Byblis and Myrrha: Two Incest Narratives in the "Metamorphoses" Author(s): Betty Rose Nagle Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Apr. - May, 1983), pp. 301-315 Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3296771 . Accessed: 19/02/2011 06:30 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=camws. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Classical Association of the Middle West and South is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Classical Journal. http://www.jstor.org BYBLIS AND MYRRHA: TWO INCEST NARRATIVES IN THE METAMORPHOSES In two consecutive books of the Metamorphosesoccur episodes of incest (9.450-665; 10.298-502). Byblis' passionfor herbrotherCaunusis narratedby Ovid himself, as an illustration ut ament concessa puellae (454). Myrrha's desirefor her fatherCinyrasis partof the cycle of Orpheus'songs, one of those on the theme . . . inconcessisquepuellas/ ignibus attonitas meruisse libidine poenam (153-154).1 The two stories naturallyhave a number of parallels because of the similarityof subject, as well as differences, some of which can be attributedto Orpheus'personalbias. His narrativeis moretendentious,but, curiously, moreprurient.Despite the tendentiouslystatedmoralpurposeof his story, Orpheus exploits the horror2of Myrrha's incest in a melodrama of "pietas perverted," whereas Ovid presents a sympatheticand relatively restrainedaccountof Byblis. Many of the differencesbetween the styles of these two narrativesarise from one underlyingdifference-the attitudeof the narrator toward his main character. Ovid is consistently sympathetic toward Byblis, whereasOrpheusis ambivalenttowardMyrrha,with his initial revulsion ultimately giving way to sympathy. Ovid frequentlyputs a story in the mouthof one of his fictional characters. Scholars have noted this, both in the present case of Orpheus, and in others elsewhere, but they have offered a variety of explanationsfor why Ovid does this. The device of stories-within-a-storyhad been part of the epic tradition from the tales of Odysseus through the neoteric epyllia.3 As for Ovid's particularmotives for attributingstories to his charactersin the Metamorphoses, scholarlyexplanationsfall into two broadcategories, those which relate Ovid's motives to structureandtheme, andthose which relatethemto tone and mood. Structuraland thematicexplanationsare common in Brooks Otis, as a consequenceof his overall approachto the poem. For Otis, Orpheuslinks the stories of Pygmalion, Myrrha,and Venus and Adonis (183), while the stories "attributedto the Minyades" achieve variety and anticipatea thematictransition (152). Before Otis, HermannFriinkelnoted thatthe Pygmalionstory, put into the mouth of Orpheus, implicitly underscores parallels in these two characters'situations;L.P. Wilkinsonexplainedthe phenomenonin generalas 'In fact, Orpheus'story of Myrrhais "the only one which accuratelycarriesout" thattheme, as William S. Andersonrightly observes in his commentaryedition, Ovid's Metamorphoses:Books 6-10 (Norman, Oklahoma 1972) 501, hereaftercited as "Anderson." 2BrooksOtis, OvidAs An Epic Poet (Cambridge1970; 2nd rev. ed.), hereaftercited as "Otis," states, 421, in his Appendix on sources, that it is reasonablycertainone of Ovid's alterationsof Cinna's Zmyrna was "that Ovid himself emphasizedthe horrorof the story both to make it the climax of his episodes of furiosa libido and to establish a contrastwith the Pygmalion." 3See M. MarjorieCrump, The Epyllionfrom Theocritusto Ovid (Oxford 1931) 62-70, on the "digression" as a "rule" in epyllia;for her, the Metamorphoses"is reallya collection of epyllia" (47). For two morerecentstudieswhich deal specifically with Ovid's stories-within-a-story,see K. Gieseking, Die Rahmenerziihlungenin OvidsMetamorphosen(diss. Tiibingen 1965), and Michel Boillat, "Les recits intercales," Les Metamorphosesd'Ovide: Themesmajeurs et problemes de composition (Bern and Frankfort1976). 301 302 BETTYROSENAGLE a way of including stories which do not fit Ovid's announcedchronological scheme.4 The motive of tone and mood appearsin Friinkel'sexplanationthat the battleof the Lapithsand Centaursis laid "in the mouthof old Nestor," as a way for Ovid to avoid telling this "brutal tale" himself (102). Note that Frinkel's reasoningseems to be-it is a brutaltale, thereforeOvid has Nestor tell it-not-it is a brutaltale because Ovid has Nestor tell it. Wilkinsoncalls attentionto the vividness which results when a narratortells his own story, in the case of Arethusa's story about her escape from Alpheus (176), and of Achelous' account of his struggle with Hercules (176 n. and 201). Otis, referringto the tone of the story of Cephalusand Procris, asserts (181): "The harsh cupidity and indecency of Ovid's sources are softened not so much by Ovid speaking in propria persona as by his narrator,Cephalus." Until recentlythis has been the extentto which scholarshave consideredthe effect a fictionalnarratormayhave upon a tale.5 The fictionalnarratorhas been regardedprimarilyas a fictional character,with certainpersonalitytraitsand biographicalexperienceswhich Ovid may exploit for reasonsof theme or tone. Despite Otis' observationabout Cephalus as narrator,his prevailing attitude appears when he refers to the section of the poem which is "nominally attributed"to Orpheus(190). Thus, accordingto Otis, the story of Cyparissus appears in the catalogue of trees, "told by Ovid in propria persona, but Gandymede's(since he was not a tree) is put in the mouthof Orpheus"(185); (italics mine). Recently, however, scholarshave begun to take the fictional narratorsmore seriously as narrators, and to discover reasons for Ovid's use of them which relateto the self-reflexive natureof his poem, in whichthe role of the artistis an importantconcern.6Zumwalthas shown thatNestor's bias in his version of the Lapiths and Centaursundermineshis otherwise excellent qualifications,thus allowing Ovid to commentupon the possibility of truthin narrative.'In a brief discussion of Ovid's narrativeart, Segal has shown the effect of context (including audience, circumstances, and setting, as well as narrator)on the tales of Pyramusand Thisbe and Baucis and Philemon; his excellent recent studyof the CephalusandProcrisepisode includesconsiderationof the effect of Cephalus as narrator,as well as other elements of the context." The Cephalusand Procrisepisode has also been discussed by Galinsky;for him, the use of Cephalusas narratorallows Ovid to achieve "a fine balance between the 'experience' and the 'artistic' aspects of the story" and "to 4Ovid:A PoetBetween Two Worlds(Berkeley 1945), hereaftercited as "Frinkel," 96-97; Ovid Recalled (Cambridge1955), hereaftercited as "Wilkinson," 147. 