Goddesses In Ovid's Metamorphoses

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In this day in age a god, whether it be Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, is seen as being all powerful and stoic; to influence and guide the lives of people in discrete and in almost insignificant ways. However the mentality of an aloof being during the Greek and Roman periods was completely different. The pantheon of gods and goddesses that ruled over the masses were very much animated. They were not cold or rigid as some of their statues might portray them to be. These gods had character, flaws, and emotions. Ovid’s Metamorphoses explores these attributes in the his epic. In book I of Metamorphoses, Ovid depicts Jove and Juno as emotion filled gods who in the course of his tale cause Io, a water nymph, to be violated, to become a heifer, to be held hostage, and to be tortured. Both Jove and Juno’s emotions, through lust, fear, jealousy, and anger, caused Io, a harmless bystander, to be wrapped in a web of misery. Ovid first introduces Jove, god of the skies who rules mount olympus and all deities within his domain, in his epic. Jove is infamous for his unquenchable thirst for sex. His conquest over beautiful nymphs and mortal women spans throughout greek and roman legends. Jove takes countless forms and disguises in order to kidnap or sometimes persuade helpless women into sleeping with him. His lust does not come …show more content…
Whether it be love, lust, or sympathy Jove sets a plan in motion that further enrages his jealous wife. He tests Juno’s anger by killing her faithful guardian, Argus. Infuriated, Juno seeks vengeance towards Jove. In her rage Ovid describes Juno’s reaction by having “the goddess set a horrifying Fury before the eyes and the imagination of her Creacian rival; and in her heart she fixe[s] a prod that [goads] Io on, driving her in terror through[out] the world…”(1087). It is through Io that Juno furiously exacts her revenge on Jove causing the water nymph’s suffering and anguish as a
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