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American Philological Association

Cupid and Venus in Ovid's MetamorphosesAuthor(s): Wade C. StephensReviewed work(s):Source: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 89 (1958),pp. 286-300Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283682.

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286 Wade C. Stephens [1958

XXV. Cupid and Venus in Ovid's MetamorphosesWADE C. STEPHENS

THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOLThis study* s an investigation f the possibility hat a level ofreligious and philosophical significanceexists in Ovid's Meta-morphoses,ven-and especially-where Ovid concerns himselfwith his favouritetheme, love. Indications may be found thatOvid makes use of traditions n which Cupid and Venus havefar morethan erotic mportance. It will be argued thatCupid isto be seen in thelightof the " Orphic" Phanes and Empedocles'Philotes,nd thatVenus is presented n threedimensionsby Ovid,the cosmological and patrioticdimensions as well as the erotic.Finally, it appears that Ovid has deepened the significanceofthe love-motiftself, y adding implicationswhich are not to befound n the earlierelegiac works.For manyyears,Ovid has been regardedas a poet whosework,at least before his exile, might be summed up as "cheerfullyimmoral" or even "naughty."'1 His concernwith ove-Romanlove in the Amores nd Ars, mythical love in the HeroidesandMetamorphoses-seemed o issue in sophisticated but morallysubversivepoetry. Apparentlythat stern old moralistAugustusthought o, at any rate,2and thisman witha personalgrievanceagainst Ovid has been followed by the majority of moderncritics.Love, in which the soul is laid most bare, had an undeniedattractionforOvid, whose interest n psychologywas great. AsRand, Frankel,and Otis (among others)have shown,3 heAmoresdelights n the ironic twistsof the situation between lover andmistress: bothhere and in the Ars Ovid foundample scope forhis* This paper was read in a slightlyifferentorm t a meeting ftheConnecticutSection,ClassicalAssociation f New England,October 18, 1958. To Prof.F. R. B.Godolphin,forhis invaluable help, laus maxima ebetur.1The wordsare Highet's: Poetsna LandscapeNew York 1957) 177.2 Cf. Tristia ,passim.3E. K. Rand, "Ovid and the Spiritof Metamorphosis" n Harvard ssaysonClassical ubjects,d. by H. W. Smyth Cambridge,Mass. 1912) 209-38, especially229; Hermann Frankel,Ovid: A Poetbetween wo WorldsBerkeley1945) 10-35;BrooksOtis," Ovid and theAugustans,"TAPA 69 (1938) 194-211.

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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 287wit. When he turned to myth,Ovid attemptedto penetratemore deeply into the soul, and both the Heroides nd the Meta-morphosesontain many large-scalepsychologicalstudies. Thesepoems are less "naughty," more analytical.Is there more to theMetamorphoseshan this? The histories fliterature eem to say that the poem's chief value is in pullingtogether an extraordinarily arge range of mythology. Anextreme tatement f thisview calls the Metamorphosesa sortofGolden ough n poetry: a collection of all the strangestmyths."4This approach suggests o the reader that Ovid's epic is a mereversified andbook,or a kind ofspicyBulfinch.The Middle Ages did not look upon Ovid in thisway.5 Hisworkwas thought o be moreprofoundlymeaningful, venmoral,when the reader went beneath its glitteringsurface. Ovidemoralisehas become somethingof a joke among scholars, yetFrankel has shown that morals may not inappropriately bedrawnfrom ome of the stories n theMetamorphoses;6 nd Robert-son has arguedpowerfullyn defense fthemediaeval approach.7Perhaps the most importantcontributionof these scholars hasbeen the suggestionthat Ovid's understandingof the humansituation shinesthroughhis poetryand thatwe may have some-thingto learn from t. By followingthis thought, the presentstudyseeksto examine the eroticelementof theMetamorphoses,oweigh the mediaeval belief that the poem contains importantmeaning.A testofthis view is providedby the first ove story. After nintroductory hilosophical passage describingthe creation, andafter n accountofLycaon's crime, ollowedby thedeluge and therepopulation of the earth, Ovid moves to the story of Apollo'sdestruction of Python. Immediately after this tale the love

