Artistic Essay
François Boucher’s “Jupiter and Callisto” shows a very romantic depiction of Jove in Arcady with a hint of foreshadowing regarding the torture to come later in the story. François Boucher lived during the 1700’s, so unlike a large amount of Roman-inspired paintings, it was not part of the Renaissance. In fact, this painting was part of the Rococo Movement which took place in France during the 18th century. The Rococo movement focused on more gentle colors and softer and swirly lines. Also, in Rococo paintings, the scenes shown usually consisted of romance and nature. “Jupiter and Callisto” clearly shows a more dreamy illustration than what was shown in the poem. Because of the smoother colors and flowing lines, the painting is expressed as a fantasy. The baby Cupids in the painting also add to the passionate and whimsical surrounding which was not conveyed in Ovid’s version of the story. However, Boucher did clarify who had the dominance in the relationship. For example, Jove, while disguised as Diana, is sitting higher than Callisto in a very domineering manner. The position of the two women shows foreshadowing of the future rape, as Diana/Jupiter has full authority and control over poor Callisto. Callisto also is shown as naive in the painting since it is clear that she is completely ignorant about Diana’s imposter and is actually enamored by her. This praise is shown by her literally “looking up to her”, which, in this case, can be taken literally and figuratively since she is a follower of Diana. Another example of foreshadowing is the dark sky in the background. The grey sky, as opposed to a light blue one, shows the implication of something to ruin this charming event in the near future. The placement of the sky peeking out in the left corner also represents that it is coming towards the girls, but has not yet consumed the the plot. This symbolic sky is almost like an actual portrayal of the phrase “the calm before the storm”. From this painting, we are able to understand that François Boucher saw this story as a tale of disguises, so he represented his piece almost as a masking of the dark future underneath the trickery of Jove.
Rhetorical Essay
‘Hoc certe furtum coniunx mea nesciet’ inquit,
spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
‘Aut si rescierit, sunt, o sunt iurgia tanti!’
spondee/ dactyl/ spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
Heu! Quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu!
spondee/ spondee/ spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
During Jove in Arcady, Ovid frequently starts lines with dactyls (long, short, short). For example, in all of the lines except four, dactyls are the first foot of the line. Ovid uses this technique as a way to trick the reader into a sort of pattern. Especially since dactyls incorporate short marks, the sing-song like rhythm is easy to pick up and get use to. When a larger event would occur in the story, Ovid would start the line with a spondee (long, long) to increase emphasis and catch the reader’s attention by breaking the pattern he has created. The first time a spondee was used in the first foot of a line from lines 422- 457 were in lines 423 and 424. In these lines, Jupiter sees Callisto and immediately wants to have sex with her. Knowing his wife, she would get very angry if she found out and he addresses that fact by saying that “This trick [his] spouse will not know, or if so great she will learn, that was a dispute!” By this he means that if Juno discovers that he had cheated on her (yet again), she would become very angry and the situation would most definitely not end well. Another line Ovid used to break the dactyl chain was in line 447. In this line, Callisto was reunited with Diana and her followers. She was covered in guilt and shame because she had (unwillingly) broken her vow of staying a virgin. Although, her goal was to stay in this group for as long as possible. This wish was extremely unlikely considering she was pregnant, and hiding a pregnancy cannot last very long. Line 447 translates as, “Oh! How difficult it is to not thrust forward a face with crime!” Ovid not only broke the pattern of dactyls, but used the exclamatory word “heu” (oh/alas) with an exclamation mark to rip the reader’s attention away from the usual markings and focus on the new thought which consisted of Callisto’s attempt of hiding her shame.
spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
‘Aut si rescierit, sunt, o sunt iurgia tanti!’
spondee/ dactyl/ spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
Heu! Quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu!
spondee/ spondee/ spondee/ spondee/ dactyl/ spondee
During Jove in Arcady, Ovid frequently starts lines with dactyls (long, short, short). For example, in all of the lines except four, dactyls are the first foot of the line. Ovid uses this technique as a way to trick the reader into a sort of pattern. Especially since dactyls incorporate short marks, the sing-song like rhythm is easy to pick up and get use to. When a larger event would occur in the story, Ovid would start the line with a spondee (long, long) to increase emphasis and catch the reader’s attention by breaking the pattern he has created. The first time a spondee was used in the first foot of a line from lines 422- 457 were in lines 423 and 424. In these lines, Jupiter sees Callisto and immediately wants to have sex with her. Knowing his wife, she would get very angry if she found out and he addresses that fact by saying that “This trick [his] spouse will not know, or if so great she will learn, that was a dispute!” By this he means that if Juno discovers that he had cheated on her (yet again), she would become very angry and the situation would most definitely not end well. Another line Ovid used to break the dactyl chain was in line 447. In this line, Callisto was reunited with Diana and her followers. She was covered in guilt and shame because she had (unwillingly) broken her vow of staying a virgin. Although, her goal was to stay in this group for as long as possible. This wish was extremely unlikely considering she was pregnant, and hiding a pregnancy cannot last very long. Line 447 translates as, “Oh! How difficult it is to not thrust forward a face with crime!” Ovid not only broke the pattern of dactyls, but used the exclamatory word “heu” (oh/alas) with an exclamation mark to rip the reader’s attention away from the usual markings and focus on the new thought which consisted of Callisto’s attempt of hiding her shame.