5Even the narrativetheorists Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg, The Nature of Narrative (Oxford 1966) 263, contrastthe effect of the "multiplicationof eye-witness narrators"with thatof "the interlocking tale-tellers of frankly fictional narrativeslike Ovid's Metamorphosesor the Arabian Nights." 6Alison GoddardElliot, "Ovid's Metamorphoses: A Bibliography, 1968-1978," CW 73.7 (April-May 1980) 391, remarkson this as one of the emerging trendsin the scholarshipin that decade, as part of the concern with Ovidian poetics and narrativetechnique (385). 7"Fama Subversa: Theme and Structurein Ovid's Metamorphoses 12," CSCA 10 (1977) 209-220, particularly212-217. 8"NarrativeArtin the Metamorphoses,"CJ 66 (1971) 331-337; "Ovid's CephalusandProcris: Myth and Tragedy," Grazer Beitriige 7 (1978) 175-205. BYBLISAND MYRRHA 303 demonstratethat he could tell the story differentlyand with sustaineddignity and even profundity."9 The notion of Ovid's desire to tell a familiar myth "differently" is fundamentalto Galinsky's interpretationof the Metamorphoses. According to him (4), Ovid's concern in that poem was "with the metamorphosisof myth ratherthan mythological metamorphoses;"the poet was able to accomplish this metamorphosis by following the example of Odysseus, whom he had representedin his own Ars Amatoriaas respondingto Calypso's repeatedrequeststo hearaboutthe fall of Troy by telling "the same thing differently" (ille referre aliter saepe solebat idem, Ars 2.128). A special category of this narrativediversification, yet to be examined thoroughly, consists of the tales told "differently" by Ovid's fictional narrators. For this purposeit is especially useful to juxtapose two stories on the same theme, one by a fictional narratorandthe otherby Ovid, since this allows direct comparison of the narrativestyle (voice and technique) of Ovid in propriapersona with thatin his character.In comparingthe incest narrativesof Ovid and Orpheus, I shall be pursuingthe insight that Ovid uses some of his characters'stories to mirroror reflect his own aesthetic, narrativeprinciples. Anderson has considered the aesthetic principles contrastedin the weaving contest between Arachne and Minerva, and Leach has discussed the fictional artists in the Metamorphoses (both visual, like Arachne and Minerva, and verbal, like Minyades, the Pierides, the Muses, and Orpheus), showing how the ecphrasesof theirworks "mirror"the largerpoem.10Andersoncomments on a particulardetail in the Myrrhaepisode which is "a reminderthat the narratoris Orpheus,not Ovid," but for the most parthis commentsreferto the narratoras "Ovid."11 Leach explicitly and emphaticallydenies stylistic distinctions between Ovid and the fictional poets (106): Ovid makes no perceptiblestylistic distinctionbetweenthe storiesrelated by other poets and those he tells in propria persona. Their wit, their descriptivetechniquesandtheirnarrativepacing arethe same as thatof the largerpoem. .... This is most probablytrue, when the fictional narratorsare treatedcollectively (as Leach is doing when she speaks of "their wit, their . . . techniques and 9Ovid's Metamorphoses:An Introductionto the Basic Aspects (Berkeley 1975), hereaftercited as "Galinsky," 150-152; among the other versions of Cephalus and Procris to which he refers, Galinskydoes not include Ovid's own in Ars 3; Segal (above, note 8) 181 rightlyobserves thatthe distinctivequalitiesof the version in the Metamorphosesstandout even more in comparisonto his own earlier version. "oSeeAnderson 151-171 on the weaving contest, ideas which earlierappearedin his review of Otis' first edition, AJP 89 (1968) 93-104; Leach, "Ekphrasisand the Theme of ArtisticFailurein the Metamorphoses,"Ramus 3.2 (1974) 102-142, hereaftercited as "Leach," especially 106 and 117 for the "mirror" metaphor. Turningto theoreticalliteratureon narrative,we find Tzvetan Todorovasserting,in ThePoetics ofProse, trans.RichardHoward(Ithaca,N.Y. 1977) 72, thatan "embedded" tale ("the narrative of a narrative") reflects an image of the embedding tale. IA good sampleof Anderson'sprocedureappearson 488-489. Oneach of these facing pages, he refers to the narratoronce as "Orpheus" but several times as "Ovid." On 489 ad 167-70 he commentson the phrasemeus genitor "Orpheusrepresentshimself as Apollo's son." On488 ad 152-54 he commentsthat "With five dactyls Orpheuslightly moves into his lighterthemes;" here Andersongoes furtherthanI do in assessing the effects of the fictional narrator,since I assume (at least provisionally)thatmetricallyand lexically the styles of Ovid andhis charactersare identical. 304 BETTYROSENAGLE their . . . pacing"). It is still worth examining individual cases, especially those cases in which Ovid and a charactertell the same kind of story, to determineif any stylistic differences do exist. In my examinationof the two incest narrativesin the Metamorphoses, I shall be focussing on the stylistic differences between Ovid and Orpheus, differences, that is, in those closely interrelated aspects of narrative style which come under the heading of "voice", including pace, tone, mood, selection and arrangementof details, and, most important,since it influences all the others, the narrator'sattitude toward his subject. The incest tales of Ovid and Orpheusare not the only pairof tales one could choose in order to contrastthe style of Ovid himself with that of a fictional but it is a particularlyillustrativepair. First, Ovid seems to invite the narrator,12 comparisonhimself by putting the pair so close together in two consecutive books. He extended a similar invitationnear the beginning of the poem with two tales of a god pursuinga reluctantnymph, his own Apollo andDaphneand Mercury's Pan and Syrinx, both in Book 1; the Metamorphoses contains several variationson that theme, but the Byblis and Myrrhaare the only two incest tales told at any length.'3 These episodes are also roughly the same length (216 lines for Byblis, 205 for Myrrha),a fact which eliminatesone more variable. Both were tales well-known to Ovid's readers, hence offering the challenge to referre aliter.'4 Finally, Orpheus' cycle of songs in Book 10 12Anotherinteresting pairconsistsof Ovid'sown accountof the battlebetweenPerseusand in Book 12. Thelatteris the Phineusin Book5, andNestor'sbattleof theLapithsandCentaurs locus classicus,vigorouslycensuredby critics,for sensationalviolencein Ovid, andfigures in Galinsky'sdiscussion(110-153,especially126-139)of crueltyandgrotesque prominently thatthenarrator is notactuallyOvid thusit is noteworthy sensationalism in theMetamorphoses; of theIliad;see forthematerial servesas a substitute himself.Moreover,Nestor'sbattlenarrative Frinkel 222 n.81, and more recently,Otto Steen Due, ChangingForms: Studiesin the Metamorphoses of Ovid, Classicaet MediaevaliaDissertationes10 (Copenhagen1974) 