diana's understanding of ovid's metamorphoses

8/15/2019 Diana's Understanding of Ovid's Metamorphoses

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Diana's Understanding of Ovid's "Metamorphoses"Author(s): John HeathReviewed work(s):Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 86, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 1991), pp. 233-243Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and SouthStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3297428 .Accessed: 13/01/2012 19:53

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DIANA'S UNDERSTANDING OF OVID'S METAMORPHOSES

After reading only the first few books of Ovid's Metamorphoses, mostreaders have noticed a repeated and disturbing equence of events centered onthe association/opposition of sexuality and the hunt. The archetypal ale goessomething like this: a virgin huntress, devoted o Diana, wanders hrough hewoods looking for forest animals to fell with her bow and arrows. Tired rom asuccessful morning of slaughter, she seeks relief from the midday sun byretiring to a locus amoenus-trees, grass, water-a sacred spot exuding anominous serenity. The nymph sets aside her weapons and is immediatelysexually assaulted.' Sometimes she is raped and then transformed, ometimesshe escapes the attacker only by metamorphosing nto some form of impen-etrable vegetation. Several primarily ynchronic tudies have demonstrated heimportance of this deeper structure or Ovid's long and complex poem.2 Thispaper re-examines this narrative pattern diachronically hrough the first twobooks of the Metamorphoses n order to point out how the elements whichconstitute the full pattern are developed and accumulated hrough a series ofsimilar tales. By studying these tales in textual order we shall see how the

pattern gathers momentum, absorbing new details and growing in complexityand violence with each telling. These narrative onventions build to a momen-tary yet sundering climax at the beginning of Book 3 in the tale of Actaeon, inwhich Diana, a careful and understandably uspicious audience of Ovid'snarrative world of hunt and rape, cannot help misinterpreting Actaeon's ac-tions. The goddess herself, in fact, becomes the uncompromising gent, morethan the compromised victim, in the poet's narrative scheme. The virgingoddess reveals a sensitive but dangerously nflexible reading of Ovid's erotictales as the poet plays upon both the reader's and the characters' xpectations.Diana's success-and failure-form a paradigm for our own reading of the

text.

IFor a discussion of the role of rape in Ovid's epic, see Barbara E. Stirrup, "Techniques ofRape: Variety of Wit in Ovid's Metamorphoses," G&R 24 (1977) 170-84; and especially LeoCurran, "Rape and Rape Victims in the Metamorphoses," Arethusa 11 (1978) 213-41, where henotes that there are some fifty sexual attacks n the Metamorphoses p. 215). Sara Mack examinesthe variation of victim-type n these opening tales; Ovid (New Haven 1988) 113.

2See Hugh Parry, "Ovid's Metamorphoses: Violence in a Pastoral Landscape," TAPA 5 (1964)268-82; Gregson Davis, Lycaon to Augustus: Studies in the Narrative Economy of Ovid's "Meta-morphoses" (Diss. Berkeley 1968). Charles Paul Segal, Landscape n Ovid's Metamorphoses =Hermes Einzelschriften, Heft 23 (Wiesbaden 1969), Chapter II, treats Books 1-3 of the Meta-morphoses n loose chronological order. Davis' revision of his dissertation, The Death of Procris= Instrumentum itterarum (Rome 1983), presents a more sophisticated but less comprehensiveanalysis of this narrative attern he does not treat he myth of Actaeon, for example). In this latterwork he prefers he terminology of paradigmatic nd syntagmatic o synchronic and diachronic,and argues that both approaches must be used (pp. 17-18). Although I agree that t can be helpfulto apply information rom subsequent ales to previous ones, I am attempting here to capture hereader's understanding of the developing pattern before him/her in order to emphasize Ovid'smanipulation of expectations.

233


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234 JOHN HEATH

The basic features of the pattern are first presented n the tale of Apollo andDaphne. Ovid establishes at the very beginning the association, and opposi-

tion, of eroticism and the hunt.3 Apollo, who has just proven himself to be theprototypical if somewhat mock-heroic) hunter by slaying Python, becomesthe first of many hunters-turned-hunted hen he is struck by Cupid's arrowand transformed nto a lover.4 Daphne, struck by the leaden arrow, must rejectlove. Close attention should be given to the conventions involved in thismetamorphosis. Daphne mmediately and simultaneously with her rejection ofsexuality becomes a hunter:

