Memory

Memory is a funny thing. We all have it. We all need it. Imagine life without it, you would never remember yesterday, a week ago, or even 10 years ago. You wouldn't even know what you did a second ago. We would never know ourselves or learn from our mistakes, anything we learned within the past five seconds would be forgotten. Memory is what makes us who we are; family heritage, tradition and heirlooms would never be passed down to descendants. Relationships with people we've known for a lifetime would never be made or remembered. History might constantly repeat itself...or would it...since we don't remember what happened 5 seconds ago. Having memory helps us remember mistakes we've made that can help us become a better person. It also helps us remember things that make us happy or sad so that we will remember them when they happen again and we will recognize it. 
Mnemosyne was the Greek goddess of memory. She is one of the most important goddesses in Greek mythology, ironically she is also one of the most forgotten. One of the most important things that she is remembered for is being the mother of the Muses. Moneta was her Roman equivalent. She is not only the goddess of remembering who you are but also the goddess of remembering what the world is, where you are, and the memory of knowing the past.

-"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

Ovid vs. Hollywood

The last lines of The Metamorphoses of Ovid are “I shall have life”. Through these four words Ovid is saying that his human self and body may not live forever but his writing will survive him for centuries to come, and that is what it has done. Not only are college students reading his writings, but books and movies are constantly coming out with different modern variations of his stories. For example, his famous story and one of the few that have a happy ending, Pygmalion. It tells the story of a young sculptor who ignores women until he sculpts a beautiful 'Ivory Girl' with whom he falls in love. This story has been made into several movies such as the 1964 film, My Fair Lady, and the 1990 film, Pretty Woman. In Ovid's other story, Pyramus and Thisbe, it tells the story of two lovers who are forbidden to be together in life so they kill themselves to be together in death. The most famous recreation of this story is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's story has been made into movies countless times, but one story that is even older than Romeo and Juliet and that is also based on Pyramus and Thisbe is Tristan and Isolde which was made into a movie in 2006. One other famous story of Ovid's was Apollo and Daphne, it tells the story of the god, Apollo, who fell in love with the nymph, Daphne, who ran away from him when he pursued her and her father turned her into a laurel tree to save her. Despite the fact that Ovid lived almost 2,000 years ago, his stories have become modernized by new recreations in the form of books and movies.

  In Ovid's version of Pygmalion, a young sculptor ignores women because of the way he sees them act in public. “Pygmalion had seen the shameless lives of Cyprus' women; and disgusted by the many sins to which the the female mind had been inclined by nature, he resigned himself: for years he lived alone, without a spouse: he chose no wife to share his couch”, (p. 335). It wasn't until he began to sculpt a woman out of ivory that he fell in love. He made her beautiful and to add to her, he gave her jewelry to wear. Pygmalion went to Venus' temple and asked her if she would turn the statue into a real woman for him. Venus grants him his request and the Ivory Girl turns into the woman of his dreams. In the movie, My Fair Lady, Dr. Henry Higgins is perfectly content being a bachelor until he takes on the challenge of teaching Miss Eliza Doolittle to speak proper English without the extreme Cockney accent that she speaks with. As the teaching of linguistics continues, both Henry and Eliza refuse to admit that they like each other and they end up falling in love. Throughout the several months that Henry is teaching Eliza, they are supervised by Colonel Pickering who also is well learned in linguistics. Pygmalion and Henry Higgins are very similar in a lot of ways, they both fall in love when they both figured they never would, and they both fall in love with girls that they have worked with; Pygmalion while he sculpted the Ivory Girl and Henry while he improved Eliza's speech. It says in The Metamorphoses of Ovid that Pygmalion and his Ivory Girl get married, but it is just assumed that Henry and Eliza get married just by the way he was moping after she had left him and how subtly happy he seemed when she came back. “The young girl feels these kisses; blushing, she lifts up her timid eyes; she seeks the light; and even as she sees the sky, she sees her lover. Venus graces with her presence the wedding she has brought about. And when the moon shows not as a crescent but as an orb for the ninth time, Pygmalion's wife gives birth to Paphos-and in honor of that child, Cyprus has since been called the Paphian Isle”, (p. 337). The few differences between the two stories is that Pygmalion physically made his Ivory Girl while Henry Higgins just altered the way that Eliza was. The Ivory Girl that Pygmalion made is depicted by Ovid as delicate and beautiful, Eliza Doolittle isn't very delicate in the beginning of the movie because she is poor and was raised on the streets of London, she later turns into a lovely and delicate woman who can speak proper English. There is no love goddess that anyone can see in My Fair Lady like there is in Pygmalion, but Colonel Pickering, in a way, helps Henry see that Eliza is not just a 'street rat' but she is a lovely girl with a great personality under her horrible Cockney accent. 