150. fromthe andNestor's--isinstructive of the two battlenarratives--Ovid's Hencea comparison inthat artandonhispredecessors of narrative ontheprinciples of Ovid'sself-reflection standpoint art. onthePanandSyrinx(85)arebrief,butsuggestiveaboutOvid'smotivation; remarks 13Frlinkel's see also Otis385-386in his Appendixon sources. Oviddoesincludeverybriefallusionsto severalothercasesof incest.An allegedlynotorious incestis alludedto withinthecrow'swarningtaleto theraven:beforeshe caseof father-daughter incest(2.589-593).Mentionof Menephron's becameMinerva'sowl, Nyctimenehadcommitted withCyllene,as partof thecatalogueof incestwithhis mother(7.386-387)is madein connection in Thefamouscaseof Oedipusis omittedaltogether placesMedeafliesoverin herdragon-chariot. itselfcanbeconstrued asa to Laides(7.759-765),unlessthepatronymic briefreference Cephalus' is reducedto a three-line reference reminder.Theequallyfamouscaseof Hippolytus (15.500-502) as himselfafterhe hasbeenresurrected to Phaedra's seduction,reported by Hippolytus attempted Virbiusandrelocatedin Italy. Elementsof Euripides'Hippolytus,however,appearin boththe ByblisandMyrrha.Finally,withinByblis'story,thereareallusionsto severalothercases of forherownsituation:Saturnand brother-sister incest,whichcometo Byblis'mindas precedents andJuno,andthesonsof Aeolusandtheirsisters(9.497-499,507). Ops,OceanandTethys,Jupiter Erotica11, andCinnawrotethefamousZmyrna. toldByblis'storyin Pathemata "4Parthenius As Otisputsit (206),"Ovidwashere[sc. in thetragiclove storiesof Scylla,Byblis,Myrrha,and Procne]dealingwitha centraltopicof Hellenisticandneotericpoetry--atopicthathe hadalready the Scyllaepisodeas an "abtreatedat lengthin his Heroides;"he later(217) characterizes breviated"neotericepyllion,and the Byblisand Myrrhaepisodesas "completeor rounded example[s]of thegenre."Onneotericepylliain generalsee Crump(above,note3) passim,but BYBLISAND MYRRHA 305 mirrors the Metamorphoses in several ways: 1) it is a miniature carmen perpetuum, which begins, as does the larger one, with loves of Jupiterand Apollo; 2) Orpheus'statedthemes, boys loved by gods, and girls punishedfor forbiddenpassions, correspondto majorthemes in the largerpoem;153) Ovid includes tales about artists, such as Orpheus, and Orpheusin turntells about Pygmalion;4) Ovid uses characters,such as Orpheus,as narrators;Orpheustoo has a character,Venus, tell a story within his cycle; and 5) Orpheus'cycle is one of a numberof groupsof stories in the Metamorphoses;unlike most of the othergroups, however, Orpheus'cycle is not simply a series of tales told under similar circumstances but by different narrators(e.g., the stories of the Minyades, and the tales told in Achelous' cave, but ratherit is a sequence of stories shaped by one narrator,and that one the mythical singer par excellence.16 Ovid's introductionto the Byblis episode is brief (7 lines, 9.450-456, compared to Orpheus' 22, 10.298-319) and straight-forward,even understated. The transitionfrom the previous story is genealogical: Cyane bore Miletus twins, Byblis and Caunus. Byblis is an example thatgirls shouldlove what is allowed; she loved her brother,but not as a sister should. (It is curious that Ovid adopts the version in which Byblis and Caunus are twins, not just siblings, but does not work out norplay up the possibilities of this, nor does he have Byblis do so in her monologues. This is typical of Ovid's restraintin telling this story.)17The narrativeproperbegins with the sympatheticassertion that at first she did not realize what she was doing and did not think it was wrong. In fact, Byblis' whole tragedy is precisely one of self-delusion; she especially ChapterVI "Catullus and His School" (115-140); Crump asserts (132) that in the MetamorphosesOvid retold all known Latinepyllia (except the Culex), and the epyllion-subjects listed in Eclogue 6. 15Orpheus' divine amores arehomosexual, in keeping withhis own preferenceand statedrole as the founder of homosexual practices in Thrace; on female passion as a major theme of the Metamorphoses, see Otis, ChapterVI, especially 166-167, 169, 172-173, and 216. 16The groupmost similarboth to Orpheus'cycle and to the largerpoem is the Rapeof Proserpina sung by the Muse Calliopein Book 5. Like Orpheusshe is a singer;in fact he invokes her as Musa parens to begin his cycle (10.148). Like Ovid (and Orpheus), Calliope uses the technique of embedding; in fact the deepest instance of embedding in the poem is Arethusa'sstory of Ceres, withinthe song sung by Calliope, as it is reportedby the Muse to Minerva. Orpheushad alludedto the rapeitself in his song to Proserpinain the Underworld(10.28-29). The tale is one told by Ovid, not in the Metamorphoses, but in the Fasti (4.317-620). The Rape of Proserpina in the Metamorphosesis an instanceof anothersort of narrativeself-reflectionin the Metamorphosesretelling "differently" mythsOvid told in elegiac works. Galinsky'sconceptof referrealiter idem provides a very serviceable alternative to Richard Heinze's long-rejected distinction between "epic" and "elegiac" narrativein the classsic Ovids elegische Erzaiihlung(Leipzig 1919). "Anderson 450 ad 9.453 comments "In other versions Byblis and Caunusare merely brother and sister; but Ovid's sense of dramahits on a more effective relationship:they are twins (so Nicander)." It is indeed "more effective," but Ovid has, apparentlyintentionally,not workedit out. Self-indulgence is assumed by critics to be the Ovidian norm, so that instances of restraint warrantspecial comment; Galinsky 152 refers to "the unusual reticence and restraint" in the Cephalus and Procris, and Howard Jacobson, Ovid's Heroides (Princeton 1974) 159 praises Heroides 11 as "testimony to Ovid's ability, which he did not often exploit, to profit from tact, restraint,and self-control." 