* . fugit altera [Daphne] nomen amantissilvarum atebris captivarumque erarumexuviis

gaudens nnuptaequeemula Phoebes. . . 5

(1.474-76)She flees to the protection and shade of the woods. Later we learn that shestays well off the beaten path (inpatiens expersque viri nemora avia lustrat,1.479)-this too is tied closely to her rejection of eros. A physical manifesta-tion of her new attitude and vocation is her loosely arranged hair: vitta coer-cebat positos sine lege capillos (1.477). Daphne rejects all suitors, choosing tobe like Diana (innuptae aemula Phoebes) rather han to be a victim of Phoe-bus. In fact, she begs her father o be allowed to remain a virgin just as Jupiterhad granted his boon to Diana (1.486-87).6 The reader's ndirect ntroductionto the goddess through Daphne's emulation s striking: his is not just a virgingoddess, but a goddess of virginity--the lead arrow makes it an almost patho-logical condition.7 In any case, in Ovid's violent world it is usually a short-lived condition. Daphne is spotted and chased through he woods by Apollo,but avoids rape by transformation. t is only fitting that the resulting aurel, asymbol of rejected ove, should now garnish Apollo's quiver, an appurtenanceinextricably bound to the hunt (1.559). These topoi or conventions whichaccompany the antipathy of sex and the hunt are developed and enlarged insubsequent stories.

Io is not a hunter, but the tale of her rape adds some important lements to

the paradigm of attack. Jupiter spies the virgin and advises her to seek theshade of the deep woods. So concerned s the king of the gods to obtain thissecluded locus for his crime that he not only refers explicitly to the woodstwice (1.590-91, 594), but he points them out-the genitive nemorum s used

3Davis' entire work (above, note 2, 1983) is framed around his "antinomy."4Michael von Albrecht, "Venus n Ovids Metamorphosen," Vichiana 11 1982) 318-31, points

out that Cupid himself represents he very paradox of the hunter/lover destroying he object of the"hunt"; see also Wade C. Stephens, "Cupid and Venus in Ovid's Metamorphoses," TAPA 89(1958) 286-300, and W. S. M. Nicoll, "Cupid, Apollo, and Daphne (Ovid Metamorphoses1.452 ff.)," CQ 30 (1980) 174-82. Of course, Ovid's narrative s filled with reversals, as thehunter becomes hunted and in turn

mayhunt the

objectof desire; this

imageryfills the

Daphne/Apollo episode and others like it. William S. Anderson, "Multiple Change in the Meta-morphoses," TAPA 4 (1963) 7 f., examines in more general terms passion's power to transformgods and men.

5The text is Miller's (Cambridge 1921).6This section contains several strong echoes of Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis.7So Curran above, note 1) 230, who notes Ovid's "eccentric" treatment of these virginal

nymphs; also Davis (above, note 3, 1983) 48 on the "deforming mark" and the resulting "overlystrenuous aversion o sex."


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DIANA IN OVID'S METAMORPHOSES 235

three times in four lines.8 A new element is introduced o the pattern: t is highnoon (medio sol est altissimus orbe, 1.592). Jupiter suggests that Io might

escape the midday heat by resting n the shade of the forest. Jove seems also tohave learned something from Apollo's "failure" with Daphne-he is hopingto find a young woman who specifically is not a hunter:

quodsi sola times latebras ntrare erarum,praeside tuta deo nemorum secreta subibis. ... (1.593-94)

No hunter would have such fears. In fact, a hunter would specifically seek outthese dangerous airs. The combination of latebras . . . ferarum conjures upDaphne's avored haunts 1.475), but this time perhaps he victim will not havethe (Ovidian) antipathy owards ex represented y the figure of the hunter. But

Jupiter has not learned from Apollo's example that an intended victim of rapeis not impressed by the attacker's pedigree and professional tation (1.595-96;cf. Apollo's self-description o Daphne, 1.512 f.).9 Io is not fooled. Perhapsshe is familiar with the associations presented o her by her narrative ircum-stances. She races away from the woods but is caught and raped n less than averse. It is significant that the attack, although not in the shade of the trees,does occur in the shadows. Jupiter cloaks his deed in a mist (inducta . . .caligine, 1.599). As in Daphne's tale, shade has ramifications of erotic andviolent action. And just in case we are too slow to catch on to this convention,Ovid offers an interpretation f the event which will leave no room for doubt.Apparently his is such a well-known association that t is this very mysteriousdarkness on an otherwise cloudless day which makes Juno suspicious: aut egofallor / aut ego laedor (1.607-8).

