| Summary: | 碩士 === 淡江大學 === 英文學系 === 91 === Abstract:
Ovid proves himself the most gifted poet in the literary milieu of Rome in the first century B.C. As a creative poet, Ovid prefers the composition of poems in different styles and forms. His best and only epic poem, the Metamorphoses, presents an extensive range of human experiences and topics. Ovid’s characters in the Metamorphoses are mostly social minors or boundary breakers. The main focus of this thesis is to discuss two characters in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Caenis and Iphis are women who choose transsexualism in an attempt to evade oppression that a male-dominant society places on them and other women.
Caenis is a young woman whose virginity is deprived by Neptune. Neptune, her sex offender, shamelessly expresses that he likes what he has tasted, and offers her a gift. Caenis tells Neptune that rape is so painful and she will not want to suffer from it again. She asks to become a man. Though surprised, Neptune grants Caenis this wish and changes her into a man. Although her sex has been changed, Caenis’ male identity is rejected by the Centaurs, who humiliate and eventually murder her.
One of the key points of this thesis is to show that the ancient Greek males tended to use rape as a means to demonstrate their power over women. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there are eighteen accounts of women that are sexually threatened or raped by male offenders. Mortal women who have sexual relationships with male gods, regardless if voluntary or forced, always end poorly.
In the Metamorphoses, Iphis is a young girl who is dressed and raised as a boy by her mother to escape her father’s attempted infanticide. Iphis finds herself in love with Ianthe, a young girl her age. Lesbianism is not allowed in Iphis’ society. Iphis’ homophobia towards lesbianism makes her hate her sexuality and her birth sex. She eventually chooses Transsexualism in order to obtain sexual freedom that is simply not available for women. The different attitudes held by ancient Greek society towards homosexuality and lesbianism is discussed. While male homosexuality is a part of the social practices, lesbianism, if it exists at all, is never publicized. Achilles is used as a counter point to Iphis’ story in this thesis. Achilles is both a transgenderist and also a bisexual man. Compared to him, Iphis, who was born a girl, is deprived of her sexual freedom.
Through the tales of Caenis and Iphis, this thesis provides an understanding of women’s lives and sexual status in 1200 B.C. It aims to show how a highly male-controlled society oppresses its women with strict social rules. Sexually women are constantly confronted with the threat of rape by males, and women are not entitled to sexual freedom. To obtain what they have been deprived, Caenis and Iphis finally choose to transform themselves into men. Yet even with their sex changed, Caenis is still haunted by his/her female past. As the phenomenon of social and sexual oppression of women still exists today, to know the past will help us to better understand the present.
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