306 BETTYROSENAGLE never really understandsor accepts what she is doing.18 Ovid's repetitionof forms of Byblis' name at the beginning of three consecutive lines of his short introduction(453-455) alertsus to the focus of this tragedyof self-delusion. As Byblis concentrateson herself, (thereare a greatmanyfirst-personand reflexive pronounsandadjectives), so does the narrator.Roughlyhalf of this episode consists of the main character'sown words, in two monologues, and a letter which constitutesanothermonologue, ratherthanone-half of a dialogue (as is also the case with the comparable love-letters in Ovid's own first fifteen Heroides).19This procedurehas severalconsequencesfor the Byblis episode. It stamps the narrativewith an Ovidian imprint;the love-letter in particular reminds the readerof the poet's earlier work. Also, casting the episode as a series of monologues makes it static, by concentratingon a single character's thoughts,ratherthanon interactionbetweencharacters.Puttingso muchof the episode in the character'sown words makes it easier to presenta sympathetic view of her, but paradoxically,it also allows Ovid to distancehimself somewhat, since the rhetoricaland melodramaticelements arethe speaker's,not the narrator'sown. By contrast, Orpheus' preamble is high-pitched and rhetorical. His genealogical transitionis ominously contrary-to-fact:Pygmalion's grandson was Cinyras, who could have been consideredfelix, if he had been childless. Next Orpheuspretendsto warnaway potentiallycorruptiblelisteners(muchas the praeceptoramoris does at the beginningof Ars Amatoria3): dira canam: procul hinc natae, procul este parentes (300). This seduction by reverse psychology--don't listen to this, it's nasty--is amplified by two conditions which make it clearthatOrpheusknows his "warning" will not be heeded:20if you listen to it, don't believe it happened;if you believe it happened,believe also thatit was punished(it was, of course, but quite differentlyfrom the way one would expect from this prologue, since the punishmentcomes as a welcome relief to the sinnerwho has actuallyprayedfor it). This seductionin the guise of a warning reflects Orpheus' own ambivalent attitude towards his subject.21 He then smugly congratulateshis native land for not spawningsuch abominations, and willingly concedes to the Panchaean land its aromatic plants, spices, andflowers, providedthatit also producemyrrh,concluding"a 18Otis221 speaks of "the relentless process of self-deception." 19Twoof those letters deal with incest; in Her. 4 Phaedraaddressesan overtureto her stepson Hippolytus, and in Her. 11 Canace writes to her brotherMacareus,about a love which had been consummated, and which, in Ovid's version had been mutual. Jacobson (above, note 17), 163-164, commentingon his discussion of those two in consecutive chapters, explains, "In his Tristia (2.383-384) Ovidjuxtaposedthe tales of Phaedraand Canace. Following his example, so have I, for it is illuminatinghow Ovid could take two tales of incest and develop them into such strikinglydifferentfashions." 20Otis227 says, after quoting 10.300-303, "He protests, perhaps, too much." Also, one wonders what prospectiveaudience Orpheushas in mind. His prefactorywarningis clearly not intendedfor the trees which have been drawn to the spot by his singing. 21Leach,speaking of the discrepancy between his stated themes and the actual songs, has observed (122) that "Orpheus' thoughtsand purpose wanderas he sings." The introductionto Myrrha's story can also be viewed as reflecting a hypocritically self-righteous attitude; see Anderson503 ad 304-307 on the puritanicalcriticism of incest by the pederastOrpheus,and on Orpheusas the type of the "hypocrite moralist." BYBLISAND MYRRHA 307 new tree was not worthso much" (tanti nova nonfuit arbor, 310) thusreducing Myrrha'stragedyto an aetiological triviality. This hostility will shift to sympathyby the end of the episode when Orpheusrefersto the honorand everlasting memorial of the myrrh-treeand its "tears" (501-502). Orpheus next haranguesMyrrhaherself, to tell her that Cupid refuses responsibilityfor her passionandblamesit on a Fury(Orpheuswill revise this too, at the beginningof the Venus and Adonis, when he implicitly blames Venus for Myrrha'spassion), andto presentthe paradoxthat, while it is a sin to hate a parent,this kind of love is a greatersin (thus beginning the motif of "pietas perverted"). He exhorts her, from all her suitors, assembledfrom all over the East, to pick one for her husband,providedthereis one restrictionon her choice (311-318). His word-playat the ends of the last two lines (ex omnibusunum and in omnibus unus) cunningly emphasizes the any one of all she may choose, and the only one she must not. Here, in his introduction,is the only time Orpheusdirectly addressesMyrrha.Ovid, by contrast,shows sympathyandtwice apostrophizes Byblis at importantjuncturesin the plot, first, when a servantreportsCaunus' rejection (9.581), and again at the end of her wanderings, just before her metamorphosis(649-651). Orpheus'narrativeproperbegins with the introductionto Myrrha'sopening monologue; unlike Byblis she realizes and resists her foul passion (10.319). This first monologue(320-355) revealsMyrrha'scharacterandthoughtprocesses.22 She prays to the gods, and to Pietas and the "rights of parents"to help themostpart,theclinicalliterature onthepsychologyof incestshedslittleornolightonthe 22For episodesof ByblisandMyrrha.S. KirsonWeinberg,IncestBehavior(NewYork1955)is based upontheevidencefrom203 casesof detectedoffendersin Illinois;R.E.L. Masters,Patternsof Incest(NewYork1963)usesexistingcasesstudiesto supporthisargument againsttheprohibition of incestperse (asopposedto rape,childabuse,etc.);Herbert Maisch,Inzest(Hamburg 1968),is basedon variousstudiesin WestGermany andtheUnitedStates;KarinC. Meiselman, Incest:A Recommendations Psychological StudyofCausesandEffectswithTreatment (SanFrancisco1978) on thepsychologyof incestwithherownfindings,basedon a integratesthepreviousliterature "psychotherapy sample"of 58 cases froma Los Angelespsychiatricclinic, gatheredduring 1973-1976;RobertL. Geiser,HiddenVictims:TheSexualAbuseof Children(Boston1979), includesa section(4-72)on incest;a fairlyextensivebibliography canbe foundin BlairandRita Justice,TheBrokenTaboo:Sex in theFamily(New York1979),293-298. If one choosesto treatByblisandMyrrha as "casestudies,"it is truethatparallelswithactual incestcasesdoexist,buttheyarefairlyobviousones. As casestudies,however,ByblisandMyrrha arefundamentally atypical,sincetheyaretheinitiatorsof incest.Thisis rarebutnotunknownin actualcases, andseemsto be morecommonamongsistersthandaughters.Thereasonfor the limitedusefulnessof clinicalliterature is obvious:Ovidis notpresenting casestudiesof incest.For him, incestis an extremeexampleof the behaviorwhichfemalelibidocan prompt(see Otis, ChapterVI, passim). moreusefulthanclinicalliterature on incestarestudiesof theincestthemein other Potentially worksof fiction.Manyof thesefictionalworksarereferredto in OttoRank'smonumental Das in DichtungundSaga: Grundziige einerPsychologiedes dichterischen Inzest-Motiv Schaffens intheintroduction (LeipzigandVienna1912;2ndrev.ed. 1926).Thereis a briefconsideration by DonaldWebsterCoryandR.E.L. Mastersto theiranthologyViolationof Taboo:Incestin the GreatLiterature of thePast andPresent(NewYork1963). PaulG. BrewstertreatsTheIncest Themein Folklore,FolkloreFellowsCommunications 212 (Helsinki1972),andincludesin an appendixa brieflist of literaryworkson the theme(35-36). on narrative Particularly germaneto my discussionof self-reflection techniqueandvoice in Ovid'stwoincesttalesis JohnT. Irwin,DoublingandIncest/Repetition andRevenge:A Specula- 308 BETTYROSENAGLE her resist her scelus. The after-thought"if