Metamorphoses
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Character List
Immortals
Jupiter -
The
king of the gods. Jupiter is the son of Saturn, the husband and
sister of Juno, and the brother of Neptune and Dis. He is often
called Jove. Jupiter’s decisions drive much of the plot of the Metamorphoses.
A violent and sexual god, he floods the earth and frequently rapes
young maidens.
Read an in-depth analysis of Jupiter.
Juno -
The
queen of the gods. Juno is the daughter of Saturn and the wife and
sister of Jupiter. A wrathful woman, she often catches her husband
cheating and seeks to punish his lovers.
Read an in-depth analysis of Juno.
Apollo -
The
god of the sun. Apollo is Jupiter’s son. A great archer, he is oftentimes
hotheaded and lustful.
Read an in-depth analysis of Apollo.
Venus -
The
goddess of love. Venus is the daughter of Jupiter and Dione and
the mother of Cupid and Aeneas.
Cupid -
The
god of love. Cupid is the son of Venus and Mars. He often causes
mischief. Many of the gods fall victim to his arrows, including
Apollo, who falls in love with Daphne; Dis, who falls in love with
Proserpina; and Venus, Cupid’s mother, who falls in love with Adonis.
Bacchus -
The
god of wine. Bacchus is the son of Jupiter and Semele. He comes
to full term in Jupiter’s thigh. As an adult, he takes vengeance
on Pentheus and the daughters of Minyas.
Minerva -
A
virgin warrior and the patron of Athens. Minerva is the daughter
of Jupiter. She competes with Arachne in a weaving contest.
Proserpina -
The
queen of the underworld. Proserpina is the daughter of Jupiter and
Ceres and the wife of Dis, who rapes her and takes her to the underworld.
Ceres -
The
goddess of agriculture. Ceres is the sister of Jupiter, who is also
the father of Ceres’s daughter, Proserpina, with Jupiter. She searches
for Proserpina after Dis steals her.
Aesculapius -
The
god of healing. Aesculapius is the son of Apollo and Coronis. He
rids Rome of its plague in Book XV.
Dis -
The
god of the underworld. Dis is the son of Saturn, the brother of
Jupiter and Neptune, and the husband of Proserpina, whom he forces
into his kingdom.
Achelous -
A
river god and shape-shifter. Achelous fights Hercules for the hand
of Deianira. Hercules overpowers him and breaks his horn.
Latona -
The
daughter of Titans Coeus and Phoebe and the mother of Apollo and
Diana. Latona takes revenge on Niobe.
Thetis -
A
sea nymph. Thetis is the daughter of Nereus and Doris, the wife
of Peleus, and the mother of Achilles.
Scylla (daughter of Nisus) -
Another character named Scylla, this one is the daughter
of Nisus, She falls in love with Minos and betrays her father and
people.
Daphne -
The
daughter of Peneus. Daphne is transformed into a laurel tree as
Apollo seeks to rape her.
Echo -
A nymph.
Juno punishes Echo, making her unable to speak except to repeat
the words of others. Echo loves Narcissus.
Legendary Mortals
Orpheus -
A
famous bard and poet. Orpheus is the son of Apollo and Calliope
and the husband of Eurydice. He sings in Books X and XI. He tells
some of the most memorable stories in the poem, such as the tale
of Pygmalion. He loses his wife twice but rejoins her in the underworld.
Read an in-depth analysis of Orpheus.
Theseus -
A
famed warrior. Theseus is the son of Aegeus, the husband of Phaedra,
and the father of Hippolytus. He destroys the Minotaur.
Cadmus -
The
son of Agenor, the husband of Harmonia, and the founder of Thebes.
He slays a serpent to establish Thebes, and at the end of his life
he is turned into a serpent.
Actaeon -
The
grandson of Cadmus and the son of Autonoe. Diana turns Actaeon into
a deer as a punishment for seeing her naked.
Arachne -
Minerva’s
rival in the art of weaving. Arachne is the daughter of Idmon. Minerva
transforms Arachne into a spider.
Pentheus -
The
King of Thebes. Pentheus is the son of Echion and Agave. He is a
vocal opponent of the worship of Bacchus.
Perseus -
A
comical Greek hero, in Ovid’s portrayal. Perseus is the son of Jupiter
and Danae and the husband of Andromeda. Perseus slays Medusa and
the sea monster.
Calliope -
The
Muse of poetry. Calliope is the mother of Orpheus. She sings in
a contest against the Pierides in Book V.
Callisto -
A
follower of Diana. Callisto is the daughter of Lycaon and the mother
of Arcas. After Jupiter rapes Callisto, Juno transforms her into
a bear. Finally, Jupiter makes her into a constellation.
