Classical Mythology

Metamorphoses Part 1 Study Questions:

• Compare the stories of Pentheus in Euripides and Ovid. What are the similarities and differences? How does Ovid set up this story? What comes before and after? How is it significant?
  
  
• Compare the stories of Actaeon in Euripides' Bacchae and Ovid's Metamorphoses. What are the similarities and differences? Why do you think Ovid's version differs slightly?
  
  
• Do you see any parallels in the stories of Narcissus, Pentheus, and Actaeon? What is the significance of gazing in the myths of these three stories? Are these similar types of looking or not? Why do Actaeon and Pentheus meet a similar end? Who loses their voices and why? How is this significant?
  
  
• To what extent do characters in book 3 anger the gods as a result of their conscious actions? To what extent are their confrontations with the gods accidental or not their fault? Are the gods actions justified? Why or why not?