The purpose of this paper is to discuss the reason why the Gods punished human beings in the myths that Ovid related in his finest work, Metamorphoses. It is the THESIS here that there were two basic reasons that mortals drew out the wrath of the heavens: they were flawed and they did not give the Gods enough respect, or they displayed what is termed "hubris," or pride, and therefore they had to be punished by the Gods.
Ovid (43BC-17AD) was the Roman poet who used his book to deal with mythological, legendary, and historical figures within his hexameters, in fifteen different books. He began Metamorphoses with the creation of the world and concluded it with the crowning of Caesar and the reign of his son Augustus.
There are five specific stories that deal with ovid's concept of the Gods and their punishment of mortals. The first of these is the story of Lycaon, who was doubting of Jove when he came to visit. Lycaon is eventually punished because he is not only suspicious of the Gods but he is also contemptuous of Jove. His hubris gives him the feeling that he is the equal of the Gods, and for this reason he has to be dealt with.
"I gave a sign that a god had come, and people/Began to worship, and Lycaon mocked them, laughing at their prayers" (10). Ovid offered this story as both entertainment and moral instruction. He wanted to prove that the Gods could well be benevolent, if only mortals would believe in them and give them their proper respect.
As Lycaon flees from Jove, he takes on the characteristics of a werewolf, and this is where the word "lycanthropy" comes from: "Foam dripped from his mouth; bloodthirsty still, he turned/Against the sheep, delighting still in slaughter,/And his arms were legs, and his robes were shaggy hair" (10).
It is interesting to note that Ovid portrays the myth of Lycaon by showing the man as someone condemned to his own type of "metamorphosis" that placed him in the underworl...