Delahoyde & Hughes Orpheus OVID METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII

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The Invasion of Troy:

Ovid dodges repetition of the material everyone knows from the Homeric epics and instead dwells more on the side materials: the early omens, the murder of Iphegenia, etc. Ovid tells of the force of rumor (286-287) right at this point: why?

We hear a second origin of cygnus, the swan (289).

Nestor's Story of Caeneus:

Nestor narrates briefly the story of Caeneus, a woman turned into a man after Neptune rapes her (291).

The Battle with the Centaurs:

Just where in the sequence of events the great Trojan War should appear, Ovid gives us the rambling Nestor telling of another kind of fight: at a wedding, the drunk and horny centaurs brawl. [Centaurs have been infantalized by Disney in Fantasia (1940).]

The Omission of Hercules:

• Is Nestor senile?
• Nestor tries to justify his failure to mention Hercules. What is his explanation?
• What questions does Ovid raise about the reporting of legend and why?

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Metamorphoses Book XIII
Ovid Index
Orpheus: Roman Mythology