Why didn’t the gods punish Ovid?

The question I’m sure a lot of people are curious about.

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This is not a beginner-friendly piece. (Don’t worry, though, it’s also not going anywhere. You can come back to it once you’re more prepared). In order to understand this article, you need to already know or be open to the following:

• First of all, I’m not a scholar. The writings I’m referencing are very real and easily available in the public domain, but please don’t expect academic rigor in this article. It’s a blog post, dear. You’re reading it for free on Medium. Manage your expectations. The perspective I’m using here is, instead, based on my 30+ years of experience in spirit work (or 5+ dealing with deities specifically). Some people don’t think that’s valid. If that is your case, you won’t enjoy this article, so go read something else.
• I’m going to take you out of your comfort zone with this article. Namely, I’ll invite you to question the [Roman, imperialistic] cultural conditioning you never before realised you grew up with. This can spark a whole host of emotions. Ideally, in order to read it and be okay with it, you need to be in a good headspace. If you’re already stressed, maybe skip it.
• Classical mythology is a white supremacist label. This is a fact. Let’s stop putting Greek and Roman myths in the same category just because they politically coexisted in the same time period (so did Vedic and Greek mythology, Persian and Greek, to cite a few examples, and I don’t see anyone referring to them as one-and-the-same. Why? Simple: because in India and Iran, most people were not white). So, yes, this is a problem, yes, we’re addressing this elephant today, and if you don’t like hearing it, skip this article.
• I’m a polytheist, aka. I worship many gods (the Greek gods). When you read my articles, you’re reading my perspective. In case you don’t respect pagan faiths, maybe don’t waste your time reading this article. I won’t waste my time arguing against Christian imperialism, especially if it’s in your subconscious. Even some scholars are subconsciously biased in favour of Christianity and against other faiths, i.e. what pagan authors write are just metaphors about socio-political themes… Only Christian authors are taken seriously talking about ACTUAL faith. Yeah, right. Spare me of those double standards, please.
• Last, but not least, it’s important that you’re already aware that Greek and Roman mythologies are a collection of stories which vary by region and have many authors. Ovid is just one of these authors (Roman, in his case). We’re not dealing with a cohesive source where all authors agree. I know today people are used to Christianity, which only has one Bible, so they think every other religion is like that too. That’s wrong.

Do you acknowledge all of the above? Truly? Okay. Keep reading, then.

Ovid’s writing was immoral and reproachable, not because he disagreed with earlier sources, but because he set out to corrupt the moral lesson in earlier myths.

This is not a controversial conclusion to take about Ovid, especially in Academic circles. Ask any Classicist and they’ll confirm what I’m saying (from a purely Scientific, putting-themselves-in-Greek-people’s-shoes perspective, perhaps). On the other hand, though, I’m not speaking to an Academic audience here (hence what I said above, that this isn’t a scholarly article). Average people are not aware of the controversy surrounding Ovid. On the contrary: average people just take his myths for granted and think they’re representative of “Classical” mythology in general… When they’re not.

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This isn’t a commentary on the average pleb. Hold your horses there! I’m not blaming non-scholarly people for not knowing that Ovid is a controversial source. In fact, I think people in general are victims of a scam. A Medieval scam sponsored by the Church, which still has repercussions today. I’m going to expose it in this article (hence what I said above, that it might take you out of your comfort zone) and show you how it wasn’t by chance that we got to know Ovid’s myths better than anyone else’s myths from Ancient Greece or Rome.

To simplify my point and make it crystal clear: Ovid was an anti-pagan disguising himself as a pagan. The equivalent of, today, if a Catholic priest started degrading Jesus and calling this derogatory text “holy scripture”. Very blasphemous, isn’t it?

Well… Let’s just say that in Medieval times, when the Church found Ovid’s writing, a decision was made to promote it all over Europe in order to degrade paganism and reinforce even more the message that everybody should convert. An imperialistic and political move, because it sure as hell wasn’t compassionate or religious. I mean… I don’t think Jesus would agree with that. Where’s “love thy neighbour” in that story? Nowhere. But people will be peopling. Everybody wants power, and some go to great lengths (even this kind of manipulation I just exposed, or the widespread torture you all probably know) to gain this power.

Okay, but what did Ovid write, after all?