Medea -
A
powerful magician. Medea is the daughter of Aeetes and the wife
of Jason. She delivers the most soul-searching soliloquy in the Metamorphoses, in
Book VII.
Caunus -
The
son of Miletus and Cyanne and the twin brother of Byblis. Byblis
falls in love with him.
Narcissus -
The
son of Cephisus, a river god, and Liriope, a nymph. Narcissus falls
in love with his own reflection and dies.
Andromeda -
The
daughter of Cepheus and Cassiope. Perseus rescues Andromeda from
the sea monster and marries her.
Procne -
The
daughter of Pandion, the sister of Philomela, the wife of the tyrant
Tereus, and the mother of Itys.
Phaethon -
The
son of Clymene and the Sun. Phaethon takes his father’s chariot
and almost destroys the world.
Acoetes -
A
shipmaster and a convert to Bacchus. Acoetes tries to convince Pentheus
to worship Bacchus.
Daedalus -
A
great inventor. Daedalus is the father of Icarus. He creates the
labyrinth and wings to flee from Crete.
Hercules -
The
greatest Greek hero, and the first person to be deified in the Metamorphoses.
Hercules is the son of Jupiter and Alcmena and the husband of Deianira
and Hebe.
Pyrrha -
One
of the two survivors of the flood. Pyrrha is the daughter of Epimetheus
and the wife of Deucalion.
Peleus -
The
son of Aeacus, the brother of Telamon, the husband of Thetis, and
the father of Achilles.
Coronis -
A
nymph. Coronis is a lover of Apollo, who kills her in a fit of passion.
She bears Aesculapius.
Picus -
The
King of Latium. Picus is the son of Saturn and the husband of Canens.
Circe transforms him into a woodpecker after he spurns her love.
Pierides -
Nine
daughters of Pierus. The Pierides challenge the Muses to a poetry
contest. The Pierides lose, and the Muses turn them into magpies
for their arrogance.
Alcyone -
The
daughter of Aeolus and the beloved wife of Ceyx. Alcyone is changed
into a bird with her husband.
Ceyx -
The
King of Trachin. Ceyx is the husband of Alcyone. He dies in a storm
and is changed into a bird with his wife.
Autonoe -
The
daughter of Cadmus, the mother of Actaeon, and the aunt of Pentheus.
Autonoe rips off Pentheus’s arms in a bacchic frenzy.
Byblis -
The
daughter of Miletus and Cyanee and the twin sister of Caunis. Byblis
falls in love with her twin brother, Caunis.
Deianira -
The
wife of Hercules. Deianira accidentally kills Hercules by giving
him a poisoned robe.
Medusa -
The
daughter of Phorcys and Keto. Neptune rapes Medusa, and Athena turns
her into a monster. Medusa’s gaze turns people to stone.
Midas -
The
Phrygian king. Midas has a golden touch, and he is a poor literary
critic. Apollo punishes him by giving him donkey ears.
Myrrha -
The
daughter of Cinyras. Myrrha falls in love with her father and manages
to sleep with him. He is transformed into a Myrrh tree.
Hippolytus -
The
son of Theseus and an Amazon woman. Hippolytus is falsely accused
of sleeping with his father’s wife. He appears in a resuscitated
form in Book XV.
Historical Mortals
Ulysses -
A
famously clever Greek soldier. Ulysses is the son of Laertes and
the husband of Penelope. He defeats Ajax in a verbal contest for
the arms of Achilles.
Aeneas -
A
Trojan hero and the founder of Rome. Aeneas is the son of Anchises
and Venus and the father of Ascanius. Aeneas is the second person
in the Metamorphoses to be deified.
Ajax -
A great
Greek warrior. Ajax is the son of Telamon. He contends with Ulysses
for Achilles’ armor and loses. He commits suicide and turns into
a flower.
Achilles -
The
greatest Greek warrior in the Trojan War. Achilles is the son of
Peleus and Thetis. He kills Hector in hand-to-hand combat.
Julius Caesar -
A
Roman statesman and general. Julius Caesar is assassinated in 44 b.c.
and deified. His nephew, Augustus, is the first emperor of Rome.
Augustus -
The
first emperor of Rome. Augustus is the nephew of Julius Caesar.
He may be equated with Jupiter in Book XV.
Cycnus -
The
invulnerable son of Neptune and Canace. Achilles strangles Cycnus
in battle and kills him.
Hector -
The
champion of Troy. Hector is the son of Priam. Achilles bests him
in battle in the Trojan War.
