Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

Love as Transformative Power in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 103
Familial love also plays a large role in the transformations throughout the
myths. It is commonly manifested as either the avenging of a family member, or
sorrow for the loss of a loved one. In the first case, the resulting transformation
is once again death. Both Procne and Althaea must choose between their love
for their sons and avenging the wrong done to their siblings. It is interesting to
note that both choose loyalty to their siblings over their sons, Procne killing Itys
to harm Tereus for his sins against Philomena, and Althaea punishing Meleager
for killing her two brothers. Althaea becomes “devoted to appease with blood
the shades of her own blood-kin, she must spill the blood of her own son, a
mother undevoted” (VIII. 476-478). Thus, it seems that blood-kin is placed
higher than one’s progeny. When family members die, those left are often
behind transformed out of their sorrow. In another instance of the tie between
blood-kin, Phaethon’s sisters turn into trees after his death. Similarly, most of
Meleager’s sisters become birds from their mourning. However, in the case of
Niobe, it is her grief over the loss of her children that leads her to turn to stone
after their deaths. Clearly, the tie between parents and offspring is also strong. It
leads Ceres to pursue the returning of Proserpina after her rape by Pluto, which
results in her having her back for half the year. Similarly, the love between
Jason and his father motivates Medea to bring Aeson back to the vigor of youth.
In this way, familial love can also be seen as a restorative force.
Though they have a lesser presence in the work, the love of gods and the
love of country also have a great influence in many of the myths. Worship of the
gods sometimes leads to positive transformations, benefiting Baucis and Philemon
as mentioned above, and saving Acoetes from Pentheus. However, it is the
absence of worship that has the greatest effect on the transformations in the stories,
which is understandable given that it is the gods’ wrath at having been
neglected which often leads to transformation in the first place. Nearly every
god has a transformation story associated with an instance of a mortal’s
improper or negligent treatment of that god, from Minerva’s turning Arachne
into a spider, to Ceres’ punishment of Erysichthon, to Bacchus’ causing
Pentheus to be torn apart by his family members. The gods can in a way be
construed as the jealous lovers in this case. They themselves desire to be loved
and respected, and they enact their revenge when not given their proper due.
Thus, this is one of the most destructive forms of love, or absence of love, as is
jealousy between romantic or erotic lovers.
Love of country becomes most important towards the end of the work,
when Aeneas, Romulus, and Caesar are all deified for their contributions to
Rome, as Ovid goes into the history of Rome in that section of the poem.
However, love of country is really ever-present throughout the work as well, just
in more subtle ways. It manifests itself as Jove’s love of Arcady, Minos and
Aegeus’ connection to Crete and Athens, and the distinction between the Greeks
and the Trojans. This leads to another type of transformation—that of war,
which also leads to death and destruction. In this way, love of country also