In his truncated ale of Syrinx (1.689 f.) Mercury puts many of the conven-tions involved in this opposition of sexuality and the hunt to quite cleverpersonal use. Syrinx is a virgin huntress n the shady woods (umbrosa . . .silva, 1.693) of Arcadia who rejects all suitors, preferring he virginal life of

8Segal(above, note 2) 16 f. examines

examplesof erotic and other shades of

meaningassoci-

ated with the woods and shadows n general n the Metamorphoses. For the significance of Ovid'sdescriptions of nature, see K. Zarnewski, Die Szenerie-Schilderungen n Ovids Metamorphosen(Wroclaw 1925); E. J. Bernbeck, Beobachtungen zur Darstellungsart n Ovids Metamorphosen= Zetemata, Heft 43 (Munich 1967); Anne Marie Betten, Naturbilder in Ovids "Meta-morphosen" (Diss. Erlangen 1968); Jerzy Danielewicz, "Some Observations on the Techniqueand Contextual Role of the Scenery Descriptions n Ovid's Metamorphoses," Eos 59 (1971) 301-7; though see G. Karl Galinsky, Ovid's Metamorphoses Berkeley 1975) 97-98, who sounds acautionary note against reading too much symbolism into Ovid's landscapes. Most recently,Stephen Hinds, The Metamorphosis of Persephone (Cambridge 1987) 30-33, observes that theshadows in the tale of the rape of Persephone may protect against the arrows of Phoebus, but aredefenseless against the effects of Cupid's bow.

9Bothgods

believe their victims arefleeing

becausethey

have underestimated heimportance

ftheir attackers: f only these nymphs knew how lucky they were Perhaps t is another sign ofApollo's inadequacy as a lover (and manipulator f words) that his speech runs some twenty-onelines and he fails in his quest, whereas Jupiter's plea lasts for only two verses. It does not helpApollo's rhetoric that he must appeal to his intended victim entirely while on the run SeeNicolas P. Gross, "Rhetorical Wit and Amatory Persuasion n Ovid," CJ 74 (1979) 306, for adiscussion of Apollo's speech as "rhetorically ridiculous"; and especially B. R. Fredericks,"Divine Wit vs. Divine Folly: Mercury and Apollo in Metamorphoses 1-2," CJ 72 (1977) 244-49, who points out Apollo's failures as a lover and (ab)user of language.


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236 JOHN HEATH

Diana (Ortygiam studiis ipsaque colebat / virginitate deam, 1.694-95). Infact, so Mercury tells Argus, if their bows had been made out of the same

material, he two virgins would have been indistinguishable. Syrinx is spottedby Pan and after an off-road flight (per avia, 1.701; cf. the site of Daphne'sflight, nemora avia, 1.479), she avoids rape by a hasty transformation ntoreeds. The tale is an obvious doublet of Daphne's. In fact, several commen-tators have noted that Syrinx's fate may be intentionally edundant.10 fter all,Mercury's objective is to put Argus to sleep. Could it be that his success is atleast partially due to the fact that the story is overly repetitive, that we justheard he same set of conventions a few minutes (pages) before, and not even acreature with one hundred eyes can make it to the end? Ovid both drawsattention o the duplicated pattern of Mercury's ale and sets himself apart rom

it by breaking off the god's narrative. That s, Mercury ells a too-familiar andthus soporific) tale that serves his purposes well, while at the same time Ovidavoids putting his audience o sleep by varying he manner of his narrative. Bystopping the god in mid-tale and then summing up what would have been saidif Argus could have stayed awake, the poet demonstrates both his own tale-telling skill and Mercury's awareness of the text. And this is the importantpoint to note here: Mercury demonstrates an uncanny sensitivity to Ovid'snarrative. The swift god cleverly turns his knowledge of the narrative patternsto his own advantage." Diana too, as we shall see, learns from the narrative,but in contrast o Mercury she takes a more personal, passionate, and limitedreading of the narrative pattern with her into the third book.

