Reading Notes EC: Ovid II

Unit: Ovid II translated into English by Tony Kline

Calliope is singing songs (Muses)
Singing of the different stories:
Cupid striking Dis (Hades) with an arrow
 -his arrow makes the god fall in love
-falls in love with Proserpine (Persophone), the daughter of the goddess Ceres

Calliope:

• hair bound with ivy
•  plays the harp

Cupid:

• son of Venus
• called by Venus to make Hades fall in love so that he would not destroy Ceres' gifts 
• "My child, my hands and weapons, my power, seize those arrows, that overcome all, and devise a path for your swift arrows, to the heart of that god to whom the final share of the triple kingdom fell."
• love's power diminishes with Venus

Ceres:

• all things are Cere's gifts 
• daughter is persephone 
• searched for her daughter after Hades took her
• she found her daughter's ribbon near the water and knew that Persephone had been raped
• Ceres made the land unfertile
• she created a massive storm
• her brother is Jupiter
• She asks Jupiter for help
• Persephone can only return to heaven as long as she will never eat again (Persephone's Fate)

Persephone:

Statue of Persephone

• raped by Hades 
• she was a virgin
• Hades took her form a field as she was picking flowers
• daughter of Ceres 
• Persephone's Fate: not allowed to ever eat again
• ended up eating some fruit and seeds in a garden
• the nymphs of Avernus saw her eat and prevented her return to heaven (by cruel disclosure)
• the nymph was punished and was turned into an owl; a feared creature
• Jupiter allowed Persephone to spend time in both kingdoms (heaven and hell). She would spend some months with Hades and then some in heaven with her mom.
• In Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter

Hades:

• known as Dis
• rapes Persephone because he sees her and immediately falls in love
• he was struck by Cupid's arrow