Reflection on The Transformations of Lucius

I'm sure people have quoted this from class on April 16th, but I like it so much I have to blog it too. On the 16th we were talking about The Golden Ass (or rather the first Mr. Ed) and that led Sexson to say, to the class, "You are all asses." Sexson is referring to the fact that we all need to be transformed. I don't know how we are to be transformed. Transformed by the class, by classical literature, by life? I suppose we are transformed by all of these things and more. I agree with Sexson, we are all asses, and that's with the understanding that ass doesn't mean idiot, but maybe it means naive or learning. While we learn we might make "asses" of ourselves.....but not really. Anyway, the point is, I may never hear a professor call his/her students asses ever again, so that was a special moment!

So, I read The Golden Ass and I loved it. Some of the situations were hilarious, like when Lucius, in ass form eats all the really nice food from the bakers table and baker guy gets really excited about it and trains him to do "tricks." Then I got grossed out when Lucius, still in donkey form has sex with a rich noblewoman.

I also wanted to point out that in one of my earlier blogs I talked about the Centaurs and the Lapiths, and so to my pleasant suprise they are talked about in The Golden Ass as well. It's a small blip, comparing when the bandits stole the bride from the wedding, to the wedding of Hippodamia and Pirithous of which was ruined by the Centaurs and Lapiths. It was nice to know the story behind the reference.

Another example of sporagmos is in The Golden Ass. The two groups of bandits are comparing stories and the second group is telling their unfortunate tale on page 90. "It was shocking to see poor Thrasyleon cornered by dozens of maddened dogs, who fastened their teeth into various parts of his body and began pulling him to pieces." Classic example of sporagmos.

Also, when Lucius and the girl that was captured with the bandits are escaping the girl is talking to Lucius the ass and wondering if he was a god or human in animal form. That was pretty ironic.

In class Sexson was talking about the morals in the Metamorphoses and his reductionistic conclusion was #1 Shit happens and #2 Things change which can be the morals for The Golden Ass as well. Then later on in class Sexson put out there that the moral of the story is the story.

a romantic recount

While reading the Metmorphoses of Ovid today I found a story that I really liked. It stirred some emotion and made me sad. The story is Pyramus and Thisbe. It is a beautiful and tragic love story. These two lovers live right next to eachother, but are forbidden from hanging out. Yet, the fire of love continues to burn within them. Pyramus and Thisbe communicate through a small crack in the wall and plan to meet out near this mulberry tree. Thisbe drops her cloak and a lion rips it up with her bloody mouth. Then Pyramus finds it and kills himself because he thinks Thisbe is dead. But she is alive and finds Pyramus, and kills herself, all for love. How amazing. I would never kill myself if the one I loved died. Granted, I would probably feel like I'd rather be dead than alive without the person, but still, I could never stab myself over that. In any case, the real heart jerker is that Thisbe pleads for the gods to leave the mulberries the dark red color instead of white in rememberance of their love. And the gods grant her wish. I just like this story. That's it.

rainbow fever

The other day in class we had to choose 5 lines from The Metamorphoses of Ovid to share with the class. I think they were supposed to be our favorite lines. I chose an excerpt from Arachne on page 179. It's describing a tapestry, I just like the description:

"as, when a storm is done, the rays of sun
strike through the raindrops and a rainbow stains
with its great curve a broad expanse of sky;
and there a thousand different colors glow,
and yet the eye cannot detect the point
of passage from one color to the next,
for each adjacent color is too like
its neighbor..."

I went three lines over the suggested 5, but I thought it was necessary. This description paints a rainbow across your mind. Even though it is not there for your eyes to see, you have no doubt of what it looks like. This description makes the colors dance in my imagination. I feel the colored raindrops are interacting and communicating. There could be a dialogue between the color droplets. I have heard many words trying to describe a rainbow, but this description used in The Metamorphoses of Ovid, is not cheesy like the others, it is true and majestic. Just absolutely beautiful.