Analysis Of Ovid 's ' The ' Apollo ' Essay

   Passionate lust is a blinding force. When jealousy and desire control actions, the outcome is never what it is envisioned to be. Ovid's Metamorphoses provides an clear example of love turned terribly wrong. Throughout the novel, overwhelming desire controls actions and emotions, leaving behind sadness and grief wherever it strikes. With this kind of love, nobody gets what he or she wants in the end.

Love in itself is a very complicated emotion, being either the driving force for a great blessing or a pressing burden. When comparing the surrealist chronicle, The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, and the down-to-earth short story Samsa in Love, written by Haruki Murakami, this idea truly takes form. The Metamorphosis is the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who works vigorously to support his disconnected family. One morning, Samsa awakens to find spontaneously himself transformed into a giant cockroach. No longer able to support them, the roles are flipped and Gregor is now being cared for and quickly becomes a burden on his family. On the other hand, Samsa in Love transforms Kafka’s original story as in this version, Gregor Samsa

Love is one of the most indescribable concepts that exist in one’s life experiences. Some argue that love is one of the most important things to have in life, which can shape and mold one’s interpretation of the world. Others may claim that love is an illusion, which serves as a distraction preventing individuals from being enlightened. The interpretation of love could be ambiguous, but the important thing is that love is very powerful and can severely affect an individual’s behavior, expectations in life, and sole responsibilities. Many writers have written about the power of love. Some of these works include, “The Love Suicides at Amijima”, “Death Constant Beyond Love”, and “Gilgamesh”. The most distinctive and comprehensive story involving

One of the overarching themes that spanned over the many books we read over the semester, was the nature of love and the search for meaning. Love is an inherent aspect of humanity, and while it is an often inexplicable and complex sentiment, it is intrinsically connected with mankind's search for meaning in life. Love often leads a person in directions that they do not expect, and this is obvious in the very different applications of love in different books. However, one common idea about the relationship between love, suffering, and wisdom, can be argued for based off the ancient texts that we read. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Antigone, and The Tale of Genji, love is used as a vehicle for wisdom through suffering and loss.

This contrasts both Phaedrus’ and Aristophanes’ descriptions of love. She broadly states that “a lover does not seek the half or whole” unless it is “good” because people will even amputate, or separate, part of their own body if diseased (Sym. 205E). Aristophanes argues “love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness” but Diotima explains this cannot be true if the other half is bad, even if it seems to bring wholeness, such as bodies with a temporary veneer of beauty (Sym. 192E). So, love must be explained by separating it to an upwards trajectory, rising towards the concept of good. Otherwise love is only an impermanent “promise” (Sym. 193D). Therefore, Aristophanes’ lack of separation from the concrete cause love to come from incompleteness and a fallen condition (Dutton Lecture). Likewise, Phaedrus’ speech lacks a removal from the present and therefore fails to explain love’s effects, as seen in his Achilles and Patroclus example. To Phaedrus, Achilles still dying after Patroclus passes is love, for “no one will die for you but a lover” (Sym. 179B). But, Diotima claims this love is unhealthy as it fails to represent the abstract notion of beauty. Since beauty is something to be indirectly experienced, it is unmeasurable and instead “preserves”

In the Symposium Plato places Socrates in a dialogue with the goddess Diotima. She says two things of interest to this paper about love. Firstly, at 206a that humans when they love long to possess the good and do so for ever, and secondly that at 206b that "To love is to bring forth upon the beautiful, both in body and soul (Hamilton 558)." The first statement makes a claim about what love is, a desire to posses the good, and the second a statement about what love does, bring forth the beautiful. I will now briefly analyze both claims.

As someone who suffers from extreme jealousy, Apollo demonstrates the archetypal masculine characteristics of love and obsessiveness. When in a relationship, it is easy for one of the two partners to become obsessed in trying to win the heart of their loved one or when trying to make the other person loves them back. According to The Health and Wellness Resource Center, “Suspicion and mistrust may make you feel that you have to constantly guard your romantic partner to make sure he or she does not run off with someone else” (Sheingold). Sheingold explains how when an obsessive partner tries to make the other love them, they constantly guard them to make sure that they are in line and following their rules. These traits can turn controlling. Similarly, Apollo always feels the need to be in control and he constantly tries to force his attempted romantic partner to love him. When his attempted lover would not love him back, he would ruin their lives. For example, a priestess named Cassandra notices Apollo at his temple and was instantly attracted to his beauty. She gives him a small smirk and he is also very delighted. Apollo makes a deal with Cassandra, if

Ever wondered how love can bring you happiness and pain and make you sane and crazy at the same time. How this emotion can change you and make you accept things you are not used to. How this emotion can overpower you in many ways in which you did not know existed. In Lancelot by Chretien de Troyes, the power of love is a commanding driving force that can dominate a person’s mind, body, and soul and one who is courageous enough to love sometimes undergoes serious consequences. Consequences that are driven from the power of love that harm and cause hardship to the one who is determined to seek love.

