20101210

Ovid Book II Margin Notes

Phaethon: Phaethon finds Phoebus and is granted a gift, he chooses to try to drive daddies car and crashes and burns the world up after Zeus strikes him down for torching the heavens and to stop the chaos. His mother lays on his grave and tears her clothes.


The Heliades: Phaethon's sisters the Heliades lament for four nights with their mother Clymene and then become poplar trees.


Cycnus: Phaethon's relative King Cycnus goes to weep with the Heliades and turns into a swan.


Phoebus: Phaethon's father, Phoebus, the sun, stops driving the chariot and tells Zeus to do it and see that killing Phaethon was not a just act by making the king of gods realize that he, the same as Phaethon, could not handle the horses any better.


Callisto: Lycaon's daughter Callisto is raped by Jove disguised as Diana, then Diana, not knowing the story, simply that Callisto had gotten pregnant, casts her out and Juno grabs her by the hair and turns her into a bear.


Arcas: Callisto's son Arcas is goes out hunting the "likeliest of liars" and happens upon his mother, turned into a bear. He raises his spear to kill the bear and Jove stops this potential tragedy by whisking them both into the sky to become Ursa Major and Minor. This enrages Juno who goes and bitches to the Ocean and Tethys.


The Raven:  Juno returns to the sky on her chariot drawn by Argus-eyed peacocks. The raven, Phoebus' bird, was changed from white to black because his tongue was too loose.


Coronis, The Raven, The Crow, Nyctimene: Coronis was unfaithful to Apollo, the Raven saw this and rushed to tell Apollo, the Crow attempted to stop the Raven by telling its' story and how its' loyalty was its' downfall. The Crow had seen Aglauros peek at Minerva's Ward and told and was then "fired" and Owl took Crow's place. The story told of how Crow was a beautiful woman and the sea god wanted her virginity but she tan, the virgin goddess made her a Crow, and Minerva took her in.; How Nyctimene was made an Owl because she defiled her fathers bed and now, banished from the sky, hides in shadow from guilt. But the Raven doesn't listen and tells Apollo and he shoots Coronis and kills her. Though he repents he cannot save her so he takes his unborn child from Coronis' womb to Chronis' cave and strikes the Raven black for giving him the news that let him to killing Coronis.


Ocyrhoe: Ocyrhoe is transformed into a mare called Hippe for prophesying that her foster-brother Aesculapius would be able to reincarnate and that Zeus would kill him for it; That he would be saved from death and turn into a god, and then that her father Chiron would loose his godly immortality and die after being poisoned by a snake bite.


Battus: Battus sees Mercury steal Phoebus' cattle, is paid off to keep silent and then tested on his loyalty to his bribe. He fails and Mercury turns his chest to stone.


Mercury, Herse, Aglauros: Mercury sees Herse leaving the feast of Minerva and goes to find her having fallen in love. He goes to her home and meets Herse's sister Aglauros whom he convinces to help him get Herse. Minerva sees this and decides to intervene. She goes to Envy and tells her to work her magic on Aglauros. When this happens, Aglauros is unable to stop herself from preventing Mercury his trophy because of how jealous she is of the life Herse would gain from it. Mercury, betrayed, turns Aglauros into a statue and leaves.


Europa and Jove: Jove/Zeus decides he wants Europa so he sends Mercury down to Earth to herd some cattle down to the beach where Europa is. Jove turns himself into a bull and joins the herd. Europa finds him so striking that she begins to pet him and he slowly gets her to climb on top of him and then leads her out to sea. Eventually they are so far out that she becomes frightened. We are to assume that she is ravaged on the sea, which at the beginning of Book III we find to be the case. Meanwhile Cadmus, Europa's brother, is sent to find her by their father Agenor and told not to come back without her.