Roman Mythology: An Overview (Part V)

Last time, we discussed the myths pertaining to transformations. Be sure to read that entry and all the prior entries in this series before reading this one. Today, we'll be exploring some of the common myths on love and desire. The authors included in this overview are: Virgil (Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics), Ovid (Metamorphoses, Amores, Heroides, Ars Amatoria, Fasti), Horace (Odes, Satires, Epistles), Livy (Ab Urbe Condita), Catullus, Lucretius, Seneca (tragedies), Statius, and Lucan.

Key Myths: Love & Desire

How to read this table:

Each row is a myth or mythological cycle. The columns show which authors engage with it and, where relevant, the specific work, book, or passage, and a note on how the myth is used. A dash (—) means the author does not meaningfully engage with that myth.

Author abbreviations:   Virg. = Virgil  ·  Ov. = Ovid  ·  Hor. = Horace  ·  Cat. = Catullus  ·  Liv. = Livy  ·  Lucr. = Lucretius  ·  Sen. = Seneca  ·  Stat. = Statius  ·  Luc. = Lucan

Work abbreviations:   Aen. = Aeneid  ·  Met. = Metamorphoses  ·  Od. = Odes  ·  DRN = De Rerum Natura  ·  Theb. = Thebaid  ·  BC = Bellum Civile (Pharsalia)  ·  AUC = Ab Urbe Condita  ·  Her. = Heroides  ·  Fast. = Fasti  ·  Am. = Amores

Love & Desire

Myth	Summary	Ovid	Other poets	Other Notes
Jupiter's loves and transfor-mations	Jupiter pursues mortal women in disguise: a bull (Europa), a swan (Leda), a shower of gold (Danaë), a cloud (Io).	Met. I.583–747 (Io); II.836–III.2 (Europa); VI.103–114 (listed in Arachne's tapestry as catalog of Jupiter's rapes). The tapestry passage is metapoetic, in which Ovid lists the myths he has already told or will tell.	Hor. Od. III.16 (Danaë and the golden shower); Od. III.27 (Europa). Horace treats them as precedents; if Jupiter could do this, so might a mortal lover. Cat. 68.109–116: Leda and the swan.	The animal disguises mean that seemingly unrelated creatures (a bull, a swan, a cuckoo) may signal Jupiter's presence. When Juno takes intense interest in a mortal woman, the background is usually one of these affairs.
Ariadne and Theseus	Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, helps the Athenian hero Theseus navigate the Labyrinth and kill the Minotaur. He escapes with her, then abandons her sleeping on the island of Naxos. Bacchus finds and marries her.	Her. X: Ariadne's letter to Theseus is one of the most passionate and moving of the Heroides. Met. VIII.169–182: brief account as the backstory to the story of the Labyrinth and Minotaur.	Cat. 64: the long epyllion on the wedding of Peleus and Thetis uses the embroidered coverlet depicting Ariadne's abandon-ment as its central set piece (in my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Catullus). Hor. Od. I.7.22: brief allusion.	Catullus 64 is the essential reading for the myth, predating and influencing Ovid's Heroides. The myth became the template for the abandoned woman in Latin elegiac poetry. Reference to a woman left on a shore connects to the myth.
Pyramus and Thisbe	Two lovers separated by a wall. They whisper through a crack and form a plan to meet each other. A misunder-standing at their meeting place leads to mutual suicide. Their blood turns the white mulberry tree red.	Met. IV.55–166: essentially Ovid's creation: there is no significant earlier source, and the myth does not exist outside Ovid.	—	A clear case where Ovid inventing a new myth (or near-inventing). The story provides the etiological background for the mulberry tree. The plot structure of Romeo and Juliet is incredibly similar.
Venus and Adonis	Venus falls in love with the beautiful youth Adonis. She warns him not to hunt dangerous animals; he ignores her. He is killed by a boar; Venus transforms his blood into the anemone flower.	Met. X.519–739: embedded within Orpheus's song; Orpheus is telling this story. Ovid uses the myth to explore beauty and mortality. The lament of Venus is one of his most lyrical.

Stay tuned next week for an explanation of myths pertaining to hubris and the underworld. Until then, comment with any questions or pieces of information you'd like us to add!