  Ovid's story, Pyramus and Thisbe tells the story of two lovers who are forbidden by their families to marry. They would talk to each other through a crack in between their houses; even though talking helped, it was not the same as meeting face to face. In desperation they agreed to meet by a nearby tree. While she was going to the place where they would meet, a lion had just finished eating a recent kill and was cleaning itself when Thisbe saw it, she ran into a cave to hide but her shawl fell off and the lion attacked it. Pyramus had just walked by and saw the bloodstained shawl which he knew to be Thisbe's. He killed himself because he thought that she was dead. When Thisbe came out of hiding she saw Pyramus dying and killed herself to be with him. A similar story that has recently become a movie is called Tristan and Isolde. This story has many different endings depending on the author; it was originally a German opera written by Richard Wagner. It is based off of Pyramus and Thisbe, Wagner's version ended with Tristan killing himself because he thinks Isolde is dead, Isolde dies from what seems to be a broken heart after she sees Tristan dead. A different version involves both of them living and having a happy ending, the 2006 movie is similar to Ovid's version except that only Tristan dies, not Isolde. It starts off in Ireland, where Isolde is from, and she nurses Tristan back to health after he was fatally wounded in a battle in his native country, England. While she helps him gain his strength back they end up falling in love. Tristan returns to England where his uncle, the king, raised him as his own son, he asks Tristan to duel for the hand of the Princess of Ireland and Tristan agrees not knowing that Isolde is actually the Princess. He wins and she marries the King of England while secretly having an affair with Tristan. The movie ends with a battle and Tristan dies in Isolde's arms, she does not die in the movie. Some similarities between these two stories is that there are two fighting parties, Pyramus' family versus Thisbe's family and England versus Ireland. Both Pyramus and Thisbe and Tristan and Isolde are madly in love and have to keep it secret; one couple kept it from their families, the other couple kept it from their families and the people of their country. Tristan and Isolde have more intense consequences because if they are found it will most likely mean war between their two home countries. The most important difference between Pyramus and Thisbe and Tristan and Isolde is that in Ovid's tale both Pyramus and Thisbe die because they cannot be together in life. Tristan and Isolde can be together, it just has to be in secret because she is married to his uncle. However, in the movie, Tristan dies and Isolde supposedly continues to help reign England with Tristan's uncle. 