4Highet (above, note 1) 183. I have quoted an extremeexample, but thisattitude owardthepoemseems to prevail n thehandbooks,giving hestudent henotionthatthere s little more to find n thepoem; e.g. W. Y. Sellar, TheRomanPoets f heAugustange-Horace nd he legiac oetsOxford1899) 347;J. W. Mackail,LatinLiteratureNew York 1895) 140-1; M. M. Crump, TheEpyllionromTheocritusto Ovid Oxford1931) 200.,'Cf. D. W. Robertson, Chretien'sClige'snd the Ovidian Spirit,"ComparativeLiterature (1955) 34-7 and L. P. Wilkinson,OvidRecalledCambridge 1955) 383-4forrecentdiscussions f thismatter.

B Cf.histreatment f theNarcissus toryabove, note3), 82-5.Above, note5.


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288 Wade C. Stephens [1958theme is firstbrought into the poem. Apollo, pleased withhis prowess,does not take the littleboy Cupid seriously 1.452-65) 8 Primus morPhoebi Daphne Peneia,quemnonfors gnara dedit, ed saeva Cupidinis ra.Deliushunc nuper,victaserpente uperbus,viderat dducto flectentemornuanervo" quid" que "tibi,lascivepuer, cumfortibusrmis "dixerat:"ista decentumeros estamina ostros,qui darecertaferae, arevulnerapossumus osti,qui modopestiferoot ugeraventre rementemstravimusnnumeris umidum ythona agittis.tufacenescioquos esto contentus moresinritare ua, nec laudes adserenostrasfilius uic Veneris figattuusomnia,Phoebe,te meus arcus" ait; "quantoque animalia ceduntcunctadeo, tantominor st tua glorianostra."Except thatJupiterhimself ppears in the storiesofLycaon andthe flood,this s the first tory n which the gods take any part;we may expectthatOvid would indicateherehis attitudetowardthem. While recognizing hat Ovid's love ofparadox would addto his relishof Cupid's answer to Apollo, we may also find adeeper significance n the last sentence and in the subsequentfulfillment f Cupid's threat, for,with Apollo's own weapons,Cupid demonstrateshis authority. And the substance of theMetamorphosesoes to show that his superiority xtendsover allof thegods, as will be seen below.The passage beginswiththe simplewordsprimusmor 1.452),a devicewhichTacitus was to employwhenhe began his accountofTiberius' principatewiththe phrase primumacinus Ann. 1.6).The implication s clear: just as we are to view theprincipateasa series of crimes,the Metamorphosess meant to be a series oflove stories,ofApollo and of others. This is hardly surprisingand accords very well with the usual interpretation f Ovid's%Vrlk But there mav be more here. The vervfirst oem of the

8The text sed n all quotations ftheMetamorphosessthatofM. Haupt, 0. Korn,H. J. Muller, and R. Ehwald, Die MetamorphosenesP. OvidiusNaso (vol. 18, Berlin1903; vol. 23,Berlin1898). Quotationsfrom therOvidianworks re takenfrom heLoeb text.


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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 289Amores lso begins with a conflictof Cupid and Apollo (Am.1.1.13-16):

