiter a reason to enter Earth. Every single time he is on Earth, he takes advantage of a girl and eventually that girl falls victim to Juno's wrath.

This is a carved representation of the story of Phaethon. Source: Flickr

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Hi! I am a junior at the University of Oklahoma. I am studying psychology with a health and exercise science minor. I love psychology because I think people are very interesting. I do not think people realize how similar they are to other people. I think studying psychology has helped me immensely learn how to work with and adapt to those around me both in personal relationships and in work relationships. Over my two years, I have taken some really interesting courses. I think my favorite so far has been social psychology because I think that there is a lot to be learned about those around us. However, my most challenging class was anatomy. I learned so much about the human body and how phenomenal it is that all of these parts work together to create and function us as human beings. As interesting as it was, it was an extremely difficult course. I was pushed to the point of stress I didn't even know I had. I am a better student because of anatomy but in the moment I was overly str...

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Week Fourteen Story: Furies and Heretics

Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline We had entered Cante 9. I heard my master saying something from behind me but I could not place it. I was distracted by a tall tower that reached far above me. I squinted trying to see better. Then, three furies flew down. They were stained with blood and holding a woman. But, she was not normal. She had green snakes coming from her scalp. They were tearing at her breast. She screamed mercilessly and attempted to swat them away. Suddenly their attention shifted towards me. They attempted to use Medusa in their attack towards me. My master told me to hide my eyes and turn my back. No matter what persuaded me otherwise. As she came towards us, there was a loud crash that shook both the banks. My master told me to focus on the mist. Only the mist. More than a thousand spirits scattered from the water. Amongst them was a Stygain ferry with dry feet. He waved the mist away with annoyance. I knew he was a messenger from Heaven. He walked to...

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