  Apollo and Daphne is another famous story of Ovid's. It is one of his many stories that involve a god chasing a human; in this case it is for love. The god, Cupid, shoots Daphne with one of his arrows that creates love at first sight, the problem is that he shot her with a dull arrow so she does not fall in love with the first man she sees. The god, Apollo, however is shot with a very sharp arrow and the first woman he sees is Daphne, whom he falls instantly in love with. He attempts to show his affection to her but she ignores him, it gets to the point that he is so much in love with her that he begins to chase her. Daphne runs away but when Apollo advances she asks her father, who is the river god Peneus, to turn her into a tree, so while she is still running she turns into a laurel tree. Apollo is upset but continues to love the laurel tree that was once Daphne. A very popular movie that has elements similar to Apollo and Daphne is The Sound of Music. It tells the story of a nun, Maria, who has not been sworn into the convent she lives in. She is assigned the task of becoming the governess for Captain von Trapp's children, she soon becomes close with his seven children and eventually falls in love with the Captain. Unfortunately, he is engaged to a Baroness but soon after he begins to fall in love with Maria. Maria is frightened by the feelings that she has for the Captain and runs back to the convent to hide. The head nun, Mother Abbess knows that Maria is in love and encourages her to go back to the Captain, she does and they get married. These two stories are similar in many ways and different in others, for example, Captain von Trapp holds quite a bit of power like Apollo does, they both can influence others by their power, to a degree. Maria is like Daphne, they both want their freedom and they love the outdoors. Maria may live in a convent, but she is able to leave and venture out into the surrounding Alps. Daphne loves to hunt and be in the woods like the goddess Diana, “she wants deep woods and spoils of animals she hunts; it is Diana, Phoebus' virgin sister, whom she would emulate. Around her hair-in disarray-she wears a simple band. Though many suitors seek her, she spurns them all; she wants to roam uncurbed; she needs no man she pays no heed to marriage, love or husbands”, (p. 21). Maria doesn't hunt nor does she 'spurn' men but she does enjoy her freedom as much as Daphne. Another similarity between the two stories is that Maria runs away from the Captain's love like Daphne runs away from Apollo's love. Apollo is chasing her for love, but Daphne is running away because she does not love him back. The reason that Maria runs away is because since she is a nun she cannot marry, however, she has not become a sworn nun so she can leave if she so wishes. She is also scared because she has probably never been in love before and is unsure of what will happen if she accepts it. Some differences between The Sound of Music and Apollo and Daphne is that Maria doesn't despise the Captain like Daphne despises Apollo. It is doubtful that Daphne would have fallen in love with Apollo, she loves her freedom and the woods too much to fall in love, also the arrow that Cupid shot at her prevented her from falling in love with Apollo. Captain von Trapp has seven children and they all live with him in his house, Apollo has about five children but he does not live with all of them, they are half mortal and half god so they usually live on Earth. The Captain seems to have a stronger relationship with his children than Apollo does, or he does after Maria teaches him to show affection to his children. 

  These great stories could not have been created and replicated had it not been for Ovid who wrote them. Many of his other stories have been recreated into books and movies, such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and Clash of the Titans (1981). Three of his most famous stories became very popular movies. Pygmalion has been recreated into My Fair Lady and Pretty Woman, both of these movies have been very successful and popular since they first hit the theaters. Pyramus and Thisbe has been recreated into two popular stories which are very similar, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Tristan and Isolde is older than Romeo and Juliet but it is hard to pinpoint when exactly it was written in relation to Pyramus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet. There are many different endings to Tristan and Isolde depending on the version, but in general it is based off of Ovid's story. Lastly, Apollo and Daphne is another famous story of Ovid's, even though The Sound of Music doesn't follow the original exactly, many of the elements in the movie are very similar to the ancient story. Making new versions of stories, especially stories as old as Ovid's, helps keep the story and the author alive and bridges the difference in age from 50 BC to 2006. As Ovid said, “I shall have life”, his words have been carried on for the past 2,000 years. 

Echo and Narcissus

When Narcissus was born, his mother Liriope, asked his father Tiresias if Narcissus would live until old age and his father said he would if 'he never knew himself'. His mother didn't understand that prophesy but she would in a few years. When Narcissus came to be about 16 he had grown into a very good looking young man, many men and women wanted him but he turned them all down. One day he went out hunting and Echo, the nymph, saw him and instantly fell in love with him. Echo had a curse put on her by Juno awhile before because she was helping hide her nymph friends from Juno when they were having fun with Jove. To punish her, Juno took Echo's voice away so that she could only say the last few words someone said, she could have no speech of her own. When she fell in love with Narcissus she could not tell him how she felt but she did repeat every last word he said until he became confused and said 'lets meet'. She ran to him and embraced him, Narcissus was revolted and threw her off. Echo was so upset that she wasted away until nothing but her voice remains, echoing what others say. Narcissus went to a clear spring and bent to take a drink, he saw his own reflection and fell in love with it. Whenever he tried to grab it or kiss it, it disappeared. He became so upset he wasted away like Echo. Narcissus eventually turned into a white and yellow flower called the Narcissus flower.