it is a scelus" leads to a sophistic argumentthatin fact Pietas refuses to condemnthis sortof love. Myrrhacites examples of incest between animalsand claims there are humansocieties that permit incest whereby "pietas grows with doubled love." Since her very "nearness" is harmful (proximitas ambiguously refers to both kinship and geography), she considers leaving the country, "provided I escape my scelus," but admits that malus ardor keeps her back. Here she could see, touch, speakto, and kiss Cinyras, "if nothingfurtheris granted." At this hint of wishful thinking, she interruptsherself violently: "but you can hope for something further, you inpia virgo." She asks herself in outrage, "do you want to throw laws and names into confusion, become your mother's rival, your father's mistress, your son's sister, your brother'smother? Aren't you afraidof the Furiesandtheirtorches?" AlthoughMyrrha's resistancewaversin the course of this monologue, with its sophistryand wishful thinking, at the beginning, and again at the end, she is herself scarcely less outraged than Orpheus. She uses the same themes in her monologue as Orpheusdid in his introductionto it, as if the introductionwere a musicaloverture.The key words nefas, scelus, andpietas all appear,as does a referenceto places whereincest allegedly is an acceptablepractice. Both also associateFuriesandtheirtorches witli this direabomination,Orpheusclaiminga FurykindledMyrrha'spassion, and Myrrhaasking herself if she has no fear of punishmentby the Furies. Orpheus' ambivalence in this narrativecorrespondsto his character'smoral dilemma, andtogetherthey establishat the outset, in his seductivewarningand in her wavering monologue, a recurrentapproach-avoidancepattern, which provides the structuringrhythmof the episode.23 When Byblis first appears, she is, according to Ovid, ignorant that her displays of affection for Caunusandjealousy over him are otherthan sisterly. tive Reading of Faulkner (Baltimore 1975). He begins by explaining the book's genesis and presentingits thesis: One day afterteachingFaulknerto a groupof undergraduates,I was suddenlystruckby the relationshipof the story thatQuentinCompsontells in Absalom, Absalom!to his own story as we know it from TheSoundand the Fury. The moreI thoughtaboutit, the moreI beganto realize that in the relationship between these two books through the figure of Quentin CompsonI hadfound a key to the structureout of which Faulkner'sbest workis written,for I saw that in that intertextualoscillation between the story a narratortells and his own story Faulknerwas evoking the oscillatingrelationshipbetweena writerandhis book, evoking it as a kind of incestuous doubling in which the writer, through an oblique repetition, seeks revenge against time. ConsideringOvid's chronologicalframeworkand its culminationin an epilogue predicting(albeit conventionally)his literaryimmortality,and in view of Orpheus' special status and prominence among the many fictional narratorsof the Metamorphoses, it would seem that some of Irwin's insightaboutCompsonandFaulknercould applyto OrpheusandOvid. Criticshavefrequentlynoted the relationshipbetweenthe storiesin Orpheus'cycle andhis own storyas Ovid tells it in the cycle's frame (for a good summaryof these, see Leach 140 n.37). Perhapsthe connection between the incest theme and narrativeself-reflection is not coincidental. 23The remaining instances of the approach-avoidancepatternin the episode are as follows. Myrrha'srestlessness duringthe night after her interview with Cinyrasis describedby Orpheus explicitly with the simile of a huge tree totteringunderax-blows (372-374). He characterizesher reactionto the nurse's "good news" aboutthe assignationwith Cinyrasas discordia mentis;her emotions are mixed BYBLISAND MYRRHA 309 At this point the narrator'ssympathyfor his characterrendershim almost as credulous as she is naive. She does not think she is doing wrong when she kisses her brothertoo often and puts her armsaroundhis neck mendaciquediu pietatisfallitur umbra(458-460). Graduallythe situationgets worse (paulatim declinat amor, 461): she primpsbefore she comes to see him, she wantsto look pretty, she is jealous when someone seems prettier(461-463). Even so, Ovid insists thatByblis is not conscious of whatshe is doing: sed nondummanifesta sibi est nullumquesub illo/ ignefacit votum (464-465). But she blazes within, she calls him dominus, she wants him to call her "Byblis," not "sister" (465-467). Still, she can repressherdesires while awake: spes tamenobscenas animo demitterenon est/ ausa suo vigilans (468-469). Then she has an erotic dreamabouthim, and her first monologue (474-516) reactsto thatdream. She begins naively asking "What does this mean, this imago which I would not want to be real?" She then alternatesbetween fighting againstthe meaningof the dream, and being won over by it. Fantasy ultimately wins out, and she decides to confess her love to Caunus, in a letter ratherthan in person. It is importantthat Byblis spends much of her monologue figuring out the significance of her dream, whereas Myrrhaunderstandsher desires from the start. Myrrha's knowledge prepares her to resist, while Byblis' ignorance makes her vulnerableto fantasy and wishful thinking. From a comparisonof the two monologues, it is clear that Byblis' tendency to fantasy and wishful thinking appearsthroughout,whereas Myrrhahas a strongergrip on reality, which can be relatedto her constantacceptanceof responsibility. On the level of plot, this difference contributesto their respective tragedies: self-delusion leads to Byblis' downfall; not even self-knowledge can prevent Myrrha's. Ovid's representationof Byblis as self-deludedcontributesto his sympathetic pictureof her, whereasin Orpheus'eyes, Myrrhais reprehensiblebecause she does know and understand. Byblis' retreatinto fantasy and Myrrha'shonest confrontationwith reality in each case cause the readerto sense a discrepancy between the characterand the narrator'sattitudetowardher. Byblis does not seem to deserve the sympathyOvid shows her, except at the very beginning, . . . infelix non toto pectore sentit laetitiamvirgo, praesagaquepectora maerent, sed tamen et gaudet: tanta est discordia mentis. (443-445) Orpheus sums up her approach-avoidanceresponse on the way to Cinyras' bed quoque suo propior sceleri est, magis horret;et ausi paenitet et vellet non cognita posse reverti. (460-461) The nurse'sinterventionmakesthatavoidanceimpossible. In the last scene before her transformation, her final desperationfinds Myrrhacaught in one last approach-avoidancesituation, inter mortisquemetus et taedia vitae (482). Her prayerfor relief requestsa permanentlyintermediate statusbetween life anddeath, which she expressestwice, first as "drive me frombothrealms(sc. of the living and the dead)" (ambobuspellite regnis, 486), then as "deny me life and deaththrough metamorphosis"(mutataequemihi vitamquenecemque negate, 487). Orpheus'ambivalencemay be due in partto the subjectof incest; on this phenomenonsee Cory and Masters(above, note 22) 3. Nevertheless, Byblis is also a tale of incest, and Ovid narratesthat unambivalentlythroughout. 