Since this article is for the lay person (pre-requisites aside), let me (re)introduce you to the myths you already knew, but didn’t know were Ovid’s:

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• Medusa being turned into a monster by Athena because she was raped by Poseidon (so, the goddess of wisdom — Athena — making a very unwise decision, ie. Punish a victim of rape for being raped). This denigrates Athena and basically says, “wait a second, weren’t you the goddess of wisdom? You must be a fake goddess then”.
• Apollo pursuing Daphne even after she said “no”, portraying him as a rapist (so, the god of discipline and excellence — Apollo — losing the trait that defines him, which leads us to conclude, again, he must be a fake god).
• Philomela getting raped and mutilated by Thracian king Tereus, who goes on to become a bird of prey, whereas she is turned into either a swallow or a nightingale by the gods. Because, ya know, earlier versions of this myth that emphasised how Tereus killed himself, and only then the transformations happened, apparently didn’t matter to Ovid. All he wanted was to portray the gods as some sadistic, heartless monsters who condemned this woman to be pursued by her abuser after death as well… Conveniently “forgetting” that there was a humiliating consequence for the abuser in earlier versions of the myth (and only afterwards is the myth used as an explanation for why some birds hunt other birds).

There are more, but you get the idea. I’m not here to keep score. Instead, I’ll tell you that one blasphemy is already too many (let alone 3 or more). Also, what is it with Ovid’s obsession with rape? Couldn’t he at least be original if his intention was to denigrate gods? Apparently, no. So much for a celebrated poet… [Insert eyeroll here].

Here’s a bit of commentary on the myths above, so that you understand the wider context and why they’re specifically targeting the gods’ morality and perfection:

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First of all, both Athena and Minerva (her Roman equivalent) are considered wise, strategic and free of passion. I’m citing both here because while it’s true that Ovid was Roman and wrote about Roman gods, the Medieval propaganda we’re all used to (but pretend is just “common sense”. No it isn’t. Re-read the intro) uses them interchangeably, leading the unaware to believe that Greek myths were just like this Roman variation from the very beginning, when in fact they weren’t. Anyway, back to Athena/Minerva: repeatedly, in the myths, she demonstrates how level-headed she is, even faced with the most absurd situations (such as the war of Troy itself). What this goddess does in Ovid’s version of Medusa’s origin story is neither wise nor level-headed at all: it’s an impulsive, wrathful decision coming out of the blue and serving no purpose other than expressing wrath. Which deity are we talking about, again? It’s sounding like Ares. That behaviour is very unlike Athena, even if you disregard the discussion on sexual assault, because just use your common sense: why would Athena/Minerva, in her right mind, GET RID OF her most dedicated priestess? Just why? What strategic purpose does that even serve? None! That’s like throwing an asset away during a temper tantrum… The kind of thing Ares did, which is why Athena’s side WON the war of Troy. It’s so inconceivable that it reads like a caricature of her!

This myth by Ovid is even more absurd than his other controversial myth involving Athena/Minerva — the one where she turns Arachne into a spider for daring to defy her in the art of weaving — because at least in Arachne’s case, one could argue she was being hubristic (And let me emphasise again: that’s Ovid’s myth. No-one else, as far back as you can go, has ever written anything similar about Arachne’s origin story. I’m just choosing to give Ovid a pass here, to make it crystal clear to you that I’m not dead-set on judging him). But Medusa… She did NOTHING. Literally NOTHING. It’s mind-blowing!

Secondly, Ovid’s portrayal of Apollo is intentionally malicious because Apollo isn’t Zeus. You could argue “oh, but he is the son of Zeus”, and to that, I’ll tell you: yes, Sherlock. So is almost everyone in Greek myth. Now, stop being a smartass and listen here. Apollo is the guy who respected the consent of literally every woman he courted in the myths. Even Cassandra! And she deceived him! She initially made him believe that “yes, she would very much like” to sleep with him. EVEN THEN, when the deception happened, he didn’t insist. Instead, he punished her for the lie with a curse totally unrelated to anything sexual. But what matters (for today’s analysis) is: Cassandra said “no”, and he went like “fair enough”. No advance. No crossing of boundaries. There are other, lesser known myths, from places all over the Hellenic world, where he likewise respects women’s wishes when they say “no” to him. Usually without any consequence for the woman whatsoever (because those “nos” are clearly “nos”, and not lies). So… You’re telling me this Apollo… This SAME Apollo who is sometimes burning with desire for a woman, and still contains himself to respect her wish, over and over and over again… Suddenly does the opposite and gets all obsessed over a nymph? Just because Ovid said so? In ONE myth in a corpus of HUNDREDS? Yeah, sure. Sounds legit, Ovid. WTF.

