Meta Description: Join Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe in Gurgle Episode 7 as they explore Ovid’s metamorphoses, ancient body horror, and resources to master the Latin language.
Introduction: Shaggy Furs and the Black Sea
Welcome back, classical gourmands, to Gurgle Episode 7, a bite-sized podcast from the creators of Ad Navseam designed to whet your appetite for Greco-Roman civilization. Broadcasting from the vomitorium, your hosts, Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle, return to the microphones with a strict eye on the clock.
The episode opens with a dramatic reading of translated poetry. The verses describe a man wrapping his body in shaggy furs to beat back the bitter cold, lamenting that he has acquired the brutishness of the wild beast whose skin he wears. Dave explains these lines originate from Ovid’s Tristia. The Roman poet composed these mournful elegies following his relegation to the bleak frontiers of the Black Sea, an exile ordered by Augustus to punish Ovid for a “song and a mistake” (carmen et error). Jeff notes the article discussed today concludes with these exact lines, highlighting how Ovid felt trapped within an animal’s hide during his frigid exile.
Housekeeping: Early Sponsors
Before diving into the primary academic text, the hosts address a few quick sponsorships.
- Hackett Publishing: For listeners seeking to master the Latin language, Hackett provides high-quality, affordable translations. Visit hackettpublishing.com and use the code AN2026 for a 20% discount and free shipping.
- Della Chelpka Art: For custom, breathtaking oil paintings, visit dellachelpka.art. Use the promo code Apelles to receive 10% off your order and free shipping within the continental United States.
Dave and Jeff agree to save their final sponsor, Ratio Coffee, as a bookend at the close of the episode, allowing the anticipation to “bloom”.
The Power of Differentiation
The primary intellectual focus of this episode centers on a 1959 article published in the journal Phoenix. Authored by G.B. Riddehough for the Classical Association of Canada, the essay is titled “Man-Into-Beast Changes in Ovid”.
Riddehough observes that when a mature student of the classics returns to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the poet’s power of differentiation stands out. Despite featuring dozens of shape-shifting myths, Ovid seldom repeats the same type of transformation. Crucially, Riddehough notes that Ovid does not attempt to present a distinct animal point of view. When a human changes into a beast, their human psychology remains trapped inside the new form. The animal exterior does not generate new thoughts; rather, it intensifies the passions the human already possessed.
Jeff compares this literary technique to Apuleius’s novel The Golden Ass. The protagonist Lucius lives a life of profligate passions. When magic goes awry, he is transformed into a donkey—an animal associated with hyper-sexuality in antiquity—proving that his new bestial form accurately reflects his preexisting character.
Kangaroos and Paratroopers
This concept prompts the hosts to examine the modern trend of claiming a “spirit animal”. Jeff shares that his wife considers his spirit animal to be a polar bear. While Jeff assumes she means he is large and lumbering, Dave points out the menace of the comparison, noting the polar bear is an apex predator known to actively track human beings.
Dave chooses the kangaroo. He relates to the animal’s unique nature, viewing himself as an outsider. He also notes the kangaroo’s inexplicably combative behavior, referencing a viral video where a paratrooper lands on a designated target, only to be attacked by a waiting kangaroo. Seeking a noble comparison, Jeff claims the peregrine falcon as his spirit animal, though he is quickly downgraded to a common pigeon.
Woodpeckers and Grass Cravings
Returning to the article, Riddehough lists Ovidian characters whose animal forms mirror their human flaws. Lycaon is turned into a wolf after attempting to serve human flesh to Jupiter. Daedalion becomes a falcon, driven to inflict pain by the fierce bitterness of his own grief. Picus, enraged by the witch Circe, savagely stabs the bark of a tree, becoming the mythological ancestor of the woodpecker.
The gods occasionally show mercy during these traumatic transitions. When Ocyrhoe, daughter of the centaur Chiron, is transformed into a mare, she is granted a divinely sent longing to eat grass and run across the wide plains. This sudden, horsey tendency smooths the psychological shock of her physical transformation.