sunttibimagna,puer,nimiumque otentia egna;cur opusadfectas,mbitiose, ovum?an, quod ubique,tuumest? tua suntHeliconiatempe?vixetiamPhoeboiamlyratuta sua est?These lines say that Phoebus' lyre is no longer his, that Cupidencroaches on what was once Apollo's sole domain. Ovid isclearly employinghis wittilyparadoxical manner. But to thismeaningthepassage from heMetamorphosesdds a widersignifi-cance, for Cupid now asserts and maintains his superiority ngloria 1.465), showingthathe is supremeamong thegods.Because of his saeva ira (1.453), Cupid takes action againstApollo. Here maybe seen a reflection f thecommon themeof aWrath at thebeginning fan epic poem,but Ovid adds an elementnot present in Apollonius or Vergil, the fact that the victimdeserves his fate. Apollo is superbus1.454), insults Cupid aslascivepuer (1.456), and tells him to be content amores nritare(1.461-2). His pride in his victory over Python makes himlose perspectiveon the relative power of Cupid and the othergods, and Cupid is compelled to teach himhis place.It is noteworthy hat Cupid meets Apollo on the latter's ownground, defeatinghim with Apollo's characteristicweapons, thebow and arrow. In this way Cupid assertshis supremacy n themostconvincingway possible; perhapsitwas forthisreason thatOvid chose this story to introduce the erotic theme. Apolloadmits the conclusiveness f his defeat, using the very word certaofwhich in 1.458 he had boasted (1.519-20):

certaquidemnostra st,nostra amenuna sagittacertior ..Apollo is forcedtoyield, and Cupid's claim is ustified 1.464-5):

quantoqueanimaliaceduntcuncta deo, tanto minor est tua gloria nostra.Apollo suffersfor his blindness. His failure to recognizeCupid's superiority s symbolic of his devotion to the arts ofstrength-huntingand fighting. The Amoresmakes clear Ovid'ssympathieson this question: he favors ove, which Apollo here

IO*


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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 291the virgingoddesses. Only here in the traditiondoes the storyof Proserpina emphasize the power of Cupid in such a way;only here is the motiveVenus' anger at being slighted and themoral Cupid's irresistiblemight. Even Ovid's other version,in Fasti 4.419-620, does not give thisbackground. But here thestory s told to show Cupid's power,forafterhis mother'sappealhe once more asserts his supremacy by overcomingDis and,throughhim,Proserpina. Later,Orpheus doesnotfail tomentionthis earlier occasion on which Love was victorious over Hades(10.29): vos (sc.Dis and Proserpina) uoque iunxitAmor.These two stories, heonlyexploits ofCupid which are told infull detail, representhim as conquering gods of threedifferenttypes:Apollo in theheavens,Proserpinaon earth, nd Dis beneathit. And we maybe surethattheseare notthe onlyvictims f thegod, forwe have Venus' words thatCupid conquers all the gods(5.369-70). None ofthese otherconquests s told at any lengthin theMetamorphoses,ut there s confirmation fCupid's powersin manystories hroughout hepoem. Mention ofsomemay befound n theaccount ofArachne'sweb (6.103-28), althoughCupidis not mentioned and the words caelestia rimina6.131) implysome responsibilityn thepart ofthegods fortheiractions, evenin love.It is truethat in mostof the love storiesCupid is not named,but there s no reasonto doubt his activity n them. His specificdenial ofresponsibility orMyrrha'spassion (10.311):

ipsenegatnocuisse ibi ua telaCupido,indicates that in most cases he is accountable. Venus' wordsquoted above may be takenas the truth;foronlyCupid has thepower to make gods (evenVenus, 10.525-30) fall n love, and nogod can harm him.For the purposesof his poem, then,Ovid has established theconventionthat Cupid is supreme among the gods, having thesame relationship o themthattheyhave tomortals. Even Venusmustseek his aid, as she does in Book 5. And afterthevictoryover Dis he rulesthetriplekingdomofHeaven, Sea, and Hades.It is to be expected that a poet ofOvid's temperamentwouldexalt Cupid. But the storieswhich have just been considered


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292 Wade C. Stephens [1958seemto implya more thanerotic ignificance o the god, and onlyby insisting n viewingtheMetamorphosess nothingbut gracefulmythology an thispossibility e ignored. Such an insistencemustignore the philosophical passages (1.5-88 and 15.75-478), for heyindicate that Ovid tries o do more than tell storiesfor amusementalone. They must be examined beforewe dismissCupid as doesApollo, callinghimlascivus uer nd allowinghim no importance.Since it is in thephilosophical passages thatOvid mostclearlyhas a seriouspurpose, perhaps n thema hint may be foundgivingaid in the interpretation f the bulk of the poem. There is aninteresting elationshipbetween the two passages. Although thefirst as strongly toic leanings, t also includes many deas whichare derived, perhaps indirectly, romEmpedocles.9 The secondpassage is put intothe mouthofPythagoras. Both of these philo-sophersare traditionally inked with the ratheramorphous bodyofthoughtknownas "Orphism", theirvegetarianism nd beliefin reincarnation being the most important connections.10 Nor

