Joseph Campbell, well known scholar of mythology, said "Myth is the secret opening through which the exhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human manifestation."" We, the human race, are always looking for some way to express our emotions, our innermost secret desires. Myths, according to Campbell, are a way to convey to ourselves or others important truths or values that are otherwise difficult to define. This is what makes Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman such an effective play "it uses myth to create a connection with the audience. This highly visual play is dependant upon the various designs which brilliantly depict the myths.
The set design for Metamorphoses was perhaps the most important element in this production because it unified all the other design aspects as well as the various myths. Daniel Ostling, the set designer, based his idea for Metamorphoses on the interplay between the four elements "water, fire, wind and earth (Production notes pg. 21). The majority of the stage was taken up by a large, shallow pool of water surrounded by a simple wooden deck. Water, which represents change, is clearly dominant in following with the elemental theme. All of the elements are in some way depicted "the platform is the earth, wind is represented in the sky backdrop, and the chandelier suspended over the stage is fire (21). Any changes to the set were done a vista. The theater space itself was a thrust-type with no proscenium arch, and the audience partially surrounding the stage .
As already mentioned, much of the lyrical beauty of Metamorphoses was provided by the versatility of the pool. I feel that although the stories are poignant in and of themselves, the play would not be as effective had this element been absent (as the stories are so intertwined with the water). This is clearly seen in the story of Alcyon and Ceyx. At one point, Alcyon learns in a dream that her beloved Ceyx has drowned.
Regarding the cosmology in Publius Ovidius Naso's Metamorphoses, transformations occur with a combination of scientific and mythological elements. ... Anger is just one of the emotions that are represented in the Metamorphoses. ... This metamorphoses is the most profound change within this piece. ...
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, readers get a glimpse into the wondrous powers and deep meanings of art as seen through the stories of Arachne and Orpheus. ... As the title Metamorphoses suggests, art has the power to transform. ... All through Ovid's Metamorphoses there is an overwhelming concern with art and more specifically the problems that art faces. ...
In Metamorphoses, the creation story is seven stanzas, a compilation of eighty lines. ... In Metamorphoses the air, land, light and water (as humans know it) seems to form at one instant when "God, or kindlier Nature, [settles] all"(549). ... Like the creation story in Metamorphoses, the flood story gives no specific time frame for the length of the flood. ... In Metamorphoses, Deucalion and Pyrrha, the two survivors, throw stones over each of his and her shoulder. ... In Metamorphoses it was Deucalion and Phyrrha. ...
Nonetheless, Enuma Elish, the Mexican Creation Myths, Metamorphoses, and On the Dignity of Man all attempt to explain the creation of the earth, yet, the biblical account in the book of Genesis is the only one that holds true. ... Metamorphoses is a creation story that appears a little more realistic than the Mexican myths, but it still leaves the reader pondering many essential questions about life. The gods in Metamorphoses have no structure about themselves and it appears to be that creation came from some position of chaos and turmoil. ... Metamorphoses has certain aspects of the biblical...
In Metamorphoses the air, land, light and water (as humans know it) seems to form at one instant when "God, or kindlierNature, [settles] all"(549). ... Much like the stories of creation in the Bible and Metamorphoses, theaccounts of the flood in each are very similar while holding firmly to theirdifferences. Like the creation story in Metamorphoses, the flood story gives nospecific time frame for the length of the flood. ... In Metamorphoses, Deucalion and Pyrrha, the twosurvivors, throw stones over each of his and her shoulder. ... In Metamorphoses it wasDeucalion and Phyrrha. ...
Epic of Gilgamesh and Ovid's Metamorphoses: Comparing the great floods In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero of the flood is not the protagonist, but a god who had once been mortal. ... Especially in Metamorphoses, when saving two of the most devout people was the order in which the Flood was prepared. ... Metamorphoses is clearly Greek in background, and the gods seem much more willing to let the human race survive than Enlil wants to at first....
Man has long appraised and portrayed his own character by means of comparison with animals, as we have seen in Aesop's fables and Ovid's Metamorphoses. ... Shakespeare was a devoted fan of Ovid's Metamorphoses and evidence of this work can be found throughout most of Shakespeare's plays. The Pythagorean theory in Ovid's Metamorphoses states that one should not eat flesh for our souls may inhabit the bodies of animals. ... An indication of this is found in The Merchant of Venice where he blends the tradition of the werewolf, a man who could metamorphose himself into the...
In 5.2 of Hamlet, Hamlet tells Horatio what really happened on the way to England. (He stole the letters that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were taking to the King of England, which instructed the king to kill Hamlet. Hamlet, our hero, immediately wrote out several new letters and sealed them using h...
Upon completion of Kafka's Metamorphosis I was immediately drawn away from the conclusion of the novel and back into the second section. It seemed to me that the true essence of the novella resided in the thoughts and observations revealed in this portion of the story. After watching the video ada...
