Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses

by

Ovid

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Metamorphoses makes teaching easy.

Jupiter (Jove) Character Analysis

Jupiter—or Jove—is Saturn’s son and the head of all the gods. His distinctive feature and weapon is the lightning bolt, which he uses either to kill people or signify his presence. Although Jupiter is married to Juno, he has countless other love interests throughout the Metamorphoses. These love interests are usually mortals or nymphs, as Jupiter does not want to sleep with a goddess who would bear children more powerful than himself. When a love interest attempts to resist Jupiter, he rapes her, disguising himself in all kinds of forms to do so. Jupiter’s affairs with various women anger Juno, who then seeks her revenge, creating much of the poem’s action. Semele—one of his love interests—bears him a child, Bacchus, who is birthed out of Jupiter’s thigh. Jupiter is the most powerful of all the gods, but not even he can defy Fate.

Jupiter (Jove) Quotes in Metamorphoses

The Metamorphoses quotes below are all either spoken by Jupiter (Jove) or refer to Jupiter (Jove) . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Metamorphosis Theme Icon
).
Book 2: Europa Quotes

Love and regal dignity, scarcely the best of friends,
are rarely discovered together. And so the father and ruler
of all the gods, whose right hand wields the three-forked lightning,
whose nod can sway the whole world, discarded his mighty scepter
and clothed himself in the form of a bull.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove)
Page Number: 486
Explanation and Analysis:
5.3 Quotes

please use words which accord
with the facts of the case. Lord Pluto hasn’t committed a crime
but an act of love. No need for us to feel shame at the marriage,
if only you will accept it, Ceres. Setting aside
all other advantages, Pluto is Jupiter’s brother, no less!

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker), Ceres , Pluto , Proserpina
Page Number: 124
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 9: Miletus Quotes

Have you no respect for me? […]
Where will this end? Does anyone think they can really defy
the decrees of Fate? […]
You are all subject to Fate, and—if this makes your subjection
more easy to bear—so am I.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker)
Page Number: 428
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 15: The Apotheosis of Julius Caesar Quotes

You may go yourself [to] […] visit the Records of Fortune,
a massive structure of tablets inscribed in brass and the solidest
iron. These tablets fear no clashing of clouds, nor the thunderbolt’s
wrath, nor destruction, however it come; they are safe and abiding.
There you will find your families’ destinies cast in enduring
adamant.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker), Venus , Julius Caesar
Page Number: 809
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Metamorphoses LitChart as a printable PDF.
Metamorphoses PDF

Jupiter (Jove) Quotes in Metamorphoses

The Metamorphoses quotes below are all either spoken by Jupiter (Jove) or refer to Jupiter (Jove) . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Metamorphosis Theme Icon
).
Book 2: Europa Quotes

Love and regal dignity, scarcely the best of friends,
are rarely discovered together. And so the father and ruler
of all the gods, whose right hand wields the three-forked lightning,
whose nod can sway the whole world, discarded his mighty scepter
and clothed himself in the form of a bull.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove)
Page Number: 486
Explanation and Analysis:
5.3 Quotes

please use words which accord
with the facts of the case. Lord Pluto hasn’t committed a crime
but an act of love. No need for us to feel shame at the marriage,
if only you will accept it, Ceres. Setting aside
all other advantages, Pluto is Jupiter’s brother, no less!

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker), Ceres , Pluto , Proserpina
Page Number: 124
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 9: Miletus Quotes

Have you no respect for me? […]
Where will this end? Does anyone think they can really defy
the decrees of Fate? […]
You are all subject to Fate, and—if this makes your subjection
more easy to bear—so am I.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker)
Page Number: 428
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 15: The Apotheosis of Julius Caesar Quotes

You may go yourself [to] […] visit the Records of Fortune,
a massive structure of tablets inscribed in brass and the solidest
iron. These tablets fear no clashing of clouds, nor the thunderbolt’s
wrath, nor destruction, however it come; they are safe and abiding.
There you will find your families’ destinies cast in enduring
adamant.

Related Characters: Jupiter (Jove) (speaker), Venus , Julius Caesar
Page Number: 809
Explanation and Analysis: