Metamorphoses by Ovid, and Gemini Term Paper

Total Length: 1083 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

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Perhaps the biggest difference between these two discussions of Creation is the differing accounts of the creation of man. Ovid will not acknowledge man is created in God's own image. He writes, "So Man was born, it may be, in God's image, / or Earth, perhaps, so newly separated / From the old fire of Heaven, still retained / Some seed of the celestial force which fashioned / Gods out of living clay and running water" (Ovid 1068). Ovid seems afraid of acknowledging one God, one force, and one creator for some reason, while the Bible has no qualms about giving God the credit for all Creation and for man as well. The Bible says, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis I: 26). While the Bible gives direct credit to God, it is almost as if Ovid is afraid to give credit to just one being, and so, his work lacks the power and depth of the Bible. It tells the Creation story in detail, but because he cannot make a definitive choice, his words lack the impact of the Bible's words.

Finally, the story of the Flood differs greatly in both these works, and again, Ovid's takes a much different turn than that of the Bible. In the Bible, God sees the evil in the world that came after Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, and chooses one good man to save the animals while he floods humankind from the Earth.

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In Ovid's account, the world takes eons to turn evil, and when it does, the gods instead decide to create a new race of humans because of evil in the world. In fact, Jove commands the gods of the elements to cause a flood, saving no one but Deucalion and his wife, who worship a variety of Gods. This is far different from the violent story of Noah, who saved all the creatures on the Earth, along with his family, who then repopulated the land. This is perhaps the biggest deviation, as Ovid's couple worship and pray to a variety of gods, which goes against all the Bible says and stands for. The Bible instructs readers to worship one, all-powerful God, while Ovid cannot make up his mind or give his allegiance to only one God, and this weakens his work and his storytelling. Ovid seems incapable of making a choice, while the Bible has not problem, there is only one choice, and that is God.

In conclusion, both of these texts recognize the magnificent accomplishment of the Creation. However, Ovid cannot give credit to one individual; he wavers in his credit and his belief in one God. The Bible places credit directly on God's shoulders, never leaving the reader to wonder if others were involved in the work behind the scenes. The Bible does not waver, and so, it is the stronger of the two works, because it takes a direct stand….....

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"Metamorphoses By Ovid And Gemini" (2007, February 28) Retrieved June 8, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/metamorphoses-ovid-gemini-39723