Third… Philomela is a minor character in Greek mythology, and I’m not even sure the Romans had a counterpart for her (it’s probably a borrowed myth? Correct me in case I’m wrong). Her story is one of many that give natural phenomena a mythical explanation. The thing is… When these mythical explanations of nature happen in Greek mythology, usually they go hand in hand with a moral lesson as well. Very rarely (if ever?) you’ll see a Greek myth say “so, this is why such-and-such natural phenomenon happens, the end, that’s it folks” — which is basically what Ovid was overtly doing here. Covertly, in between the lines, it is clear to me that Ovid was also painting the gods in a bad light. As in: oh, they’re so mighty and powerful, and yet they chose to give this clearly abusive character a pass and let him roam freely as a bird of prey without any consequence for his barbaric actions whatsoever. We’re not even getting into the merit of sexism here (because, yes, it was rampant in the Ancient world, and I’m not pretending it wasn’t), I’m simply arguing that the gods choosing to defend barbarism as a thing in itself regardless of context isn’t very like them… Unless you’re trying to denigrate them. They were worshipped for a reason, guys. They were considered virtuous and aspirational at the very least.

You can’t argue with the analyses above. You can perhaps nitpick them (if you’re pedantic), but I’m pretty sure my point is clear: Ovid was blasphemous. Repeatedly. Intentionally.

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So… Why wasn’t he punished by the gods?

This is where things get interesting! Of course I can’t give you a definite answer (no, I can’t, even though I am “the oracle”. I’m not it 24/7 though. Have you forgotten that holidays are a thing? I hope not! I’m not working all the time. Please understand. This article is coming from my fallible HUMAN perspective, without consulting any oracle whatsoever). All I can give you is my speculation, and you can find it below.

As I’m always saying, and it’s worth repeating: I have many reasons to believe that the gods don’t have egos. In other words, they wouldn’t feel offended at the same things that offend us. This is why people have been making satire, speculative fiction, jokes, etc, at the expense of the gods since time immemorial. The ego DEPENDS on external approval in order to keep feeling safe and important; But since the gods don’t have egos, they couldn’t care less. They’re simply there, existing in all their glory, and we can choose to acknowledge them as they are or misrepresent them, or not acknowledge them at all. They couldn’t give a rat’s arse either way! The only people who feel offended at blasphemous acts are we, human beings. Specifically, human beings who dedicate to worshipping the gods and learning from them. (So, priests and other devout people).

There are people in polytheistic communities who would disagree though, because they say the gods are “fallible and closer to us humans than the Christian god”, so they must have egos. I’m not here to argue with them — I’m simply making you aware that their perspective exists. Personally, I side-eye this perspective, because it reeks of internalised pagan shame. Ya know, the same thing authorities in Medieval times wanted us all to feel when they started making propaganda that equates paganism with “barbarity” and pagan gods with “lesser gods, too human-like”. But what do I know?

Either way, whichever side of this debate you’re on, I’m sure you’d be interested in noticing that there’s another layer to the question of whether or not the gods should have punished Ovid for his blasphemy:

Ovid did what humanity as a whole is already inclined to do.

It’s very uncomfortable to admit this one. One moment of silence, please.

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Why do I say that? Well, if what he did was something we all agree is heinous and horrible, we wouldn’t have given him relevance in Antiquity, AND we wouldn’t CONTINUE TO give him relevance today. “But Lucy, he was controversial, and it’s only natural for controversial people to get clout”, maybe you’ll say. Ehh… No. Actually, no. Not always. One interesting tale from antiquity is that of Akhenaten in Ancient Egypt. This Pharaoh was so blasphemous, unpopular and selfish, that people literally erased him from History after his death. So, as you can see, people can and do let the “controversial” figureheads fall into oblivion if what they did was enough of a taboo.

I know this is uncomfortable to admit, but I still think it needs to be said (sorry!). Average people, both today and in the days of yore, are just like Ovid in a lot of ways. Aren’t we? When we look at mythology, take very surface-level conclusions, treat the gods like one-dimensional characters in a satirical play, and cherrypick their traits according to our mood and/or our limited, biased, individual opinions of these gods… We’re all being Ovid. I’m sorry to inform.

Let’s suppose the gods DID punish Ovid: if there was no Ovid in the end, someone else would fill his role. It would be futile to eliminate him.

“Oh but I don’t do that, Lucy, I’m very devout and always look for the nuance”, some of you will say. Congratulations! I’m not talking about you. I’m talking — again — about a vast majority of people on planet Earth. This is why I said, and will repeat, that if Ovid was no more, someone else would fill his role.

So, it’s not that he didn’t deserve punishment; it’s just that it would be like cutting a branch of a problem instead of addressing its root. Branches grow back, don’t they? Usually stronger.

Until and if we all learn (or at least, the majority of us learns) NOT to reduce the gods to stereotypes or jump to conclusions without going past the surface level in terms of research/devotion/whatever… We’ll keep seeing modern-day Ovids everywhere…

…But that’s just my own speculation! Feel free to share your own opinions in the comments.