310 BETTYROSENAGLE before her dream. This sympathy is part of the signatureof the poet of the Heroides. Admittedly, Ovid provides a foil in the decidedly unsympathetic characterof Caunus,whose priggishoutburstof concernfor his own reputation in responseto the slave who delivers Byblis' lettermakesOvid's sympathyfor Byblis seems justified. In turn, Myrrha's agonized struggle of conscience seems to deserve sympathyratherthan hostility, and indeed Orpheus'initial hostility does turn to sympathyby the end of the episode. Byblis' precedentsfor incest (9.497-499, 507) come from mythand legend, realmsof fantasy, and in her examples, the male characterstake the initiative. These cases of male initiativeperhapsunderlie(or at least give expressionto) her fantasyof Caunus'possible initiativeor interest. Myrrha'semphasisis not on initiative, althoughin threeof the four animalexamplesshe cites the female is grammaticallythe subject(324-328). In the humanspherethe emphasisis on reciprocityin parent-offspringincest, but there too the female (whethergenetrix or nata) is grammaticallythe subject(331-333). Myrrhadrawsher examples from more realistic cases, and ones closer to her own situation. Within Myrrha'stirade occurs the outragedrhetoricalquestion about the confusion of names and relationshipsher desires would entail (346-348). In Byblis' monologue this idea occurs instead as a wish-how nice si liceat mutatonomineiungi, she couldbe his parent's"daughter-in-law"andhe could be her parent's "son-in-law" (487-489). With euphemismssuch as this Ovid conveys Byblis' self-deception. Myrrhapresents her dilemma in a straightforwardcontrary-to-factcondition. .. ergo sifilia magnilnon essem Cinyrae, Cinyrae concumbere possem. [337-338] The phrase Cinyrae concumbere possem does not mince words. Withthatfrankexpression,Orpheushas Myrrha indicatethatshe knows whatshe is doing, thatshe understandsexactly whatshe wants. Finally, Myrrhaends heropeningmonologueon a note of trueresolve, while Byblis' momentaryresolve is brokenalmost immediatelyby the thoughtthat, since she might have reciprocatedan overturefrom Caunus,he might reciprocate one from her (511-514). Because of her advantageof self-knowledge, Myrrhais sufficiently detached to address herself frequently in the second person, which Byblis never does. Byblis can not only not dissociate herself fromherthoughts,but she also attributesthemto Caunus,andbases her actions on that mistaken attribution. Myrrha's ability to discriminatebetween her desires andrealityincludesthe importantrecognitionof the potency of wishes. She concludesby exhortingherself, "since you have not committedany nefas, don't think aboutit" (351-352). Byblis does not realize the dangersof introspection and of dwelling on her fantasies. In recalling the pleasure of her dream, she invites it to returnwhile averringthat she would not do a thing like this while awake (479-480). Later, when Caunushas rejectedher overture,she decides to persist, ultimatelybecause she considerswhathas been thoughtand said is as good (or bad) as done (626-629).24 After the initial long stasis of the two monologues and the letter, the rest of 24As done." Andersoncomments (460 ad 9.626-628), "The decisive rationalizationis what's done is BYBLISAND MYRRHA 311 Byblis' story moves very quickly as Ovid speeds the episode to its now unavoidable conclusion. Once she has deluded herself, Byblis acts with single-minded determination, refusing to take any account of what other characterssay or do. Despite her servant'sreportof Caunus'vehementrejection, she persists. Despite Caunus' revolted flight from her persistence, she pursues him, crazed, throughoutAsia Minor. In contrast, the roles of other charactersare essentialfor the developmentof Myrrha'sstory, and the explicit passage of time contributesto tension and suspense. Myrrha'stragedyis not dueto herown misunderstandingor ignorance,butto that of others; Orpheus relies on dramaticirony and suspense to create his melodramaof "pietas perverted."25 An interview with Cinyrasimmediately after her internaldebate disturbsMyrrha'shard-wonresolve. This episode is brief (356-367), but packed with irony. When Myrrhablushes and weeps in silence at herfather'sinsistencethatshe choose a husband,he misinterpretsthis as modesty "believing (credens) it is maidenlyfear," and in comfortingher, he gives her kisses in which she nimiumgaudet. Whenhe inquiresaboutwhat sort of man she wants, she respondssimilemtibi. Of courseCinyrasmisses the irony, but Orpheusmakes sure that his listeners do not, saying that Cinyras praises the "misunderstoodutterance" (non intellectam vocem) and commends her "Always be tampia," which only makes Myrrhamore miserably aware of her scelus. The next scene takes place in the melodramatically appropriatemiddleof the night. Myrrhais kept awakeby heremotionalturmoil (Orpheususes herpatronymic,virgo Cinyreia, 369, as a reminderof the cause of her distraughtmental state), and decides that suicide is the only way out. JustbeforeMyrrhahangsherselfshe says "Farewell, dearCinyras,andlearn (intellege) the reasonfor my death" (380). Not likely, consideringthe abundance of ironic misunderstandingupon which this episode depends. These words awakenher old nurse, who rescues her. It takes extendedinterrogation by the nurseto wring from Myrrhawhat Byblis rashlyvolunteeredin a letter. This episode has a tricolonic structure;each of the three sections ends with a referenceby the nurseto Myrrha's"father." With this structureand dramatic irony, Orpheusbuilds suspense and drives the episode toward its inevitable conclusion. First the nurse begs Myrrhato explain the reason for her suicide attempt, since she knows how to deal with the madness, magic spell, or divine wraththat must have drivenMyrrhato that act. There could be no othermotive; Myrrha andherfamily arewell-after all vivitgenetrixquepaterque!(401). This elicits a groan from Myrrha which the nurse misunderstandsand next ironically assumes that Myrrhais in love. She tells her charge not to worry, she'll help and her fatherwon't find out; the Latin word order-nec sentiet umquam/hoc pater-saves the criticalwordfor last (409-410). Myrrhareactsviolently, and tells the nurseto go away, or at least stop asking whatis the matter,since it is a 25SeeAnderson508 ad 10.377-379 on the involvementof others in Myrrha'stragedy:"Up to this point [sc. the suicide attempt]she is innocent;she becomes guilty largelythroughthe external pressures applied by her honest Euripideannurse." (italics mine); 507 ad 359-360 and 509 ad 400-401 on dramaticirony;513 ad 456-459 on suspense;and451 ad 9.460 and507 ad 10.363-367 on Ovid's use of the pietas theme. 