9Carlo Pascal, "L'imitazione di EmpedoclenelleMetamorfosi i Ovidio" in hisGraecia apta Firenze 1905) 129-51, was the first o notice many of the parallels.Some of hisfindings ere criticized yF. E. Robbins,"The Creation Story n Ovid,Metamorphoses," CP 8 (1913) 401-14, but for hemostpartPascal's conclusions tandup. Amongthe mportantimilaritiesmaybe cited thefollowing:Met. 1.5 paralleltoApollonius, Arg. 1.496-7 (Empedoclean, according to thescholiast n 1.498).1.6 ,, Empedocles B 27.3-4.1.9 ,, ,, Apollonius1.498 (a linewhich Ovid knew, nd translatednFasti 1.107).1.10-4 ,, ,, Empedocles B 27.1-2.

1.24-5 ,, ,, Empedocles B 35.3-5.1.80-1 ,, ,, Empedocles B 62.4-5.Furtherdiscussionof Ovid's debt to Empedocles may be found in Luigi Alfonsi,"L'inquadramento filosofico elle Metamorfosi vidiane" in Ovidiana, d. by N. I.Herescu (Paris 1958) 266.10 do notwishto make much of theword"Orphism," butit is necessary o theargumentthat a minimumunderstanding e reached. Destructive riticisme.g.I. M. Linforth, heArts fOrpheusBerkeley1941)) has cleared away much of theconfusionbout theword"Orphism, leaving smallbut olidfoundation nwhichtobuild. Dodds provideswhat is perhapsthe bestsummary f the current ituation:"I do knowon good authority hat threethingsweretaught n some of [theearlyreligiouspoems ascribedto Orpheus], namely,that the body is the prisonhouseofthe soul; that vegetarianism s an essentialrule of life; and that theunpleasantconsequences fsin,both n thisworldand in thenext, an be washedaway byritualmeans. That theytaught hemostfamous f so-calledOrphic' doctrines,he trans-migration f souls, s not,as ithappens,directly ttested y anyone n theClassical


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Vol. lxxxixl Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 293is this theonlyhint thatOvid is thinking long Orphic lines, forOrpheus himselfs givenmorethanan entirebook, 10.1-I 1.84,inwhich his story s told and in which he singsa long songdetailingthe power of love. This passage is placed at a climax of theMetamorphoses,here Ovid is on the point of shiftinghis focusfrom the realm ofmythto the legendarypast oftheTrojan Warand Rome's genesis. Orpheus' song bringsto a virtual end thecycleofmyth nd introducesVenus as a powerful eity nherownright."Orphism," we may say,forms bridgein theMetamo7phoses,linkingthe Empedoclean beginningand the Pythagoreanendingby means ofOrpheus' song at the turningpoint. Ovid's use ofCupid, too, maybe related to theOrphic tradition, t least in itsroots,forthe Orphics thoughtof Eros or Phanes as the supremedeity, he oldest of thegods and creatorofall.1' It was this deawhich Empedocles put into philosophical verse when he madePhilotes he organizingprinciple of theuniverse.12Age; but itmay, think, e inferred ithout ndue rashness romhe onception fthebody as a prisonwhere the soul is punishedfor tspast sins." (E. R. Dodds, TheGreeksndtherrationalBerkeley 951] 149.)He adds, "There cannot n facthave beenany very lear-cut istinctionetween heOrphic teaching, t anyrate n someof tsforms,nd Pythagoreanism."For theargument ere,the mportant acts re thebelief n vegetarianism s "theOrphicway of life" (Plato, Leg.6.782c), the doctrine f transmigrationtaughtbyPythagorasnMet. 15.75-478), and theclose connection etweenOrphism ndPytha-goreanism. To this I would wish to add the connectionbetweenOrphismandEmpedocles,who also taughtvegetarianismnd transmigrationfthesoul,and whowas believedto have been a pupilofPythagorasTimaeus, apudDiogenes Laertius8.54).An important onnectionbetweenOrpheus and Pythagoras n theMetamorphoseshas been noticed by R. Crahayand J.Hubaux, "Sous le masque de Pythagore" nOvidianaabove, note9) 293.11W. K. C. Guthrie,OrpheusndGreekReligion2London 1952) 95-7, arguesconvincingly orthe identification f Phanes Protogonos nd Eros. Cf. 0. Kern,OrphicorumragmentaBerlin 1922) frr.1, 61, 72-4, 82-3, and 85, inter lia; thebeginningof Phaedrus' speech in Plato's Symposium78A-C is interestingn thisconnection,because it seemsto give theordinary nterpretationf Eros in classicalAthens.