The tale of Callisto in the second book develops the pattern to its fullcomplement of narrative onventions.12 After Phaethon has errantly charredthe earth, Jove restores to Arcadia the springs, rivers, grass, trees and for-ests-the foreboding ocus amoenus-and so it is not too surprising when thegod immediately spots and desires Callisto. No time is wasted n setting up thenymph for an attack. We learn that she is a virgin (2.409) huntress with loose-

10Galinskyabove, note 8) 174, for

example,who

suggeststhat Ovid is calling attention "with

ironic playfulness" to the problems he was facing in composing a massive work dealing withsimilar metamorphosis tories. Joseph P. Solodow, The World of Ovid's Metamorphoses ChapelHill 1988) 28, argues that Ovid's creation of parallel situations (he uses Daphne and Io as anexample) shows us "nothing in particular." This may be true in terms of Solodow's overall

thesis--that there is no general moral position taken or advocated n these tales--but that struc-turally this repetition does take on meaning is the point of this paper. It may be significant thatSolodow does not cite Davis' work in his bibliography.

"This is by no means the only tale told in the first few books of the epic in which Mercury akesadvantage of his knowledge of the unfolding text in a creative and flexible fashion. See thediscussion of the wit and adaptability f Mercury's verbal behavior as contrasted with Apollo's)in the tales of Io (Argus), Battus, and Herse (Aglauros) in Fredericks above, note 9). I would

arguethat there is more involved here than

linguistic ingenuity. Mercuryresponds not

justto the

moment, but to the textual environment. That s, he is a good reader of the epic before as well asduring his adventures. For an examination of the moral implications of Mercury's actions, seeVictor Castellani, "Two Divine Scandals: Ovid Met. 2.680 ff. and 4.171 ff. and his Sources,"TAPA 10(1980) 37-50, esp. 40-44. In this paper I am concerned with Diana's understanding fthe text; an examination of a more complete range of responses from other characters n the epicwill have to wait.

12See Brooks Otis, Ovid as an Epic Poet (Cambridge 1966) 117 f. and Davis (above, note 2,1983) 53 f. (with summation on p. 63).


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flowing hair (vitta coercuerat neglectos alba capillos, 2.413; cf. Daphne: vittacoercebat positos sine lege capillos, 1.477) who is .devoted to Diana (miles

erat Phoebes, 2.415). It is clear by now where the tale must be heading, andthe setting confirms our suspicions. It is midday (ulterius medio spatium solaltus habebat, 2.417) when she enters the forest (nemus). TWo new elementsare added at this point. First, it is a holy, or virgin grove (nemus, quod nullaceciderat aetas, 2.418). This is appropriate or Callisto and Diana, of course,but forms an ominous background o the inevitable violence hovering on thehorizon. The second new element is one which has been termed he "intermis-sion from the hunt":13 Callisto is tired (fessam, 2.422) and so takes off andsets aside her quiver and bow (2.419-21). This symbolic gesture of puttingaside the hunt, and thus setting aside the opposition to sexuality, becomes

virtually a narrative nvitation to attack. With the perverse genius of thesuccessful criminal and with grisly Ovidian rony Jupiter disguises himselfas Diana. Apparently Jove has learned from his experiences with Io that thedirect approach will not work. Callisto does not have a chance. After beingraped she hates the woods and nearly forgets to pick up her quiver--an imagewith both psychological and symbolic truth.

The effects of this rape are important because it is at this point that we areintroduced o the real Diana for the first time in the poem. The goddess enterswith her nymphs, proud in her slaughter of beasts (caede superba erarum,2.442). Callisto reacts

quicklyand

understandably--shelees, thinking that it

must still be Jove. She is quickly reassured, but her misinterpretation s signifi-cant. There s no suggestion here that her fear is unjustified, of course-whatelse could she think? But it is clear that this overwhelming ear of sexual attackcreates an atmosphere n which the only possible response to unexpectedevents is one of terror, hostility, and suspicion. There s little room (or time) forrational udgement. The subsequent treatment of Callisto by Diana confirmsand strengthens his connection. Callisto rejoins the troop, but now she walkswith her eyes on the ground, not next to the goddess or at the front of Diana'sretinue as before. She is silent and betrays her lost chastity in her blushing

(2.447-50). Although the nymphs, themselves frequent objects of sexual at-tacks, are said to have realized what has happened, the virgin Diana does notcatch on:

et, nisi quod virgo est, poterat sentire Dianamille notis culpam: nymphae sensisse feruntur. (2.451-52)

In fact, Ovid tells us that it is not until nine months later ( ) that Diana finallyfigures it out, and only then when Callisto is seen naked. What could the

13Davis above, note 2, 1968) 45. In addition to the elements of the pattern o be discussedbelow, on a larger level Callisto's fate-a hunter hunted down by a deity, transformed nto ananimal and in turn hunted down by family or friends-is identical to Actaeon's (although shesurvives by one final transformation). Even their names are withheld in similar fashion; for this"unepic" characteristic f the work, see E. J. Bernbeck (above, note 8) 48-49, 59-60. In fact,except for the gender, Ovid's comment on Callisto's condition could be applied to Actaeonwithout change: venatrixque metu venantum territa fugit (2.492). These subtle differences-gender and degree of violence--are in fact important o the twist Ovid gives the pattern n itsapplication o Actaeon.