Homeric Beasts and Pet Personas
Riddehough contrasts Ovid’s transformations with those found in Homer’s Odyssey. When Odysseus’s men encounter the beasts on Circe’s island, Homer describes the animals as magically tamed creatures that fawn upon the Greeks. Ovid, rewriting the same scene, portrays the wolves and lionesses as a determined escort. Ovid implies these metamorphosed humans actively guide the newcomers to the witch, showcasing a dark desire to see other men share their doomed fate.
Jeff observes that projecting human motives onto animals remains a common practice. He admits that he and his wife construct elaborate daily mythologies for their pet dog, Delphi. They have decided the dog believes the entire world is plotting against her, forcing her owners to constantly reassure her. While Jeff acknowledges this is pure fiction, Dave worries that modern society increasingly treats these projected animal personae as genuine reality.
Riddehough points out that Ovid mostly avoids using human witchcraft to explain metamorphoses. By sidelining typical magical folklore, Ovid keeps the thematic focus entirely on human psychology and divine justice.
The Tragedy of the Mute Beast
For Ovid, the ultimate horror of metamorphosis is the loss of the creative hand and the expressive tongue. The transformed human must live trapped inside a mute shell. Jeff recalls Lucius the donkey attempting to speak, only to produce a shameful, braying sound that deepens his tragedy. The victim must also face former human peers as masters to be obeyed or enemies to be fought.
Adding to this nightmare, Ovid’s beasts often retain their human fears. Callisto, transformed into a bear, wanders the woods terrified of encountering other bears. Io, turned into a cow, approaches the water and is frightened by the reflection of her own horns. This blend of human awareness and bovine stupidity creates a vivid portrait of psychological torment.
Ancient Body Horror
Ovid also excels at utilizing partial transformations to evoke dread, a technique Jeff compares to modern cinematic body horror like The Fly. Scylla wades into the water and suddenly discovers a pack of barking, canine monsters fused permanently to her waist, realizing with terror that the loathsome creatures are now an inseparable part of her own body.
King Midas suffers a similar, localized curse. For insulting Apollo’s music, the god burdens the king with the long, hairy, movable ears of a donkey. Riddehough notes the premise sounds like a comedy until Ovid forces the reader into the victim’s mind. Midas must sit on his royal throne hiding the deformity beneath a turban, living in constant, agonizing fear that a single slip of fabric will expose him to the mockery of his subjects.
The Exile at Tomis
Riddehough concludes his essay by examining Ovid’s deep appreciation for humanities—the essential qualities of civilized human society. Reading the Metamorphoses, a Roman audience could rejoice that such mythical banishments from humanity no longer occurred in their modern era.
Yet, Riddehough points to the tragic irony of Ovid’s final years. Exiled by Augustus to the bleak outpost of Tomis, the poet experienced his own grim metamorphosis. Bundled in furs against the fierce winter cold, slinking through the streets to dodge poisoned arrows from local tribes, Ovid was reduced to a beast of chase. Enduring this primitive survival state, Ovid must have wondered if there was any real difference between the shape-shifters of his legends and his own bitter reality. This profound isolation inspired the mournful verses quoted at the top of the episode.
Final Sponsors and the Aristotle Giveaway
To bookend the podcast, the hosts return to their final sponsor and conclude a highly anticipated giveaway.
- Ratio Coffee: Upgrade your morning routine with a pristine, automated pour-over machine. Visit ratiocoffee.com/adnavseam and enter the promo code ANRATIO2026 to receive $20 off your entire order.
The hosts then execute the drawing for the two-volume set of the Complete Works of Aristotle, courtesy of Hackett Publishing. Utilizing an AI random number generator, Dave selects the number 17 and the winner of the texts is listener Justin Nale.
To close out Gurgle Episode 7, Dave delivers a promised pun based on the author’s initials. He decides that G.B. Riddehough must stand for “Growling Beast,” a fitting moniker for an article dedicated to Ovidian animals.A special thanks goes out to Mishka the sound engineer for assembling the episode quickly, and to Jeff Scheetz for providing the shredding guitar intro and outro. Check out the website for merchandise, beware of combative kangaroos, and keep taking in the classics. Valete!