12 It mayseem to be going oofar ocallPhilotesheorganizing rinciple,nasmuchas Empedocleshimself aysnothing hat can be strictlynterpretedo supportthestatement. But theEmpedocleanline ofApollonius 1.498):

Ve KEOS E{ OAOOlO EKpL VaILS EKaaTaindicates hatan easysimplificationf thedoctrinewas commonlymade-that Strifecauses disorder nd Philotesrder.The Stoics,who were also an important ource forOvid's philosophicalpassages


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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 295inseparably inkedto the idea of Venus as ancestorof theRomanrace throughher sonAeneas. It is for hisreason that theepithetappears thrice n the closing books oftheMetamorphoses,fter hetheme of the Trojan migration to Italy has been introduced.Venus, then,has a triplefunctionn thepoem: first, hroughherusual position s goddess of ove; secondly, hroughhercosmologi-cal attributes, een in Empedocles and some of the earlierstoriesin the Metamorphoses;inally,through her relationship to theRomans and the greatmetamorphosis fTroy into Rome at theend of thepoem. In manyof the storiesmorethan one of thesefunctionss involved.Venus does not appear prominentlyn the earlybooks of theMetamorphoses.n 3.132 she is barelymentionedas the motherof Harmonia, in 4.288 as the motherof Hermaphroditus. In4.171-92 Ovid borrows from Odyssey .266-366 (the Lay ofDemodocus) thestorynwhichHephaestustrapsAres and Aphro-dite in adultery. But afterBook 4 the storiesofVenus seem totake on a greatersignificance. We have already considered themeaning of her speech in Book 5, asserting he authority f loveover thegods.There are two long stretchesn theMetamorphosesherespecialattention is paid to Venus. The first s Orpheus' long song('10.148-739); thesecond sthe asttwoand a halfbooks,beginningwiththe introduction fAeneas in 13.625. InterestinglynoughVenus is not mentionedat all in the intervalbetween thesetwoplaces, nor does she appear from the middle of Book 5 until9.424, where Ovid notes that she attempted to gain Anchises'rejuvenation.4The song ofOrpheus, which comprisesalmost all ofBook 10,has love for tstheme. The singerannouncesthis 10.152-4):

... puerosque canamusdilectos uperisnconcessisqueuellasignibus ttonitasmeruisseibidinepoenam.14 Crump (above, note 4) 274 remarks hat the Metamorphosesas threemajordivisions, ndingat 6.420, 11.193,and 15.879. Subtracting n introduction f451linesfrom hefirst, e find hateach division s ofapproximatelyhesame length-3836, 3774,and 3927 linesrespectively.Each timeVenusappears n thepoeminanimportantway, it is near the end ofone ofthesesections, .g. the Proserpina toryat the end ofthefirst, rpheus'song nthe econd, nd herappearances s protectressof Rome from13.625on.


