Ancient Flood Stories

The Metamorphsis Story

A great flood, a natural disaster, or a catastrophic event that wipes out the civilization, and from the wreck a new community is born; every culture has a similar story. As the world or a society begins, often it is a utopian era, a perfect community. The creator begins by populating the Earth with flora and fauna. Then, man is created to act as master over all creations. As man and world progress, the inevitable takes place: the villains or the trickster cannot stand to live in this utopia and they wield their influence on man resulting in a downfall and the ultimate destruction of the Earth. However, the creator takes pity on the obedient, the loyal, and the faithful and offers salvation. The survivors are then tasked with repopulating the Earth. The cycle begins again, and man is once again created, tempted, felled, punished, and redeemed.

Deities

Ovidius Pulius Naso, more popularly known as Ovid, was one of Rome’s greatest poets living and writing from 43 B.C. to 16 A.D. The Metamorphoses was Ovid’s most famous work, consisting of approximately two hundred and fifty fables connected by a common theme of metamorphosis, or change. You will read Fables III-X in Book One. Each fable begins with a brief introduction; use it to focus your reading. Before you begin the reading, familiarize yourself with some of the important deities, or gods, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In this interactivity, use the previous and next buttons to navigate through the images, reading the brief descriptions.

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Metamorphoses Vocabulary Practice

Along with the Deities, you will also want to familiarize yourself with some of the vocabulary used in Metamorphoses. Look at the vocabulary word and take a minute to see if you can determine the definition. Then, flip the card over to see if you were correct. You can return to this interactivity as you read as a reference. Click the player button to get started.

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Ovid's Metamorphoses

As you read Ovid’s Metamorphoses take note of the following:

• The four ages of the world
• The change that occurs from age to age
• The archetypal downfall of man
• The role of Jupiter as the archetypal father/caretaker
• The ultimate punishment
• How Deucalion and Pyrrha, the hero and faithful companion, overcome conflict in repopulating the Earth
• The use of personification in developing characters
• Ovid’s use of classical mythological references interspersed with governmental ancient Roman references such as Caesar and Augustus
• Be prepared to compare and contrast this literary work with the next

 

The Flood Story

The metamorphosis story is a common universal literary plot archetype. It conveys the idea of change within the universe, that nothing can remain static or fixed, and emphasizes that people can change, even if it is only within their own imaginations. The metamorphosis archetype brings forth at one time both the desires and nightmares of a people: the desire to become something more and the fear of being reduced to something less than human.

Of course, Ovid’s Metamorphoses is more than a depiction of a single archetypal story. Within the fables and books of this masterpiece, are examples of many cultural and literary archetypes, including the flood story archetype. The flood story archetype is a story of destruction and hope: a “rebirth”. Water is a common image in literature: a symbol that both destroys and saves, takes and gives life. A flood or watery deluge then represents a purging or purifying. The older, evil or corrupt world needs to be washed away, cleaned, purified to make way for a new world, a new start, a second chance.

Charles Wilson Peale, 1819

Noah and His Ark

While the next literary work does not mirror exactly Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there are some distinct archetypal similarities: the creation of man, the increase in wickedness, the angry creator chooses to destroy that which has become corrupt, the faithful are offered salvation, the survivors are tasked with repopulating the Earth. Notice, however, the distinct differences between works based in mythology versus selections from a religion. God becomes the archetypal father/caretaker who turns to the ever-faithful hero, while Noah, as the hero, must save the worthy left on the Earth and prepare for repopulation of not only the human race but also animals. Noah’s faithful companions consist of his wife, sons, and their wives.

 

The Purpose of Creation and the Apocalypse

Why does man feel the need to create stories centered around the creation of the Earth and life? Even before there was spoken language, humans have attempted to explain their origins, to understand from where they came. The earliest known cave paintings discovered in Europe date back nearly forty thousand years. Even though scientists cannot say for certain the purpose of these paintings, it is obvious they were meant to communicate something. Perhaps this was early man’s way of trying to understand his place, not only on Earth, but also within the circle of life on Earth.

These are the questions that plague all mankind. These are the questions for which all mankind seeks answers. These are the questions that drive man to create stories about his origins. After all, is it really possible to know why you are here without first knowing and understanding how you got here, and from where you came? And, can you really know who you are, and what you are, without first knowing why you are? If your past experiences play a role in shaping the person you will become, it only stands to reason that the very origins of man, of humans, of the world also play a role in determining who you are, or who you will be. This is why cultures and societies create origin stories; it is part of the basic need to understand.

Apocalyptic archetypal stories fit this mode as well, as man attempts to come to terms with natural disasters and catastrophes. Why is one village wiped out with a flood or leveled in an earthquake, but another village left untouched? As people attempt to understand why things in their world happen, they create these stories, or myths, to explain and to teach future generations how to avoid or survive these occurrences, should they happen again.

 

Flood and Metamorphosis Archetypes Review

Now that you have explored two different literary works that utilize the flood and metamorphosis archetypes, practice your knowledge and understanding in this non-graded interactivity. Try to answer each question or define each flashcard’s term before selecting NEXT to see if you are correct. Click the player button to get started.