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238 JOHN HEATH

goddess have been thinking? The narrative eems to suggest that the rejectionor fear of sexuality may stunt one's ability to interpret vents, at least erotic or

potentially sexual ones. And in the context of the Metamorphoses, his couldbe a serious critical handicap. Ovid has gone out of his way to associateDiana's sexual naivet6 with her inability to interpret he scene correctly. 4Thesetting of this recognition scene is noteworthy (2.454-57). Diana is tired(languida) from the hunt (venatu) and the heat of the day (flammis). She andher band of nymphs enter a cool grove (nemus gelidum) to bathe in a stream.This is all familiar, although there is the added element of the bathing. Thegoddess dips her foot in the water and quickly displays her virginal concern forprivacy: procul est . . arbiter omnis (2.458), thus demonstrating er knowl-edge of the Ovidian world. She has left off hunting, she is tired and hot and

has sought a locus amoenus for a break. Diana is aware hat in the narrativeworld of the Metamorphoses here is a strong chance, and strong precedent,that she will be attacked. She checks first to make sure that no one is spying,that no males are plotting to violate her. And indeed an attack on her highlydeveloped sense of propriety mmediately follows - Callisto's crimen is un-covered. The virginal environment has been defiled: i procul hinc . . . necsacros pollue fontes (2.464). Diana may not understand r have compassionfor what has happened to Callisto, but she does understand hat her rit-ual/sexual purity has been threatened. The virgin goddess is acutely aware ofat least the modus operandi for sexual assaults on herself and is obviouslyconcerned or her own protection. She passes swift judgement on the pregnantnymph. This is an excellent introduction o the goddess whose very characterembodies the warring elements in the text-the hunt and sexuality/virginity.'5

So through he first two books of the Metamorphoses Ovid carefully devel-ops this paradigm of sexual attack. Each of the previously discussed tales hasfilled in the pattern with increasing detail. To summarize, the possible ele-ments seem to be these: a virgin huntress devoted to Diana, with looselyarranged hair, is wandering hrough he woods. At midday she sets aside herweapons to rest from the hunt and escape from the heat in a shaded, sacred

spot, perhaps taking a refreshing bath. She is invariably attacked sexually,transformed Daphne, Syrinx) and/or raped (Io, Callisto), or symbolically

14Solodow (above, note 10) 94 uses Diana's sudden loss of "divine omniscience" as anexample of Ovid's humanization f the gods. Again, I would agree with the basic point that thegods have been shorn of their cosmic significance in the Metamorphoses, but I am arguing thatthey do have very important arrative oles. Solodow himself has shown quite convincingly that itis art (call it storytelling or narrative) lone which creates meaning in Ovid's world.

15Parry above, note 2) 271.


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assaulted (Diana by Callisto). Ovid brings these conventions together in adevastating limax with the tale of Actaeon.16

Before beginning the story, Ovid takes a few verses not only to tell ussomewhat obliquely what will happen Cadmus' grandson will be transformedinto a stag and eaten by his own dogs17--but also to make very sure we knowthat Actaeon will not be to blame for his demise. Ovid does not wait for the storyto reveal the motivations, but tells us explicitly before the action begins: acrimenfortunae, an error is to blame. There s no scelus. Actaeon s innocent.This is odd and emphatic as the verdict s delivered before the crime is commit-ted.18 Ovid is preparing he reader or a new twist to the carefully elaboratedpattern.