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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 297there and determined to inflicta special punishmenton theCerastae alone (10.232-4):

exiliopoenampotiusgens npia pendatvelnecevel siquidmedium stmortisque ugaeque.idque quid esse potest, isiversaepoenafigurae?The idea ofmetamorphosis s a compromisebetween two statesoccurs again in the song, in the storyof Myrrha,whose trans-formationntoa tree efther between theworldsofthelivingandthe dead. The idea is crucial for an understandingof whatmetamorphosismeant to Ovid.The story f thePropoetides gain illustratesVenus' anger. Inspiteofthehorrible xampleoftheCerastae,whowereturned ntobulls, the Propoetides scorned the divinity of Venus. Theyshowed theircontemptof her by becoming prostitutes nd fellvictims to a curiously appropriate punishment,for they wereturnedto stone " as theirshame leftthemand theblood in theirfacesbecame hard" (10.241), i.e., theywere unable to blush.

The Pygmalionstory,which follows mmediately nd is indeedconnected to the account of the Propoetides, s carefully hapedto provide an exactreversal f the situation.15 Pygmalionhad be-come disgustedwithwomen because of the Propoetides,and he,likeOrpheushimself,iuconsortearebat10.246). The Propoetides,because they defiedVenus, were turned to stone; Pygmalion'sstatue, because he honored Venus, was turned to human flesh.The similarities nd differencesetweenthe two situations, vento theblushing, re well summarized n the lines (10.292-4):... dataque osculavirgosensit t erubuit imidumqued lumina umenattollens ariter um caelo vidit mantem.

As, in a sense,Pygmalionmarriedhisdaughter,16henextstorytakes up a similar relationship mong Pygmalion's descendants.But this time Venus and Cupid take no responsibility or theunhappyoutcome (10.311):ipse negatnocuisse ibisua telaCupido.

"I Frainkelabove, note3) 95.16 Ibid., 96. Cf. also P. Ferrarino, Laus Veneris" in Ovidiana above, note9)310.


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Vol. lxxxix] Cupid in Ovid's Metamorphoses 299been given her is not lost,she is seen more and more as the an-cestress f the Roman people, guiding theirdestinyat the crisesoftheirnational life. That the conceptionsof Venus as naturalforceand as protectress f Rome are not,forOvid, mutuallyex-clusive is shown by an importantpassage of the Fasti (4.91-5,117-9, 123-4):

illa (sc. almaVenus) quidemtotum ignissimaemperat rbem;illa tenetnulloregnaminoradeo,iuraquedat caelo, terrae, atalibusundis,perquesuos nitus ontinet mnegenus.illa deos omnes longum stnumerare) reavitquid, quod ubiquepotens emplisque requentibusucta,urbetamennostra us dea maiushabet?proTroia,Romane,tua Venusarma ferebat.Assariciquenurusdictaest,ut scilicet limmagnus uleosCaesarhaberet vos.

These lines show a clear progression fthought,movingfrom hecosmologicalfunctionsfVenus inthefirst itquoted,to her pecifi-cally patrioticfunction nthethird. In a recent rticle,Ferrarinoexamines the mportanceofVenus inOvid's poetry s a wholeandfinds n her a symbol, "Venere civilizzatrice: dea della vita edell'amore, del progressocivile e del confortoumano."l7 And,although in the passage quoted above the cosmological and thepatriotic re notunrelated,theopeninglines,fromVenus.. almain line 90, stressherfunction s thefoundationof ifeand creatorofthegods.The Roman theme is carried on in Books 14 and 15. VenuswatchesAeneas' triumphoverTurnus and takesthe initiative nsecuringher son's deification 14.584-608), as she had alreadydone for no and Melicertes (4.531-42). At the end ofBook 14Ovid tells the story of Venus' saving Rome at the time of theSabine invasion (14.772-804). And finally he carriesCaesar'ssoul to heaven (15.843-6):

Vix ea fatus rat,mediacumsedesenatusconstititlma Venusnullicernenda uiqueCaesariseripuitmembris ec in aera solvipassa recentemnimamcaelestibusntulit stris17 Op. cit. above, note 16) 315.


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