Reading Notes: Ovid's Metamorphoses, Part A
For this week's readings, I chose Ovid's Metamorphoses which includes multiple tales involving the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses. My favorite story out of the seven included in Part A was the story of Phaethon and the Sun from Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000). Phaethon is the son of the sun god Phoebus. He asks his father to prove his parentage by granting his son one wish. The god grants Phaethon a wish and the boy asks to be allowed to drive him father's chariot which carries the sun across the sky each day. Phoebus reluctantly agrees, seeing the danger in his son's request. Sure enough, Phaethon is unable to control the horses and lights heaven and earth on fire. Jupiter is forced to kill the boy with a lightning bolt in order to save the earth. Phoebus mourns his son, as does the boy's mother and three sisters. His sisters all turn into poplar trees as they mourn their brother.
I think it would be interesting to rewrite this story as a father and son in modern times. I would have Phoebus be a race car driver or a man who used to race when he was younger. Phaethon will be his young son who also wants to race and wants his father to let him start driving. For the boy's fourteenth birthday, he asks his father for one wish, which his father grants. The boy then asks to be allowed to drive his dad's car, which the father reluctantly agrees to allow. The boy ends up losing control and causes a major car accident in which he and a few other people lose their lives. The father, mother, and the boy's sisters grieve his death and are made to suffer for the fact that their son killed two other people in the accident.
Obviously, this will not be a very happy story, but neither is the original so I think this will be in keeping with the Phaethon story. I plan to add some details to the story to make it more interesting for readers. I just don't feel like I want to write a story based on Jupiter's various lovers/victims--a few of the stories centered around women/nymphs Jupiter raped and/or killed and/or made into an animal or constellation. The only other option is the flood story of Deucalion and Pyrrha which I didn't particularly enjoy and don't really want to rewrite.
I think it would be interesting to rewrite this story as a father and son in modern times. I would have Phoebus be a race car driver or a man who used to race when he was younger. Phaethon will be his young son who also wants to race and wants his father to let him start driving. For the boy's fourteenth birthday, he asks his father for one wish, which his father grants. The boy then asks to be allowed to drive his dad's car, which the father reluctantly agrees to allow. The boy ends up losing control and causes a major car accident in which he and a few other people lose their lives. The father, mother, and the boy's sisters grieve his death and are made to suffer for the fact that their son killed two other people in the accident.
Obviously, this will not be a very happy story, but neither is the original so I think this will be in keeping with the Phaethon story. I plan to add some details to the story to make it more interesting for readers. I just don't feel like I want to write a story based on Jupiter's various lovers/victims--a few of the stories centered around women/nymphs Jupiter raped and/or killed and/or made into an animal or constellation. The only other option is the flood story of Deucalion and Pyrrha which I didn't particularly enjoy and don't really want to rewrite.
Ancient relief of Helios (Phoebus) in his chariot--taken by Pergamonmuseum. Source: Wiki Commons
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