The first verse of the story proper nforms us that Actaeon and his comrades

are on a mountain tained with the slaughter of beasts (caedeferarum, 3.143).That s, Actaeon is a hunter cf. Diana's ntroduction n Callisto's story: caedesuperbaferarum, 2.442). The second verse tells us it is midday (iamque diesmedius rerum contraxerat umbras, 3.144); the third verse tells us that it ismidday et sol ex aequo meta distabat utraque, 3.145). Apparently Ovid thinksmidday should signal something o his audience by now. 19In the fourth verse welearn that Actaeon and his friends have been wandering ff the beaten path (per

16This oes not imply, of course, that the pattern s never repeated again in the Metamorphoses.Davis (above, note 2, 1968 and 1983) examines many stories beyond the first three books of theepic in which Ovid manipulates he sequence of attack in the hunt/sexuality antinomy to goodeffect. The reference o "climax" merely points out that Ovid has combined he previous lementsof the pattern n a particularly nexpected, sanguinary, nd brutal ashion n the tale of Actaeon. Itis significant hat Ovid has rearranged he traditional hronological order of the house of Cadmusby shoving Actaeon ahead of Pentheus, thereby giving Actaeon's fate an emphatic position in thenarrative; ee Wolfgang Klimmer, Die Anordnung des Stoffes in den ersten vier Bdchern vonOvids "Metamorphosen" Diss. Erlangen 1932) 46, and Otis (above, note 12) 130 f. In fact, afterthe Actaeon tale (as Davis demonstrates n great detail), Ovid relates numerous tales which"deviate" from or "transcend" or even "violate" the norm. An advantage f this kind of approachto the Metamorphoses s that t suggests how Ovid managed o combine both similar and disparatestories at epic length without losing the reader's nterest. The notorious problem of structure seliminated to a great extent: there is a series of motifs which form a variety of patterns, with(nearly) endless combinations and twists. The hunt/sexuality opposition is merely one, albeit animportant nd early one, of many (see below, note 22).

17The ale of Cadmus' foundation of Thebes immediately precedes Actaeon's introduction.Here, too, there are some echoes of the pattern. The setting (3.27-29) is a locus amoenus: cave,spring, and virginal woods (silva vetus stabat nulla violata securi, 3.28); and it is midday (feceratexiguas iam sol altissimus umbras, 3.50) when a lethal assault is made in the water on theinnocent intruders. This all foreshadows Actaeon's fate. See Segal (above, note 2) 43-45; andespecially Leonard Barkan, The Gods Made Flesh (New Haven 1986) 42-44, for a discussion ofthe various mages of innocence (so important n Actaeon's tale) in the story of Cadmus, and onthe themes of virginity and violence brought ogether n the image of the serpent.

18As Actaeon's fate is applied to the house of Cadmus it forms part of the so-called "felicitymotif," in which the

happinessof one event

(orone's

previous ife)is used as a foil to

subsequentevents (3.135-37). Callisto had been introduced under similar circumstances: nec Maenalonattigit ulla / gratior hac Triviae; ed nulla potentia longa est (2.415-16). For Ovid's particularmanipulation f this traditional mphasis on the instability of human events, see Klimmer above,note 16) 42 n.2; Davis (above, note 2, 1968) 55 f.; and Grundy Steiner, "Ovid's Carmen Per-petuum," TAPA 9 (1958) 228-29.

19Callimachus lso doubled his reference o the noon hour in his tale of the blinding of Tiresias(Hymn. 5.70-74). The time of Actaeon's unfortunate oyeurism s not mentioned n Callimachus'poem.


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240 JOHN HEATH

devia lustra vagantes, 3.146). He now calls upon his comrades o put aside theirweapons. After all, he says, they have had a successful morning hunting and

now it is getting hot-because it is midday nunc Phoebus utraque distat idemterra, 3.151-52) We are now certain, if of nothing else, at least that it issometime around noon. But perhaps his third reference s more significant hanredundant. Ovid has explicitly reported wice before hat t is midday. Just a fewlines later Actaeon announces he same thing. One way of reading his would beto suggest that Ovid is pointing out Actaeon's own ignorance of the text, of thesetting. That is, Actaeon is unaware of the connotations of his appearance nthese circumstances. A similar distancing of Actaeon from Ovid's narrative sfound ust two lines later. Actaeon ells his friends o put aside their weapons andstop their work (3.153). Ovid then mmediately epeats he fact that he men stoptheir work (intermittunt aborem, 3.154). The narrator nd character re repeat-ing each other with awkward edundancy. Actaeon could not be more separatedfrom Ovid and his text. This doubling thus emphasizes not only the eminentdanger-the intermission from the hunt motif-but the unfortunate hunter'sinnocence/ignorance s well. Actaeon appears under ominous circumstances owhich he is completely oblivious. It is unmistakably midday as the hunters havebeen wandering hrough he mountain; hey now are putting aside their weap-ons. This is a part of the pattern which indicates an erotic attack s due. Theanticipated etting for such an assault (locus amoenus) has been missing, butOvid now supplies the details. We would have expected his description o comebefore, but we shall see that there are very good reasons for positioning thepurple passage where it is.

