Example research essay topic: Book Of Genesis Spirit Of God - 1,681 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Book of Genesis Compared Undoubtably the most prolific Latin poet, Ovid had an enormous number of poems. (Who was Ovid. OVID FAQ). Born Publius Ovids Naso, in 43 B. C. , his work on Metamorphoses remains his greatest achievement.

He remains to be a major inspiration for Dante and all the other great writers like Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton. He was said to believe in art for pleasure who had no ethical principles for his writings (Brown, Larry). It is said to contain 250 stories from the Greek Mythology where the main character changes form such as animal forms or a tree or a rock or flower. Ovid is considered a great poet and his influence is well known in Western art and literature. His best-known work is the Metamorphoses, which is the source of around 250 myths. It contains one of the most comprehensive and creative mythological work from antiquity (Galinsky as god from Brown).

Ovid begins his book with a plea to the gods for help in telling his story. He begins to tell primary narratives as well as other narratives within this. He goes into a prologue, which deals with his elucidation of how the Muses have inspired him to write of the creation (Ovid. Metamorphoses Book I). This paper compares and contrasts Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Book of Genesis. Analysis of the text shall be laid out from Metamorphoses and look at thread the binds these two works, at the same time pointing out the commonalities of the two and presenting the contrasts.

He remains to be a major inspiration for Dante and all the other great writers like Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton. He was said to believe in art for pleasure that had no ethical principles for his writings (Brown, Larry). Regarding the elements, Someone split off the earth from the sky, and the sea from the land, and divided the transparent heavens from the dense air. Fire controls and darts upwards. Air moves in lightness and may appear kingly Earth is rather heavy to carry.

One can feel compressed by much weight. Water recounts and moves tactlessly or tactfully. Ovid claims to put this in one continuous epic involving transformations or metamorphosis. He begins his poem with the story of creation and the flood, ending with the rule of Augustus on the throne. He introduces characters and does some surprising strategies by following the same character in several adventures. This can be seen in the adventures of Hercules and Perseus, even telling a sub story in the process.

Ovid's Metamorphoses has some similarities with the Book of Genesis such as the creation. In No Titans to encounter yet, the book talks about certain gods who alter bodies and all other things. Ovid starts out with the earth, sea and sky. It states that Nature appeared the same all over the world, which he calls chaos.

In the same manner, the Book of Genesis talks about God creating the heavens and the earth. It states that the earth was formless and empty. This is where the two differ. Metamorphoses shows that Nature appeared the same all over (Metamorphoses 11 - 20).

Meanwhile, in Genesis, it was not the same all over. In fact, it was formless and empty. Similar to the chaos was the imagery of darkness in Genesis because if there was darkness, there is a sort of chaos in that darkness. Metamorphoses claims that there was no Titan yet. On the other hand, in Genesis, the first signs of a living thing appear as the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. Written in dactylic hexameters, the Metamorphoses appeared when Ovid was already 52 years old.

The 15 books were mythological, legendary and historical people. In fact it can be gleaned from the text that the men change into women and vice-versa. Transformations of inanimate into animate objects are common (Ovids 43 BC- 17 AD). Going back to the creation part, in Genesis, after the Spirit of God appears, the material proceeds to God making and creating light, separating it from the darkness. Ovid's account is detailed in saying that there was a formless mass that divided it and collected it into parts.

We see this god gathering the mass into a great ball. After forming this mass, he orders the seas to spread and rise in waves. This is quite detailed as he presents the waters pouring and encircling land. Different bodies of waters are written including the springs, standing pools and lakes and rivers. It is all specified here unlike the Genesis in the Bible, which is quite simple, as it shows God separating water from water and from this separation proceeds to create the sky.

Thus, on the second day, evening and morning is created. This has similar bearings in the next verse (Genesis Chapter 1: 9) when the water under the sky is gathered to one place so that dry ground will be separated and distinct, simply calling the dry ground as land and the body of water as the seas. In Metamorphoses, the waters do a circling motion on the land. After that God says it is good but in Ovid's account, there is nothing that indicates the creation to be well and good. Ovid, however, goes as detailed as specifying the temperate regions and the equatorial zone where we see here the mixing of the heat and cold. Genesis talks of a specified time frame when the creation is started and finished.

Metamorphoses is not so much concerned of the time than the details of valleys that subside, leaves hiding the trees. Despite this, the Biblical accounts are simple and orderly with God resting in between His creation. Ovid is so detailed as to make the earth, air and water joined as one, specifying that air was without light and the earth was unstable. Everything was formless as if all merged into one. Ovid even mentions as all these creation as being confused since even the hot and cold are in one mix including the soft, hard and light. In Genesis (Chapter 1: 11) the land produced vegetation together with the seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it.

This is the only part where Ge 3 genesis becomes quite detailed compared to Ovid's shades the woods and values, rocky mountains and plains. Ovid is also hesitant in labeling the source of all this creation as he calls the creator as Thus when the God, whatever God was he. There is no specification that he believes the creation was even created by a God and does not know what form he takes. Genesis is more emphatic and focused that this is a real God. Common to the two writings is its exquisite beauty of portraying the first life on earth. They are also both written to answer the many questions that have puzzled man ever since on the history of the earth, life and first stirrings on earth.

Both writings also demonstrate a Supreme Being accountable for this creation. In Metamorphoses, the gods, who make the changes, will help more I hope south a poem (548). Meanwhile Genesis 1: 1 simply states, In the beginning God (creates) the heavens and the earth. Evident in the text when one looks closely is the blurring of the issue of the creator (OVID Metamorphoses Book I). This is apparent As Ovid writes of a god, or kindlier Nature or whatever god it was (4). Ovid's position in terms of his beliefs changes such that he does not label this one God but opts to share the name as a possible kind nature and back to another kind of God who was present then, and may not be present anymore at the time he writes those lines.

When Ovid removes the idea of a creator who does all these things, we are left with a confusion of ideas and the focus now falls on a thing creating itself or happening as it is by itself. He calls the creator god as the source of a better world, originating from the divine then reverts back to the newborn earth just drawn from the highest heavens. This lack of a true belief on the how life began shows in his poem when he interchangeably calls the gods by different names and functions. He even alludes to the creation as the beginning of the end of differences between the warring opposites as similar to the chaos of Genesis. Some writers even consider Ovid's account as something more scientific than Genesis (OVID Metamorphoses Book I). Ovid's hesitation reflects how he sees this Creator of creation.

Meanwhile, Metamorphoses gives the story of the flood with no set time as to the length that the flood lasts. But Genesis gives a more detailed time frame for this event. It states that the rains lasted for forty days and forty nights (Chapter 7: 12). Another detailed time is written again when the rain stops for it states in Genesis the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. (Chapter 7: 24).

So detailed is Genesis that it again states that it was only after ten months that the mountain tops became visible (Chapter 8: 5) And then again, in Chapter 8 verse 13, Genesis states that by the first day of the first month of Noahs six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth such that by the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was completely dry. (Chapter 8: 13 - 14). Ovid's concern was the description of the story in vivid images, whereas Genesis simply states that all breathing creation dies, except chosen by God. The biggest difference between these two flood accounts is in the scene after the flood. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Deucalion and Pyrrha, the two survivors throw stones over each of his or her shoulder. In an amazing kind of way, the stones that Deucalion throw become men while those stones that Pyrrha throw turn into...

Research essay sample on Book Of Genesis Spirit Of God