93: Ovid: Metamorphoses - 3. The Flood and Rebirth

The theme today is Flood and Rebirth.

The color is Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating Yellow and the fragrance Acqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani (2011). Tree is Willow. Art work is The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (1818–1819). Essay is John Ruskin's The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century (1884).

Today’s theme centers on how cycles of destruction and renewal shape the world in Metamorphoses. Through the great flood and other destructive forces in the text, Ovid illustrates how the universe and its inhabitants undergo continual processes of dissolution and recreation. The flood story serves as a paradigm for transformation through chaos, and by examining additional passages, we will explore how rebirth and renewal appear throughout the work, often following dramatic or cataclysmic events.

Read these key passages related to the theme

• 1.221-447 — The Great Flood and the Rebirth of Humanity
• 8.198-255 — Daedalus and Icarus
• 11.805-858 — The Transformation of Aesacus
• 7.559-709 — The Plague in Aegina and the Renewal of the Ant People
• 2.358-397 — The Tears of Phaethon’s Sisters
• 15.793-932a — The Deification of Julius Caesar and the Founding of Rome

Pantone Color

• Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating Yellow
• This bright, airy yellow represents the brilliance and optimism of flight and aspiration, echoing the sunlight that ultimately leads to Icarus’ fall and symbolizing the allure of reaching for the heavens.

Fragrance

• Acqua di Gioia by Giorgio Armani (2011), water-inspired for the theme of the flood.

Tree

• Willow
• Known for its flexibility and movement, the willow tree symbolizes adaptability and resilience, reflecting the balance between aspiration and humility necessary to navigate the challenges of flight.

Artwork

• The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault (1818–1819)
• This dramatic painting shows survivors of a shipwreck clinging to life, capturing themes of survival, hope, and renewal, echoing the endurance and rebirth seen in Ovid’s flood narrative.

Literature

• John Ruskin's The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century (1884).
• A series of lectures examining the changing climate and polluted skies of industrial England. Using the metaphor of a "storm-cloud," Ruskin critiques the social, environmental, and moral decay he observed in 19th century society

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We're using a new translation of this wide ranging masterpiece that covers the history of the world, from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar in 42 BC in a mythico-historical framework comprising over 250 myths, 15 books, and 11,995 lines. The translation is by Stephanie McCarter, a Classics professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee: Metamorphoses (A Penguin Classics) – Published November 8, 2022.

This will take us well into 2025. BCE read the Metamorphoses before in 2020/2021.

A Latin text is online at https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.02.0029 (Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892).