In today’s society duty is defined differently than it was in the days of Ovid, Virgil and Valmiki. Duty used to be treated as something the person wants to do for their ancestors and their devotion to one’s family. Today the closest person we have to this is a soldier. Soldiers work for their country and to protect their families from harm. Many times the soldiers go into the army because of a sense of moral obligation to serve their country, rather than for pleasure. Soldiers fit into all of these writers ideas of duty because they are motivated to serve their country. Duty is a big part of society and is still around today, but it is seen in different parts of society then it was back then.

One of the first myths Ovid relates is Daphne’s, and her struggle is to be shared with many other women in the pages to come – beauty as a curse. The golden girl’s only wish is to be a virgin for eternity, a wish that is incongruent with her gorgeous demeanor. The moment the god of Oracles, Phoebus, sees Daphne, his heart kindles for her, and his eyes cannot leave her. “Phoebus is lovestruck… he sees her lips and never tires of them; her fingers, hands, and wrists are unsurpassed; her arms – more than half-bare – cannot be matched; whatever he can’t see he can imagine.” He pursues her, and she runs, unable to bear the thought of a lover.

Cupid, being known for love, has greatly influenced today’s society even with his questionable background. In ancient Greece, he originated from Aphrodite. Cupid’s other name was Eros. In Roman times, his name is Cupid and his mother was Venus. His purpose was to to pierce the heart of his victims and causing them fall deeply in love. The most known stories that he was involved in was Apollo and Daphne and Cupid and Psyche. Apollo was shot by Cupid and fell in love with Daphne. Daphne couldn’t stand being bombarded by Apollo. The moral of the story is pride in victory sets one up for defeat; in fact the moral of Cupid and Psyche story is love cannot thrive where there isn’t trust. The resolution to his story is he marries Psyche. Venus supports their love. For Apollo and Daphne, Daphne is now the reason why we have the Laurel Tree.

Like Apollo says to Daphne, Juliet should be honored by the proposal and the women should feel lucky to even have Sampson’s attention. Any woman who does not succumb to pleasure from an eligible man would be going against nature. Through his writing, Ovid shows the abnormality of a woman who does not crave the love of a man by telling the tragedies of two such women. Daphne, who was “rival to Diana, virgin goddess” (Ovid 17), wanted nothing to do with men, despite pressure from her father to give him grandsons and pursuance from Apollo. Her only means of escape was to give up her frigid human form and convert into a tree encased in hard bark.

In calling love “a serious mental disease,” Plato inspired centuries of authors, doctors, and philosophers. Unlike romantic comedy movies and the Top 40 pop songs chart, which idolize love, literature frequently portrays it as a sickness. Both love and mental illness affect brain chemistry, mood, and behavior. In pieces such as Euripides’ Medea, symptoms of love range from mental illness-like ailments to physical manifestations such as a vanishing appetite, concentration, and apparent sanity. In Longus’ work, love is described as having similar traits. Throughout the story of Daphnis and Chloe’s pastoral romance, love drives both of them mad with longing. Love amplifies their innocent feelings for each other, resulting in a disorienting combination of depression and mania. The affliction goes deeper; their total devotion to each other and pastoral

"The Mask of Apollo" revolves around the adventures of Nikeratos, a young actor who travels the countryside of ancient Greece and Sicily while performing in various plays. In one play, Kadmos by Sophokles the Younger, Nikeratos is required to wear an old mask of Apollo as part of his costume. The mask is fifty years old and is rumored to bring good luck. Nikeratos is impressed with the mask and comes to believe that it possesses special powers. He begins to make reverent gestures toward it as when he places a bay-sprig above it and sprinkles drops of wine on the floor in front of it.

Apollo became more like his father zeus which they were both drawing to woman but unlike his father Apollo always want more. At it said in this ancient greek quote “ Once, a long, long time ago, all people had four legs and two heads. And than the gods threw down thunderbolts and split everyone into two. Each half then had two legs and one head. But the separation left both sides with a desperate yearning to be reunited. Because they each shared the same soul. And ever since then, all people spend their lives searching for the other half of their soul.” And in that quote my intention was that i felt that quote may have describe what apollo was yearning to have which was love. As may of us in modern day life may also be searching for , and it is also believed that gods were just like mortals with the same humanity as some but just immortal forever. In the eyes of ancient Greek mythology the gods are depicted so much like us. In which we share Pain and love, hand in