Reading Notes: Metamorphoses I, Part B

Perseus with the Head of Medusa, by Benvenuto Cellini

Pyramus and Thisbe
Wow, Shakespeare basically just stole this entire story for the plot of Romeo & Juliet. So far in the Metamorphoses, the stories seem to be separated distinctly into "lesson" stories and "how" stories, with some overlap (such as Phaethon). This tale definitely falls into the "how" category, though it admittedly seems to be a very dramatic explanation as to why berries are dark (but you could make the same claim towards many classical "how" stories). Not really sure how I could retell this one, as it seems to have already been done (see Romeo & Juliet).

Mars and Venus
I've read this story before and it always makes me so sad for Vulcan. Not only is he a very ugly god because of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother Juno (because throwing your baby off of a cliff is apparently top tier parenting by Greek god standards), but he also basically gets dismissed and ridiculed because he wife cheated on him. Sure, Venus may not have loved him in the first place due to the fact that their marriage was forced (and because he's hideous, but he can't really control that), but that's still a pretty low blow for all of your friends to laugh at you when you expose your wife's affair. If I retold this story, I'd probably take great liberty with the plot to give both Venus and Vulcan a happy ending.

Tales of Perseus
Stories of Greek heroes are always entertaining to me because of how hilariously overpowered they are. They never really struggle with many of their exploits (for example, this gigantic sea monster didn't even land a hit on Perseus and the whole battle sounded like it lasted for about 30 seconds), and usually the only things that have a chance of beating them are themselves. Perseus especially reminds me a lot of an overpowered D&D character that was given a bit too many magical items, and if I retell this story, that's probably how I'll frame it.

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