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Actaeon Metamorphosis Essay

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For some, metamorphosis can be a beautiful experience. For others, it can be a nightmare. One mortal, Actaeon, had a metamorphosis whose cause could be wholly attributed to a simple mistake. Actaeon’s metamorphosis occurs in the middle of the story. His metamorphosis would serve as the climax of the story, with no other scene as important. This metamorphosis is the story, with all the other minor details connecting and concluding it. The transformation into a deer proves fatal for Actaeon, as he was ripped apart by his own hunting dogs as a deer. The metamorphosis takes on a physical form, turning man into deer. It reflects that the hunter, who, with his pack would normally pick apart a deer, is now a deer, the hunted, the very animal that one wouldn’t want to be when surrounding by a pack of hunting animals. …show more content…

This metamorphosis really could’ve happened to any man (since Diana favors women). Post-metamorphosis, the only thing unchanged was Actaeon’s mentality, which had lead him to his downfall in the first place. The clear changes of Actaeon is now he's a deer that gets ripped to shreds by his own hunting pack. Back to his mentality, it does seem to serve as a torment device to not only Actaeon as it lead him astray to find Diana and undergo metamorphoses, but since his mentality caused his death, it was the first heartache for his grandfather Cadmus. “Actaeon, first cause of Cadmus’ sorrow.” The description of Actaeon’s metamorphosis isn’t really all that detailed or extensive, in fact, I would think to rather describe it as concise, clear-cut, and to the point, with no ambiguity. Concise, but a bit lengthy for a simple man-to-animal transformation. “On the sprinkled forehead of the long-lived stag began to sprout, the neck stretched out, the ears were long and pointed, the arms were legs, the hands were feet, the skin, a dappled hide, and the hunter’s heart was

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