There is a valley thick with pine and cypress trees (3.155). So here are thewoods (and funereal ones they are at that).20 t is sacred to Diana, a holy spot(sacra Dianae, 3.156). And there is a wooded grotto (antrum nemorale,3.157) and a sparkling spring--the reader is not surprised. Now comes anunusual ransition, carefully manipulated y Ovid to mislead. The poet tells usthat it was here that Diana (dea silvarum, 3.163) was accustomed to comewhen she was tired from the hunt in order to bathe her virgin limbs. This all

makes sense in the pattern, although there is a change in gender of theinnocent hunter. Actaeon is about to enter a sacred spot under the very condi-tions which would make him a potential victim of sexual assault. But it is notActaeon who enters-yet. Ovid continues his narrative by bringing the god-dess onto the scene. Actaeon is left behind for the moment. Diana, no doubttired from the hunt (venatu essa, 3.163), comes to her spring to bathe. Shetakes off her spear, quiver, and bow as well as her clothes. Here once again isthe dangerous ntermission from the hunt exacerbated by the deity's nudity.Although the nymphs keep their hair down, Diana now has hers bound up in aknot (sparsos per colla capillos / colligit in nodum, 3.169-70). This not only

distinguishes her from her nymphs, but it also marks her off from the hunt-resses in the earlier ales who were raped and/or assaulted. Moreover, he knotreflects Diana's different tate of sexual knowledge and approachability. ianais more nai've than the nymphs-they had recognized Callisto's condition

20For he symbolism of pine and cypress, see Franz B6mer, Metamorphosen: Kommentar BuchI-III (Heidelberg 1969) ad loc.


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when the goddess could not (2.452). The binding of her hair thus also repre-sents Diana's imperviousness to sexuality, her "impregnability."21 At any

rate, the stage is now set for a sexual attack on the goddess. This is our all-too-familiar virgin huntress n a locus amoenus at midday who has set aside herweapons. But this is no ordinary nymph, and there s no rapist. Suddenly, ustas Actaeon had been abandoned after he was set up to be attacked, we nowleave Diana in mid-dip and are reintroduced o the young man. And in case wehave forgotten his narrative ircumstances, Ovid immediately reminds us:

ecce nepos Cadmi dilata parte aborumper nemus ignotum non certis passibus erranspervenit n lucum: sic illum fata ferebant. (3.174-76)

This is Ovidian shorthand, a quick evocation of the larger pattern previouslydescribed in detail. Actaeon has put aside his hunting for the day and hasentered the woods. There is the continued reference to the young hunter'sinnocence before he has actually committed any crime (ignotum, non certis,errans). It was an unknown place he wandered into--this is his error. Fate s toblame. In Ovidian erms, Actaeon s now open to a sexual attack. That s, he isa potential victim, not assailant. Ovid's frequent, nsistence on his innocencehas made us, the readers, fully aware hat he has no plans to spy on or violateDiana. But the goddess reacts to the only paradigm she understands, hat ofthe narrative pattern which makes her open to assault. Actaeon has seen hernaked (3.185) and that is enough. Diana takes action accordingly and swiftlyas Actaeon is transformed nto a stag and meets a horrifying death (hunter-hunted) in the jaws of his own hunting dogs.22 This is certainly the mostvicious of any divinity's actions so far in the Metamorphoses. Even the godsare uncertain about the appropriateness f the punishment:

21B6mer above, note 20) ad loc. gives parallels for the symbolic binding. Is it mere coinci-dence that Actaeon participates n his own kind of knot-making? He urges his men: nodosa ...tollite lina (3.153). The elaborate preparations or the bath conjure up a Roman matron's oilet,and may also be a slight parody of the stately ritual of Athena's bath in Callimachus; see Otis(above, note 12) 136 and 369, and E. Doblehoffer, "Ovidius Urbanus," Philologus 104 (1960)228-29; cf. the comments on Circe as Roman matron in L. P. Wilkinson, Ovid Recalled(Cambridge 1955) 164.

