Metamorphosis
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| - | "When they had eaten and drunk to their hearts' content, [[Circe|she]] waved her [[wand]] over them, and at once the poor wretches were [[shapeshifting|changed]] into grunting [[pig]]s, which she shut up in pigsties and threw acorns and other food fit for swine before them. Although thus transformed and covered with bristles, they still retained the [[human mind]]."--''[[Odyssey]]'' | + | "Softening quickly in the waters quiet depth, their wood was changed to flesh, the curving prows were [[Metamorphosis|metamorphosed]] into human heads." --''[[Metamorphoses]]'' by Ovid, Brookes More translation |
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| - | "It was apparently owing to my addiction to [[couch]]es that [[Brahma]] conceived the idea of confining my soul in such a piece of furniture."--''[[The Sofa: A Moral Tale]]'' (1742) by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon | + | "One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself [[transformation|transformed]] in his bed into a horrible [[vermin]]."--''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' (1915) by Franz Kafka |
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| - | "One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself [[transformation|transformed]] in his bed into a horrible [[vermin]]. He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked."--''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' (1915) by Franz Kafka | + | |
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| - | [[Thetis]]: So many women, and all these transformations and disguises he invents in order to seduce them. Sometimes a shower of gold, sometimes a bull or a swan. Why, once he even tried to ravish me disguised as a cuttlefish.<br> | + | |
| - | [[Hera]]: Did he succeed?<br> | + | |
| - | Thetis: Certainly not.<br> | + | |
| - | [[Athena]]: What did you do?<br> | + | |
| - | Thetis: Beat him at his own game. I simply turned myself into a shark.<br> | + | |
| - | [they laugh] | + | |
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| - | --dialogue on Zeus's promiscuity in the film ''[[Clash of the Titans (1981 film)|Clash of the Titans]]'' (1981) | + | |
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| - | [[Image:Heliades's metamorphosis into a tree.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Heliades]]' metamorphosis into a [[tree]]. [[Metamorphosis]] is central in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.]] | + | [[Image:Apollo and Daphne.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Apollo and Daphne]]'' by [[Antonio Pollaiuolo]], one tale of transformation in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''—he lusts after her and she escapes him by turning into a [[bay laurel]].]] |
| - | [[Image:Les Poires.jpg|200px|thumb|right|''[[Les Poires]]'', as sold separately to cover the expenses of a trial of [[Le Charivari]]]] | + | |
| - | [[Image:Venus at the Opera by Grandville.jpg|thumb|200px|''[[Venus at the Opera]]'' (1844) by Grandville]] | + | |
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| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| '''Metamorphosis''' is a [[biological process]] by which an [[animal]] physically [[developmental biology|develops]] after [[birth]] or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's form or structure. Some [[insect]]s as well as other species undergo metamorphosis, which is usually (but not always) accompanied by a change of [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] or [[behaviour]]. | '''Metamorphosis''' is a [[biological process]] by which an [[animal]] physically [[developmental biology|develops]] after [[birth]] or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's form or structure. Some [[insect]]s as well as other species undergo metamorphosis, which is usually (but not always) accompanied by a change of [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] or [[behaviour]]. | ||
| == Metamorphosis as a trope == | == Metamorphosis as a trope == | ||
| - | ===Greek mythology=== | + | :''[[shapeshifting]]'' |
| - | ''Metamorphoses'' of any kind have been popular since [[Circe]] in ''[[Odysseus]]'' and Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. Metamorphosis is a frequently used [[horror trope]] which can take many forms: crosses between humans and plants, objects and humans, etc… | + | |
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| - | [[Edith Hamilton]] gathered numerous examples of metamorphoses in her book ''[[Mythology (book)|Mythology]]'' (1942). | + | |
| - | ===Renaissance=== | + | |
| - | In ''[[Hypnerotomachia Poliphili]]'', Francesco Colonna describes the [[transformation]] of seven [[nymph]]s into [[tree]]s in the presence of the god [[Jupiter]]. A [[woodcut]][http://www.jungiantherapy.com/pics/woodcut.jpg] illustrates the process: | + | |
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| - | :"They then transformed themselves into green trees of transparent emerald, covered with bright blue flowers, which bowed devoutly to the high god. The last one was entirely turned to a tree, her feet becoming roots; the next, all but her feet; the third, all but the part from the waist to the arms; and so on, successively. But the tops of the virginal heads showed that the [[metamorphosis]] would happen to each in turn." (Colonna 1999: 174)[http://www.jungiantherapy.com/transfem.shtml] | + | |
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| - | ===Enlightenment=== | + | |
| - | A particular variety of metamorphosis is people turned into furniture. Two stories in which humans transform into [[chair]]s make use of this plot device: the French libertine novel ''[[The Sofa]]'' (1742) by [[Crébillon fils]] and the Japanese short story ''[[The Human Chair]]'' (1925) by [[Edogawa Rampo]]. In both stories a man becomes a sofa, in the former quite literally so (by a curse), in the latter, a man hides in sofa to feel the persons who sit in him. | + | |
| - | ===20th century=== | + | |
| - | The archetypical metamorphosis story is ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' by [[Franz Kafka]] in which a man wakes up to find himself transformed into a vermin. | + | |
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| - | In cinema it has remained a popular trope, for example in ''[[The Little Shop of Horrors]]'' (1960) by [[Roger Corman]] a [[Carnivorous plant|plant becomes a carnivore]], and after it has eaten a number of people, the last buds of the plant open and reveal the faces of the people it has eaten. | + | |
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| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| - | :''[[Metamorphosis (disambiguation)]]'' | + | * [[Shapeshifting]] |
| - | *''[[Danaë (Klimt painting)|Danae]]'' by Gustav Klimt | + | |
| - | *[[Heliades' metamorphosis into a tree from Tableaux du temple des muses ]]' | + | |
| - | *[[Shapeshifting]] | + | |
| - | *[[Transmogrification]] | + | |
| - | *[[Metamorphoses]] | + | |
| - | *[[Pygmalion (mythology)]] | + | |
| - | *''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' by Kafka | + | |
| - | *[[List of films about possessed or sentient inanimate objects]] | + | |
| - | *[[Machiavelli's Golden Ass ]] | + | |
| * [[Developmental biology]] | * [[Developmental biology]] | ||
| * [[Direct development]] | * [[Direct development]] | ||
Current revision
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"Softening quickly in the waters quiet depth, their wood was changed to flesh, the curving prows were metamorphosed into human heads." --Metamorphoses by Ovid, Brookes More translation "One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin."--The Metamorphosis (1915) by Franz Kafka |
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Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's form or structure. Some insects as well as other species undergo metamorphosis, which is usually (but not always) accompanied by a change of habitat or behaviour.
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Metamorphosis as a trope
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See also
- Shapeshifting
- Developmental biology
- Direct development
- Gosner stage
- Hypermetamorphosis
- Morphogenesis
- Metamorphosis of Plants by Goethe
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Metamorphosis" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