 Echo

 Narcissus

Disney vs. Ovid

I'm sure many of us have seen the 1997 Disney movie, Hercules. It is one of the most popular Disney movies of our time. The strong, good looking guy, the beautiful girl he is in love with, and the evil temptation. Disney seems to get it right on whenever true stories or tales need re-telling. Take Pocahontas for instance, in the 1995 Disney movie, she was probably 20 or 21 and John Smith was about the same age, give or take. They had a wonderful romantic relationship roaming the Virginia hills, until he was shot and sent back to England for recovery. She followed him there and then fell madly in love with John Rolfe and it was a happy ending.  In real life, Pocahontas was about 12 when she saved John Smith-who was about 30 at the time. Historical records show that there was no romantic affiliation between the two. She did marry John Rolfe (whether she wanted to or it was against her will, we will never know) and they had one son, Thomas Rolfe. This is the same scenario with Hercules, or Heracles, whichever you prefer. In the movie, he is born to Hera and Zeus. Hades, the god of the Underworld has a grudge against him and puts a snake in his crib which Hercules smothers. He is also given Pegasus (a colt at the time), which is to be his longtime friend and sidekick. He is sent to live in Rome with foster parents and finds he amazingly strong, he uses his strength to help his fellow villagers and mankind. Eventually he meets Megara and falls madly in love with her and has to set her free from her master, Hades. He does and its a happy ending. In the legend of Hercules, he is born to Alcmene (not Hera) and Zeus (one of his many illegitimate children). He does kill the snake that was in his crib, but Hera put it there, not Hades (who has nothing to do with the legend of Hercules). In one version, Zeus has Hercules nurse from Hera's breast to become immortal, she finds out and hates Hercules from that point on. Never in the stories is he partnered with Pegasus, but he does marry Megara and they have several children. Hera turns him mad for a while and he kills all his children, he then goes on his many adventures because he feels remorse for what he has done. He does not have a happy ending with Megara.
Disney makes wonderful, fun and happy movies that are made especially for kids. The one problem is if they are retold stories, the true part of the story is usually forgotten. Pocahontas is a famous American story that is true, Disney did tell the story, just not exactly the same as it is in historical records. Same with Hercules, his trials he goes through are the same as in the legends, but his personality and his character aren't the same.

Book IV of Ovid

Daughters of Minyas-Most people in a village celebrate the Baccic festival except Minya's daughters, they do housework over going to the festival.
Pyramus and Thisbe-A couple deeply in love wish to marry but their families refuse the match, they kill themselves so they can be together in death.
Mars, Venus, Vulcan, The Sun-Mars and Venus were having an affair and Vulcan caught them with a net he made and had all the gods laugh at them to teach them a lesson. 
Leucothoe and Clytie-Clytie was raped by the Sun and turned into a sweet smelling flower, but she still loves the Sun god even though he loves Leucothoe.
Salmacis and Heraphroditus-Salmacis falls in love with Heraphroditus but he refuses her, she forces herself on him when he is in the water and the become a formation in the water.
The Daughters of Minyas, cont.-Since the daughters don't worship Baccus he turned them into bats.
Athmas and Ino-Juno is jealous of Ino and asks the Furies to poison her body, Athmus sees Ino's son on her breast and forces him off, Ino then goes in search for help for her son and Neptune gives them new bodies and turns them into gods.
Cadmus and Harmonia-Cadmus turned into a serpent, Harmonia knew it was him and embraced him in that form, she then turned into a serpent too.
Acrisus-Kin of Cadmus and Perseus, Perseus flew over the Earth with Medusa's head, drops of blood fall and snakes appear on the ground, this is how Libya became snake-infested.
Perseus and Atlas-Perseus asks to stay at Atlas's house but Atlas knew of a prophecy against a son of Jove so he refuses, Perseus showed Atlas Medusa's head and he turned into stone while his back held the Earth and his head held the sky.
Perseus and Andromeda-She was chained to a rock and he saw her and instantly fell in love, he asked why she was chained and she said her mother, Cassiope bragged she was more beautiful than the Nereids, he agreed he would save her if her parents would let him marry her.
Perseus and Medusa-He put her to sleep and chopped her head off and from her blood came Chrysaor and Pegasus, Minerva now wears the snakes that were Medusa's hair.