22No explanation s given for Diana's actions other than her desire to prevent Actaeon fromrevealing what he has seen. This fits into another narrative attern of the Metamorphoses, hat ofindicium as a mode of offense against a divinity; Davis (above note 2, 1968) 40 f. Diana is reactingto Actaeon as if he were another n a carefully arranged eries of individuals (Corvus, Cornix,

Ocyroe, Battus, Aglauros)who reveal nformation which should not be disclosed. Thus n the tale

of Actaeon at least two narrative patterns merge. Diana throws water in Actaeon's face to bringabout his metamorphosis; Callimachus' Athena had not done anything herself to blind Tiresias.Perhaps it is significant that in the hymn there is a universal law of Cronus which has beenviolated. In the Metamorphoses, he completely independent and not unchallenged) reaction ofthe angry goddess is emphasized (more on this below). Actaeon's one apparent "crime" theviewing of the goddess's nakedness--is passed by almost without notice in the narrative, uckedaway n the tail-end of a simile describing the goddess's blush (is [color] fuit in vultu visae sineveste Dianae, 3.185).


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242 JOHN HEATH

rumor n ambiguo est; aliis violentior aequovisa dea est, alii laudant dignamque severa

virginitate vocant: pars invenit utraque causas.23 (3.253-55)We have witnessed a progression of violence in encounters where violation orthreat of violation meant either metamorphosis r death of a nymph. Actaeonsuffers both fates. His transformation s a necessary precursor o his wretcheddestruction.24 We feel the cruelty especially sharply because Ovid has sepa-rated us from Diana in our witnessing of the same event. We know Actaeon isinnocent of any wrong. But Diana is uniquely sensitive to the affront. Sheinterprets he unintentional oyeurism as an attack on her virginity, a conclu-sion which would normally be (and up to this point in the text had alwaysbeen) a correct one for the

sequenceof narrative vents. She was not

privyto

Ovid's intentionally heavy-handed nsistence from the very beginning on Ac-taeon's innocence. She is not aware of the similar patterns which have estab-lished Actaeon as an object of erotic attack as well. And Actaeon is attacked nerotic circumstances, hus validating he pattern while at the same time chal-lenging the simplistic response to it. Actaeon is assaulted by Diana's icyparanoia about her virginity, he flip side to the male deities' violent passion.25Diana is caught up in a correct but only partial understanding f the text. Theconsequences of such an inflexible reading are clear: the tale leaves an inno-cent Actaeon butchered and even the gods uncomfortable.

The world of the Metamorphoses s a devious one for characters nd readersalike. Ovid challenges us to react to his narrative ntelligently, o observe andbe sensitive to the bourgeoning patterns but always to remain creative andflexible in our reading of his Callimachean epic. The structure s quite inten-tionally elusive. Diana's response serves as a monitory paradigm or our ownreading of the text: t is too personal, too passionate, oo conditioned, and thustoo limited to guide us safely through the dangerous passages of Ovidiannarrative. The Ovidian hero is a cool, dextrous tudent and manipulator f thetext (words)--Ulysses, for example, in his contest for Achilles' armor;26 rMercury, who in his dispassionate and successful dispatching of Argus, Bat-

23See especially Galinsky (above, note 8) 128, where he suggests that Ovid delighted ingrotesque cruelty. Contra s William R. Nethercut, "Ovidius de Hominibus," Latinitas 21 (1973)292-93, who argues that Diana's act is not cruel but proper owards an individual who has gonebeyond mortal boundaries. The important point is that the unprecedented iolence is given noimmediate ustification n the text other than Diana's concern for her modesty.

24Galinsky above,note

8)133.

25Male deities in the Metamorphoses are characterized by their lust, female deities by theirwrathful vengeance; see Allen Prior, "The Gods of the Metamorphoses," Pegasus 20 (1977) 39-42, and especially Betty Rose Nagle, "Amor, ra, and Sexual Identity n Ovid's Metamorphoses,"CA 3 (1984) 236-55. For Diana's "merciless persecution" as a reflection of a patriarchal ociety'sdenial of woman's right to exercise her sexuality, see Curran above, note 1) 213.

26See the important article by Charles Altieri, "Ovid and the New Mythologists," Novel 7(1973) 31-40, esp. 36. Barkan above, note 17) 52-55 discusses Perseus as the true representativeof the Ovidian world: versatile, mobile, and canny.


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diana's understanding of ovid's metamorphoses

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