The Four Stages In Ovid's Metamorphoses

The creations of Pythagoras were very powerful during the era in which he lived in. He created a community of followers (known as the Pythagoreans) who believed that mathematics was fundamental and ‘at the heart of reality’ (source 1). The people in the society were all proficient mathematicians took mathematics very seriously, to the extent that it was similar to a religion (source 1).

Pythagoras was the first person to really influence the founding of Calculus. He was an Ionian greek philosopher, mathematician, and has been credited as the founder of the movement called Pythagoreanism. Keep in mind he was born in 570 BC and died in 495 BC, so yeah, he’s kind of old. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and traveled the world, visiting Egypt and Greece, and possibly India, and in 520 BC he returned Samos. Around 530 BC, he moves to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there he established some kind of school or guild.

This brief article is written from the psychiatric perspective, pointing out that Kafka has always been of great interest to the psychoanalytic community; this is because his writings have so skillfully depicted alienation, unresolved oedipal issues, and the schizoid personality disorder and The Metamorphosis is no exception to this rule. While this writer tends to think that psychiatrists should read The Metamorphosis, many probably have not, and this paper serves as an excellent introduction to the work, from the perspective that the psychiatrists would value.

Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” is an allegory to human pride and limitation. The story describes the skills of Arachne, a young girl who is extremely skilled at weaving. As a result of her talent, Arachne was very prideful and often acclaimed that her work was better than that of celebrated goddess, Pallas. Pallas, however, detested this and therefore disguised herself as an old woman and challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. Pallas warns Arachne that “experience comes from lengthened years,” although, stubbornly, Arachne stands her ground. Due to Arachne’s misguided self-righteousness, she believes that her work is god-like. This however, is not exactly the case.

    Byblis and Myrrha, two of Ovid's impassioned, transgressive heroines, confess incestuous passions. Byblis yearns for her brother, Caunus, and Myrrha lusts for her father, Cinyras. Mandelbaum translates these tales effectively, but sometimes a different translation by Crane brings new meaning to an argument. As Byblis and Myrrha realize the feelings at hand, they weigh the pros and cons of such emotions. Despite the appalling relationships in question, each young girl provides concrete support and speaks in such a way that provokes pity for her plight. Their paths of reasoning coincide, but Byblis starts where Myrrha's ends, and visa versa; Myrrha begins where Byblis' concludes.

Justice, what is justice?  Is justice the administration of law, a way to punish the wrong, create an example for the spectators? Yes, Indeed, by definition justice is the administration of law, it is to push the wrongdoers according to laws. However, in Ovid’s Metamorphosis, “justice” is not just at all. Females are given a harsher punishment than males. Demigods are punished while other gods are not. In Metamorphosis justice is controlled by the superior (the gods), while the inferior (mortals) are always punished whether they committed a crime or not. For example,the story of Io, she was a fair nymph who caught the eye of Jupiter (Zeus), and was punished for many days. This story is one of the many that Ovid writes about in Metamorphosis, where a human or female was punished without fault.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella that begins with an absurd concept. A man wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. While this concept for a story is certainly absurd, Kafka contrasts this plot with a rather dull, plain narrative. It may initially seem novel to explain a ridiculous situation in a simple manner, but this causes the novella to be quite boring.

In one word, the author Ovid describes the overall content and theme of his poem with the word “Metamorphoses” in the title. Some relative synonyms of this word among others are; altar, change, mutate, develop, and reshape (metamorphose). But Ovid goes further to describe the theme within the first two lines of the poem.

There are many great philosophers in this world. Some of which are extremely well known and almost everyone knows their names like Socrates, Plato Aristotle Locke and so very many more. Pythagoras is a less known philosopher who had a lot of discoveries while leading a life in a secretive manner. He was an enigma and the leader of a religious sect cult who believed the universe to consist solely of whole numbers and their ratios. Pythagoras said "Do not talk a little on many subjects, but much on a few." Has one ever wondered where did he learn his vast knowledge of mathematics and religious aspects leading to the Pythagorean cult, or what was all of his discoveries besides

There are seven stages a human moves through during his or her life span. These stages include infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood and old age.

This story "The Metamorphosis" is about Gregor, a workaholic, who is changed into an insect and must then deal with his present reality. The hardest part of being an insect for him was the alienation from his family, which eventually leads to his death. In reading the short story "The Metamorphosis," (1971),one can realize how small the difference is between Magical Realism and Fantastic. This literature written by the Austrian, Franz Kafka, is often debated over.

Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is sometimes argued as a non-epic as well as a true epic. It is mainly viewed as a non-epic because Ovid's subject matter is far from the heroic themes of the "Illiad", "Odyssey", and the "Aeneid" (Keith 237). Ovid was different and was motivated to push the epic beyond its previous boundaries (Ovid). Perhaps in hopes to confirm the structure of his work, Ovid declares that he will undertake "one continuous song in many thousands of verses" (Keith 238-239). Ovid's wording here is a self-conscious declaration that he is going to write in the epic mode.

Intentionally avoiding flesh eating first came into place as a part of rituals for short-lived purification. Evidence of vegetarianism has been found during different times and places all over the world. The teaching of Pythagoras of Samos, a philosopher, in the fifth century BC is the first recorded teaching of avoiding flesh eating in the Mediterranean. He taught that kinship of all animals is a base of goodwill towards each other (“Vegetarianism”). Vegetarianism has been around since the sixth century BC in Greece and Italy; their biggest motive was to avoid harming animals (“Vegetarian Verve”). In Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth century CE, the greater significance of humanitarianism and moral progress, and the return of animal awareness allowed vegetarianism to expand and gain attention (“Vegetarianism”). By the 1830’s, the term “vegetarian” was already being used in the United States. However, it was not popularized until

Transformations from one shape or form into another are the central theme in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The popularity and timelessness of this work stems from the manner of story telling. Ovid takes stories relevant to his culture and time period, and weaves them together into one work with a connecting theme of transformation throughout. The thread of humor that runs through Metamorphoses is consistent with the satire and commentary of the work. The theme is presented in the opening lines of Metamorphoses, where the poet invokes the gods, who are responsible for the changes, to look favorably on his efforts to compose. The changes are of many kinds: from human to animal, animal to human, thing to

Whether it be because of religion, culture, or personal choice, millions of people worldwide do not eat meat, and the majority of the population, the omnivores, often ridicule these people, the vegetarians, for their choices. This has sadly created a divide between thousands of people, however the cause of this separation is simple. One side, whether it be the omnivores or the vegetarians, feels the need to impose its choices onto the other side. Both sides are at fault here, as the omnivores tell the vegetarians that they cannot get proper nutrients from a plant-based diet, and the vegetarians try to tell the omnivores that they are torturing animals by killing them for food. The omnivores are wrong because, while it does require careful planning, vegetarians can easily get the nutrients they need, and the vegetarians are hypocritical because, as the article will show, farming kills thousands of creatures.