Book V explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Transformation and Metamorphosis

  Ascalaphus is transformed into an owl, the Sirens gain wings, and Perseus turns his enemies to stone.

• Violence and Revenge

  Phineus' attack on Perseus and the subsequent battle, as well as Ceres' punishment of Ascalaphus.

• Divine Power and Human Folly

  Jove's decree over Proserpine's fate and the Muses' escape from Pyreneus highlight divine intervention and human arrogance.

Characters to notice

• Perseus

  Defends his marriage to Andromeda against Phineus and his followers, using Medusa's head to turn them to stone.

• Ceres

  Seeks the return of her daughter Proserpine from the underworld and punishes Ascalaphus.

• Proserpine

  Returns to the underworld after eating pomegranate seeds; later divides her time between Pluto and Ceres.

• Minerva

  Visits the Muses on Mount Helicon and hears the story of Pyreneus.

• Phineus

  Leads an attack on Perseus during his wedding feast, but is turned to stone.

• Arethusa

  Tells Ceres the story of her transformation into a sacred spring.

• Pyreneus

  Attempts to assault the Muses but is killed after a fall from a precipice.

• Jove

  Decrees that Proserpine will spend six months with Pluto and six with Ceres.

Key passages

• “To both to guard our common pledge from wrongs: But if to things we proper names apply, This hardly can be call'd an injury: The theft is love; nor need we blush to own The thief, if I can judge, to be our son; Had you of his desert no other proof, To be Jove's brother is, methinks, enough”

  Jove argues that Pluto's abduction of Proserpine is not an injury but an act of love, and that being Jove's brother should be sufficient proof of worth.

  Jove defends Pluto's actions to Ceres.

• “When Ceres has obtained from Jupiter her daughter's freedom and return to earth, provided she has eaten nothing in the kingdom of Pluto, the goddess hastens to the infernal regions, and finds that Proserpine has already partaken of the fruit of the pomegranate-tree by the testimony of Ascalaphus, whose loquacity is punished by his transformation into an owl.”

  Ceres learns that Proserpine ate pomegranate seeds in the underworld, so Ascalaphus is turned into an owl for revealing this.

  The transformation of Ascalaphus into an owl.

• “Chief in the riot Phineus first appear'd, The rash ringleader of this boist'rous herd, And brandishing his brazen-pointed lance, 'Behold,' he said, 'an injured man advance, Stung with resentment for his ravish'd wife; Nor shall thy wings, O Perseus, save thy life; Nor Jove himself, though we've been often told, Who got thee in the form of tempting gold.'”

  Phineus leads an attack on Perseus, accusing him of stealing Andromeda and threatening to kill him despite his divine parentage.

  Phineus confronts Perseus at the wedding feast.

• “The Argive prince, at his contempt enraged, To force his faith by fatal proof engaged: 'Friends, shut your eyes,' he cries: his shield he takes, And to the king exposed Medusa's snakes: The monarch felt the power he would not own, And stood convict of folly in the stone.”

  Perseus, angered by the king's disbelief, uses Medusa's head to turn him to stone, proving his power.

  Perseus turns the king of Seriphus to stone.