 Daughters of Minyas

 Pyramus and Thisbe

 Venus and Mars

 Clytie

 Salmacis and Heraphroditus

 The Daughters of Minyas were turned into bats.

 Athmas and Ino

 Cadmus and Harmonia

 Perseus and Atlas

 Perseus and Andromeda

 Perseus and Medusa

Book III of Ovid

Cadmus-He was told to find Europa by her father. A poisonous serpent come down on the men of Tyre and kills them all, Cadmus sees them and avenges their deaths by killing the serpent with a javelin. He founded Thebes on the serpent's teeth.
Actaeon-Actaeon came upon Diana and her nymphs when he came into the glade they were bathing in. She turned him into a stag after throwing water at him. His dogs saw him and ripped him apart. This makes Juno happy because he is Europa's kin.
Semele-After having an affair with Jove and now pregnant with his child, Juno asks her to ask Jove to show her his true form, he does it unwillingly and she blows up. He takes her unborn babe and sews it into his thigh, the baby later becomes Tiresias.
Tiresias-Turned into a blind seer when he tells Juno that women have greater physical pleasure than men after he spent several years as a man and a woman.
Narcissus and Echo-Echo can only repeat the last word spoken from someone after getting caught by Juno when she was protecting other nymphs who were having an affair with Jove. She sees beautiful Narcissus and falls in love, but he does not want her, he sees himself and wants his image. He dies on the bank of the river in which he sees himself and turns into a Narcissus flower.
Pentheus-Came across a women's ceremony and they ripped him to shreds-including his own mother.
                                                          
 Cadmus and the Dragon's Teeth

 Actaeon and Diana

Semele and Jove

 Tiresias

Narcissus and Echo

 Pentheus

Book II of Ovid

Phaethon-Phoebus grants his son, Phaethon, anything he wants, Phaethon asks to fly his chariot, his father is reluctant but lets him, Phaethon crashes and sets the Earth on fire.
The Heliades-Phaeton's sisters and mother are mourning for him, they turn into trees, crying tears of amber which will be worn by 'the ladies of Rome'.
Cycnus-Cycnus was Phaeton's kin, when Phaeton died Cycnus turned into a swan-who lives in water which is fires contrary. 
Phoebus-Phoebus, distraught by his son's death and the loss of his chariot, claims that Jove should bear the light of the Sun.
Callisto-While hunting in Diana's forest, Jove tricks her and rapes her, Diana finds out and banishes Callisto from her forest, Juno then turns her into a bear to roam the forests.
Arcas-Arcas is Callisto's son from Jove, when Arcas sees his mother as a bear, he tries to kill her (unaware that she is his mother), Jove takes both of them and makes them into the Great Little Bear constellation.
The Raven-Once white, this bird was Phoebus's, but since it talks too much it is black.
Coronis, The Raven, Crow, Nyctimene-Coronis is very beautiful and married to Apollo but his raven found out that she was not a virgin, the raven and a crow go to tell Apollo.
Ocyrhoe-Chiron and Chariclo's daughter, Ocyrhoe has the gift of prophecy, when she sees Apollo and Coronis' son, she begins to prophesize  something but is stopped by the gods, she is then turned into a horse.
Battus-Guardian of grazing land, supposedly he witnessed Mercury stealing Phoebus' cattle, he was then turned into stone even though his was innocent.
Mercury, Herse, Aglauros-Mercury fell in love with Herse but Herse's sister wanted Mercury's help to have gold, so Minerva called on Envy to intervene.
Europa and Jove-Jove turns into a bull who's hide is white with gem like horns, Europa come to pet him but she makes the wrong mistake of sitting on his back and he takes her into the ocean and rapes her.