“What was Ovid’s view of the gods’ ethical performance?”
In Metamorphoses by Ovid, we see a description and a depiction of the Gods. We see how people react to the Gods, and their complex view on them. Many questions of human history were answered in that book by stating which god did what. The Gods described in the novel are shown similar to human. They have emotions, sexual desires, wants, and needs. However, the book also explains that the Gods of this time could not control these traits well. When the wanted something, they had to have it. There emotions were wild, and their morals swung from good to bad. One minute they would show mercy to their victims, other times they would make the punishments worse. Ovid’s view of the Gods is mixed. His ethical view was mixed.
Within the novel, we see several examples of the Gods actions towards the Human Race and animals alike. An example of this would be Their conquest for love. It is written that Cupid makes Apollo fall in love with a human girl. Time and time again he tries to win her over. Overtaken by the stress of the god, the woman prays to the Gods that she would turn into a tree. This happens leaving Apollo heart broken and angry because of the way she disappeared. Stories of love run common within this book. It is shown that the Gods have the same desire for the human woman as much as human men do. It is shown that time and time again, their search for love gets that best of them.
As stated previously, the gods would be merciful but also ruthless with their punishments. Within the novel, there is the story of the half goat half human flute player. They challenge Apollo to a flute duel, and whoever wins gets to be in charge of the other. With Apollo being a god, there was almost no competition. The goat became slave to Apollo. He tortured them with all his might. At one time he went so far as to skin them while they were still alive. This story shows the brutality of the Gods. They did not hold back, and they always got what they wanted. The gods also punished those who did not worship them. For example, when a queen ordered her people to worship her instead of the Gods. This angered the Gods and they killed her sons. Then after that her husband killed himself. As see here, the gods did not like it when they were not worshiped. The punishments were cruel and unfair.
Ovid’s view of the gods are complex. It is hard to understand that thinking of the time, however, this book does help. Sometimes the gods are generous, but others they are brutal rulers who torture their victims, mentally and physically. Ethically they are all over the spectrum, however, some would say they are not ethical in their actions.
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