312 BETTYROSENAGLE scelus. The nurse is frightened,but persists;finally, after tremendouseffort, Myrrhamanages to exclaim only O ... felicem coniuge matrem (422), and then groans. At last the nursereally does understand(423-424): ... gelidus nutricis in artusl ossaque-sensit enim -penetrat tremor. . . . The phrase sensit enim is parentheticallyemphatic, and is in contrast to her earlier, ironically true sensimus . . . amas (408). After the nurse tries to dissuade Myrrha,butrealizesshe will die if she does not obtainherdesire, like Phaedra's nursein Euripides'Hippolytus,26 she encouragesher charge: "Vive," ait haec "potiere tuo"-et non ausa "parente"/ dicere (429-430). The Latin word order is haltingly suspenseful and emphatic; it also locates the key word parente prominentlyat line's end. Convenientlyit is time for the annualfestival in honorof Ceres, duringwhich wives observeritualabstinence. The nurseseizes this opportunity,andfinding Cinyrasdrunk,describesto him the lovely girl who desires him. To his query about the girl's age, the nurse replies with an irony parallelto Myrrha'sown earlier similem tibi. The answer-"Par" ait "est Myrrhae" (441)--is the decidingfactor. The nursereportstriumphantly"rejoice, we've won" (gaude . . vicimus, 442-443), but Myrrha'sreactioncontainsas muchforebodingas rejoicing(443-445). Orpheussummarizesthese mixed emotionsepigrammaticalfy as discordia mentis (445). Myrrha'sambivalentreactioncontributesto the suspense, but it may also parallelOrpheus'own. Althoughhe continuesto elaborate the melodramaand will exploit the full horrorof the moment of consummationwhen thattime comes, here his sympathyis revealed, when he calls Myrrhainfelix.27ClearlyMyrrhais morallysuperiorto her nurseat least, who has become so involved in herrole as go-betweenthatthereareno tracesof her initialhorror,as she triumphantlyexhortsMyrrhato rejoice. Juxtaposedto the nurse's vicimis is infelix, with which Orpheusbegins his descriptionof Myrrha'sfar from unmitigatedjoy. The time comes for the assignation-at night, of course. Orpheuselaborates a melodramaticatmosphereandbuildsup suspenseon the way. Natureitself is revolted-the moon flees the sky, black clouds hide the stars. Orpheussingles out for specific mentiona constellationillustrativeof exemplarydevotion of a daughterto her father. There are bad omens-Myrrha stumbles three times, three times a screech owl hoots its cry of doom. Despite this, she goes on; accordingto Orpheus,the shadowsand nightdiminishherpudor, but the other details he provides tend to underminethat assertion, again revealinghis own ambivalenceas well as hers. She holds the nurse's handin her left and gropes her way through the darkness with the other. A tricolon of iam's builds suspense (456-457):28 now she is on the bedroomthreshold,now she opens the 26On the debt to the Hippolytus of the Myrrhaplot, especially the characterof the nurse, see Anderson501 in his generalintroductionto thatepisode, and Otis 227. On the debts in the Byblis, see Anderson460 ad 9.620-621 and Otis 220, who describesCaunusas "obviously meantto be a kind of Hippolytus. 27Thispassageechoes Ovid's sympatheticdescriptionof Byblisjust before she appealsto Caunus in person;theretoo the narratordescribesthe character'smentalstate epigrammatically. . tanta est discordia mentis (9.630) and calls her infelix (632). 28Anderson513 ad 456-459 points out that the anaphoraof iam "heightens our suspense." BYBLISANDMYRRHA 313 door, now she is led (note the passive) inside. Her knees knock, her face is pale, her courageis gone. The closer she gets to the scelus, the more afraidshe becomes;she repentsherdaring,andwishes she could leave unrecognized.She cannot, since her hesitation and reluctance are overcome from the outside, when the nurse leads her to the bed and hands her over with the ironic words "accipe" dixit,/ "ista tua est, Cinyra." (463-464). Orpheusbegins the scene of consummationin this way: Accipit obsceno genitor sua viscera lecto virgineosque metus levat hortaturquetimentem. (465-466) The first line is so arrangedthatthe obsceno . . lecto encloses the two nouns, and genitor is juxtaposed to sua viscera.29 The gentle thoughtfulnessof the next line comes as a surprisingcontrast, but it does recall Cinyras' earlier fatherly considerationfor what he interpretedas "maidenly fear" (virginei . . timoris, 361). This reminiscenceof Cinyras' fatherlybehavioris given a nasty twist in the next two lines, in which Orpheus' salacious imagination develops the ironic potential of the situation to the utmost: forsitan aetatis quoque nomine "Filia" dixit; dixit et illa "Pater," sceleri ne nomina desint. (467-468) In the next two lines, which state that Myrrhaleft the bedroom after having committed incest, Orpheusincludes three graphic, physical variationsto emphasize the incest: plena patris thalamis excedit et inpia diro seminafert utero concepta criminaportat. (469-470) The listener is told thatthe liaison continued, but is kept in suspenseaboutthe exact duration: postera nox facinus geminat, necfinis in illa est; cum tandem Cinyras avidus cognoscere amantem post tot concubitus. . . . (471-473) The duration is left indefinite, but the words tandem and tot are surely exaggerations(we were told earlier that the ritualperiod of abstinencelasted nine days). WhenCinyrasdiscoversthe girl in his bed is his daughter,he draws his sword, but Myrrhaescapes, abetted by the same shadows and night that conspiredin her downfall.30 Natureaids her escape, an unnameddeity grants her final prayer, and Orpheusconcludes on a sympatheticnote. Wanderingwearyandpregnant,Myrrhapraysin desperationbetweenfearof deathand disgustfor life; first she acknowledgesresponsibility. .. merui nec triste recusol supplicium. . . (484-485). In contrast, Byblis refuses responsibility even for the failure of her first overtureto Caunus. She will not admitit was wrong, just badly managed--the timing was wrong, she shouldhave gone 29Anderson514 ad 564-566 comments on this framing effect. 30Myrrha'sescape undercover of darknesshas verbalechoes in the passage in whichshe went to the assignation;for echoes of Myrrhafiugittenebriset caecae munerenoctis/interceptaneci est ... (476-477), cf. it tamen;et tenebraeminuuntnoxqueatra pudorem (454) and the referenceto the caecum iter (456). Also, Orpheus' description of Cinyras as avidus cognoscere amantem (472), just before he discovers his lover's identity, has an echo in Ovid's descriptionof Orpheusas metuensavidusque videndi (567), just before he turns to look back at Eurydice. 