Contrasting views of Metamorphosis in Ovid and Apuleius:  Divinities versus Magic

     The topic of human metamorphosis in classical literature is a fascinating one; it is impossible to forget the vivid images of people taking on a completely different form.  These transformations can be empowering when a person changes his or her shape at will.  Through metamorphosis it is possible to gain superhuman powers, such as the ability to fly.  Metamorphosis can also be crippling, especially when it is imposed.  People may lose some or all of the powers that they possessed as humans.  Therefore, metamorphosis is a subject considered by many authors.
    The Roman authors Ovid and Apuleius wrote massive works concerning metamorphosis.  However, their views of this subject contrast greatly.  Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a massive collection of tales written in poetic form that concerns literally hundreds of transformation stories.  Ovid views metamorphosis as crippling; it is usually a form of punishment.  The gods are ever present in Ovid, and they are always the imposers of the most terrible forms of metamorphosis.  For example, the goddess Lucina turns the maiden Galanthis into a weasel in order to punish her arrogance.  Persephone, the queen of the underworld, turns Asclaphus into an owl after he reveals an important secret.  The god Apollo awards king Midas the ears of a donkey after he dares to challenge the god.
    In contrast to Ovid, Apuleius’ novel, The Golden Ass is another collection of stories concerning metamorphosis.   Apuleius tends to see metamorphosis as empowering, and brought on through the use of magical arts.  Transformations involve the human realm only; people use materials found in the physical world such as common herbs to transform themselves and the gods do not usually play an active role.   In one tale a man is tricked by a witch who has turned herself into a weasel.  In another section a woman uses a potion to turn herself into an owl in order  to conceal her extra-marital affair.  In the central scene of the novel the main character attempts to turn himself into an owl using an ointment, but instead is turned into a donkey.  What was once empowering is now crippling, and he must find a way to return to his human state.  He must seek the help of Isis to direct him to an antidote (roses).  Although he does seek the help of a goddess, the means by which he resumes his original form are purely physical.   The views of metamorphosis contrast greatly between the two authors especially when considered in greater detail.
    One of the most striking tales in Ovid concerns Galanthis’ transformation into a weasel.  In the beginning of this story, the goddess Lucina has stopped Alcmene from giving birth.  She sits with her legs crossed and her fingers interlocked and also whispers incantations (dixit carmina voce 9:300).  Galanthis intervenes, announcing to Lucina that her mistress has given birth.  In shock Lucina jumps up and throws her hands in the air, thus allowing Alcmene to give birth to the baby Hercules. It may seem at first that Lucina has used witchcraft; after all, the word carmina can suggest a spell or incantation. However, it is important to note that Lucina is a goddess and has powers in her own right.  This is in contrast to the specifically human usage of magical arts as presented in Apuleius.  Lucina’s role as a goddess becomes more evident when she transforms Galanthis into a weasel.  Lucina grabs Galanthis by the hair and turns her into a weasel, but Ovid is not clear about the means through which she does this.  Ovid mentions no use of potions or other material means by which a person may change form.  Thus, Galanthis is changed only by the powers the goddess may possess.  The role of the gods and the lack of magic render this scene as typical of Ovid.
Apuleius also gives an account involving weasels, but it is very different from Ovid’s.  The story begins with a young man looking for work in Thessaly, a place famous for its witches.  He is immediately given a job of watching over a corpse to insure that no one using artes magicae (2:21)  will violate the body.  He is warned that women in this area will turn themselves at will into any creature imaginable in order to conceal their crimes.  While this character is vigilantly guarding the corpse, a weasel enters the room.  Although it is clear from the beginning that this is no ordinary weasel, it becomes more apparent when the guard immediately falls into a profound sleep (2:22) after being so watchful. The story later reveals that this particular weasel was the widow of the dead man who has stolen the ears and nose of the corpse. Because of the setting of this story it is clear that the woman has changed herself by magical means, but strictly in a worldly sense. The events take place in Thessaly, not on Mount Olympus or in the Underworld.  These magical arts involve substances in the world of humans as is evident in the witch’s seeking of the physical body parts of the corpse.  It is just as likely that she is collecting these materials in order to make some sort of magical potion as it is that she has used a material substance to assume the form of a weasel.   This account is definitive of Apuleius; if Ovid had told this story the woman would have been transformed by the touch of a god as a form of punishment and certainly nothing of the material world would come into play.
    In addition to a woman being transformed into a weasel, Ovid gives a vivid account of a man being turned into an owl in the Metamorphoses that is consistent with his views of metamorphoses as a crippling act of the gods.  This tale falls near the end of the story of Persephone.  Ceres, Persephone’s mother has just pleaded with the gods for her daughter to be returned to her.  Persephone will return to her mother provided that she has not eaten anything while in the underworld.  As she is being escorted from the lower world, a lesser god named Asclaphus announces that Persephone has eaten seven pomegranate seeds, thus prohibiting her return to her mother.  In her rage Persephone throws water from the Phlegethon river on him and he is turned into a screech owl, a most hideous bird.  He is no longer able to speak, an ability that gave him power.  This transformation scene is typical of Ovid in that the imposer of the metamorphosis is a goddess.  Although the victim is also a divinity, he is much lesser and his transformation is a punishment.  The water involved in this story is puzzling in that it comes from the underworld and must have special powers.  However, it is important to clarify that this is a river in the domain of the gods, and not a potion concocted by humans.  Thus the story of  Persephone and Asclaphus is typical of Ovid’s view of metamorphosis.
