Ovid's Account Of Narcissus Essay

Ovid’s Account of Narcissus is part of the third book of Metamorphoses. The poem had such an impact that artist Salvador Dali made a painting called “The Metamorphoses of Narcissus.” Salvador Dali was a surrealist artist whose mission was to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Dali’s painting uses many methods to connect his art with the story. Using formal elements like contrasting colors and balancing the left and right sides, Dali’s painting echoes images and words from Ovid’s account to highlight the myth’s emphasis on humans’s consuming, destructive self-love. Salivador Dali manipulates the painting to convey hidden meaning that connects with Ovid’s story. The way Dali does that is by balancing the left and right sides. Dali applies the method ( ) to do this. The separating of the lines has multiple
The first image is the funeral pyre. The funeral pyre is in the middle of the left and right sides of the painting. The significance of this is that the funeral pyre is straddling life and death. Narcissus is dead, however, the people who are at the pyre or doing the ceremony are very much alive. The funeral pyre captivates and unites Narcissus life. That Narcissus was beloved and that people will mourn and relive his life. Additionally, by burning his body, the people are giving him a chance to be reborn and his spirit emerging from the ashes. Another image Dali exercises to broaden the meaning of Ovid’s story is the flower. The flower is on the right side of the painting. The flower is a representative of life’s cycle. Everything is born, grows, dies, and is reborn. The importance of this is the flower replaces Narcissus body which could communicate Narcissus hopeful rebirth. The flower is white with a yellow center like the sun. White is pure and the sun gives life so the flower could convey a pure life that Narcissus had or will have in his