314 BETTYROSENAGLE in person, she should have heeded the bad omens, it might have been the letter-bearer'sfault (but Ovid had alreadytold us ... apta ministerltempora nactus adit traditque latentia verba, 572-573, providing the reader more evidence of Byblis' self-delusion). Myrrha takes full responsibility, even thoughshe was in largepartthe victim of a panderingnurseanda fatherwilling to sleep with a girl his daughter'sage. Moreover,Myrrhahas shame. Shortly after Orpheus'lurid account of her incestuous consummation,Myrrhautters herprayerfor suitablepunishment,scrupulouslywordedto expressthe concern that she contaminateneitherthe living nor the dead; this is comparable,in its own way, to her great-grandfatherPygmalion's carefully worded prayer to Venus (for a woman like his statue.31The Pygmalion episode immediately precedes that of Myrrha. Orpheusemphasizes the contrastbetween those two charactersand their ethical predicaments,so it is left to the readerto note the similarity.32 Despite Byblis' self-delusion, Ovid remains sympatheticto the end. Her crazed pursuitof Caunusbrings her near Mr. Cragos, home of the Chimera. Ovid addressesher sympatheticallyas she collapses there: deficiunt silvae, cum tu lassata sequendo concidis et dura positis tellure capillis, Bybli, iaces frondesquetuo premis ore caducas. (9.649-651) The local nymphs' efforts to console her have no more effect on her than any and grief she weeps other action by any other character. Out of frustration33 herself into a spring, for which the nymphsdig a channel. Ovid concludes the episode with an aetiology-in thatplace, undera darkoak, a springflows even now (nunc quoque, 664), which nomen habet dominae (665). WhereasOvid remainssympathetic,Orpheusbecomes so. As Myrrhaflees for her life, Orpheus'ambivalenceturnsto sympathy,especially in his description of her metamorphosisinto a myrrhtree, which he concludes by asserting est honor lacrimis, stillataquerobore murra nomen erile tenet nulloque tacebituraevo. (10.501-502) Orpheus' aetiological conclusion is actually more sympatheticthan Ovid's. Orpheus' phrase nomen erile tenet is reminiscent of Ovid's nomen habet dominae, but Orpheusgoes furtherin claiming myrrhwill never be forgotten, while Ovid only observes thatthe springByblis still flows at the presenttime. Furthermore,as Orpheusexpresses it, myrrhis not simply a relic of Myrrha, but it is also an honor for her. This conclusion, particularlythe assertion est honor lacrimis (501, referringto the myrrhresin) is quite differentin tone and 31Thesimilaritybetween the two is thematic-the importanceof a carefullywordedprayer. A moreobvious, verbal, similarityexists betweenPygmalion'sprayerfor a wife similis . . . eburnae (sc. virgini) 276, andMyrrha'swish fora husbandsimilemtibi 364; Anderson5,13calls attentionto this similarity in his comment on the phrase similem tibi "Myrrhaconceals her desires by the ambiguity of this phrasejust as Pygmalion had earlier at 276." 32As Otis remarks 324, "Iphis is the obvious contrast to Byblis; Pygmalion to Myrrha." Galinsky88-89 gives an excellent selection of the contrastsbetween Byblis and Myrrha;he points out the contrastsbetweenMyrrhaandPygmalion(89), butalso pointsout the similaritiesof Myrrha to Byblis. 33Otis218 asserts that "The metamorphosisis representedas the direct consequence of her sexual frustration." BYBLISAND MYRRHA 315 content from his initial sarcastic insensitivity that tanti nova nonfuit arbor (310). In contrast with the initial stasis of Byblis' monologues and letter, Ovid finishes the story quickly, and he leaves it abruptly and artificially in his transitionto Iphis and lanthe on Crete (9.666-668).34 Orpheus, by contrast, moves more graduallyand naturallyto the next partof his cycle, from Myrrha, to her son Adonis (born after her transformation),to Venus' love for Adonis. At the beginningandthe end of the tale of Venus andAdonis, Orpheusreminds the readerof the incest which producedAdonis: when Adonis is gored by the boar, he is called iuvenis Cinyreius (717), and Venus herself refers to him as Cinyreius heros (730), as she transformshis remains into his memorial, the anemone. In introducingthe love of Venus for Adonis, Orpheusrefers to the swift passage of time afterAdonis' birthuntil the time when ille sororel natus avoque . . / iam placet et Venerimatrisqueulcisciturignes (520-521, 524). Here Orpheusis clearlysympathetictowardMyrrha,since vengeanceimplies a victim and a culprit responsible for that victim's suffering; now Orpheus implicitlyblamesVenus for Myrrha'spassion, whereasinitiallyhe hadclaimed that Cupid had refused the blame, attributingit to a Fury.35This change in detail reflects Orpheus' change of attitudein the course of narration. Perhapsthe tale of Myrrhais necessarily more horriblethan that of Byblis, since the former actually did commit incest.36 Even so, Orpheus' narrative techniquesexploit this inherenthorrorto the fullest. He composes a melodrama of suspense andirony, a truedrama,in which the actionsof the othercharacters (the nurse, Cinyras)actually do alter the developmentof the plot.37Although Myrrha'smoral struggle is ultimatelysettled by forces outside her control, at the outset Orpheusharshlycondemnsher, andonly implicitlyis he won over at the end in spite of his bias. MorallyByblis is Myrrha'sinferior,yet Ovid is able to present her in a far more sympatheticlight by using interjectionsat key points, by a credulity closely paralleling his character'snaivet6, and by the presentationof much of this tale of self-delusion in the character'sown words. Ovid's own treatmentof Byblis as a study in self-delusion prepares us to recognize and appreciate Myrrha's excruciating self-knowledge and moral awareness, which transcendthe narrowprejudicesand initial hostility of the narratorof her story, Orpheus. BETTY ROSE NAGLE Indiana University "Ovid's introductorytransitioninto the Byblis story is also artificialand abrupt;the implication would seem to be that he wanted to tell this story. 35Accordingto Anderson520 ad 524, versions of Apollodorusand Hyginus attributeMyrrha's passion to the anger of Venus, and Hyginus rounds off by pointing out that Adonis avenged his motherby hurtingVenus. 360Otis226 remarksthat Ovid's "emphasis is on the horror of Myrrha'sact (after all Myrrha consummatedher incestuousdesire as Byblis did not) andon the special nuancewhich this gives to her metamorphosis." 37Otis 221 claims of the Byblis episode that "It has all the aspectsof a truedrama. One step leads fatally to the next." My conceptionof "drama" here is, however, closer to Galinsky's, when he contrasts the episodes by calling attention to the role of other characters,and the amount of confrontationbetween pairs of them, in the Myrrha(88).