Apuleius also gives an account of a person turning into an owl. The main character of this story, Lucius, wishes to find out more about the magical arts and takes the first chance he gets to witness his hostess turn herself into an owl.  Pamphile rubs herself with an ointment (ungen 3:21) made from various herbs and is instantly turned into an owl.  This gives her the power to discretely fly away to her lover, thus easily deceiving her husband.  It is clear from the beginning that Apuleius’ view of metamorphosis is very different from Ovid’s .  All of the players in this story are human; the gods are not even mentioned.  Pamphile is a witch and she uses a magical ointment made from physical material to transform herself, unlike the divine river found in Ovid.  The prevalence of the human abilities with magic makes this account typical of Apuleius.
    In addition to all of his other transformation scenes, Ovid recounts the tale of king Midas.  Midas dares to challenge Apollo by stating that the music of Pan is superior.  Apollo punishes Midas by giving him the ears of a donkey.  This is clearly a humiliating change for Midas, brought on by his own stupidity.  Apollo used his power as a god to transform Midas, not a magical substance concocted from herbs.  Because of the divine characters and the use of godly powers, this story fits Ovid’s view of metamorphosis.
    The most definitive part of Apuleius’ The Golden Ass is Lucius’ transformation into a donkey.  This event immediately follows the owl episode; Lucius has witnessed Pamphile’s transformation and is determined to go through a similar metamorphosis, using Pamphile’s unguen as a catalyst.  The setup of this scene renders it as typically Apuleius from the very beginning.  Lucius is a bit nervous about dabbling in magic, but Fotis assures him that these potions are completely safe and are made  “….anethi modicum cum lauri foliis immissum rore fontano…lavacrum et poculum (3:23).”  That is to say that these unguens are made “from a little amount [of a substance] made with dill and with leaves of laurel in the dew of a fountain for washing and drinking (3:23).”    Even with close etymological analysis the dill and laurel leaves are common herbs that anyone can procure.  They are not plants to be found in the world of the gods.  The water may be found from a regular fountain used for everyday drinking and bathing. This is not water from a river sacred to the gods.  It is clear from the beginning that this substance exists only within the realm of humans.
The story begins to get interesting as Lucius smears the ointment all over his body.  Again, he uses a substance to transform himself; he is not the victim of the gods.  He wishes to use this metamorphosis to empower himself, and he becomes sorely disappointed as he begins to turn into a complete ass (perfectus asinus 3:26) rather than a bird.  This unfortunate transformation is due to a simple human error; Fotis has simply given him the wrong potion.  Neither character has committed an act of hubris to offend the gods.  This simple human error places this metamorphosis into the human world so typical of Apuleius.
    Once Lucius has been transfigured into a donkey, he must find an antidote.  It seems simple at first; all he must do is eat some roses and he will resume his human form.  This proves to be much more complicated than at first.  Lucius undergoes a series of adventures in which he is stolen, beaten, and overworked.  Finally he prays to whatever goddess may hear him, and Isis finally responds.  She informs him that he must attend a parade in her honor and he will be a human once again.  It seems troubling that this otherwise human story would involve a goddess.  However, when Lucius attends the ceremony, he easily finds a wreath of roses, which he eats, and resumes his human form.  The roses are a physical substance that all people have seen.  They provide an almost rational explanation for Lucius’ final metamorphosis.  This metamorphosis could only be found in Apuleius.  If a similar tale were told in Ovid, the goddess most likely would have descended to Lucius upon being summoned and would have simply touched him in order for his former shape to be regained.
    The contrast between the divine and human worlds in Ovid and Apuleius provide many conclusions.  Ovid’s world is strictly divine; when a person is turned into an animal, it is always due to the gods.  No worldly matters such as potions or other physical matter ever come into play.  Metamorphosis occurs simply be cause the gods are gods and have powers that are limited to them and completely beyond human understanding. Ovid’s godly atmosphere in the Metamorphosis is distant from Apuleius’ world of humans.  It is not easy to believe in Ovid’s transformation scenes.  It does not seem right that the gods can simply will a person to be transformed and have it be done.  The level on which the gods operate is so far from the physical world that these stories can be incomprehensible and unbelievable.
Apuleius attributes worldly things to metamorphosis.  A potion, ointment, or unguen is necessary for transformation.  Although their specific meanings vary, these words all imply a physical substance made from common materials that all people have seen, touched, smelled and tasted.  These materials also provide a rational explanation for metamorphosis, not because they really will turn a person into a weasel or donkey, but because they are certainly more tangible and understandable to people than the simple act of a god.  Although the idea of magical substances may seem ludicrous it is much easier to explain and believe Apuleius’ stories than is Ovid’s.