Journal Entry # 2

The theme of transformation is not nearly as evident in Calvino’s invisible cities as opposed to Metamorphoses. In Calvino, the transformation was not a continuous underlying theme that could be pointed to. A few stories obviously had transformation as a theme, but it wasn’t necessarily true of all stories. However in Metamorphoses, this is a different way of looking at transformation. In Metamorphoses, the transformation is more clearly evident, its an obvious theme. For example, its obvious and clear that Narcissus is turned into a flower, and is clearly transformed in doing it. I guess what I’m trying to articulate is that the theme of transformation in Calvino is only seen by doing a deeper more through reading. Although there are many differences, both texts clearly articulate feelings using clear and descriptive language.
It’s interesting to me that people often interact with the gods on a very informal level in Ovid’s work. It seems rather like a convoluted situation, with the gods creating the humans yet having strange love affairs with them. I am very familiar with Greek myths from high school mythology so I continuously was comparing from what I remembered.
The myths are different in that the Roman myth is more innocent, Persephone is portrayed as a young girl, and the romantic relationship between her and Hades is downplayed.