Божествена и човешка метаморфоза в Омировия епос
Divine and human metamorphosis in Homeric epic

Summary/Abstract: The focus of the research is the description of metamorphosis in ancient Greek heroic epic. Since the only existing preserved sources of the genre are the poems Iliad and Odyssey, the analysis focuses solely on them. The first part of the text analyses the divine metamorphosis in ancient Greek epic. Its most common version is the temporary self-transformation of the gods into birds. In this motive there are no traces of any theriomorphic mythological notions to be found. The metamorphosis is always result-oriented and it usually aims to hide the presence of the deities from the mortals. The second part of the research analyses the descriptions of human metamorphosis. Unlike the subsequent literary accounts, in the Homeric epic there is just scarce evidence of the motive of human beings been transformed by the anger or the pity of the gods. The depicted metamorphosis in the epic is usually temporary. There are two main versions of it: magical transformations (as, for instance, the turning of Odysseus’ companions into swine by the goddess Kirke) and the temporary transformation of a person (as, for instance, inspiring bravery into someone’s heart or changing someone’s appearance, etc.) The several cases of mentioning of the popular in the later tradition mythological stories of irreversible metamorphosis are rather disputable and could have been – against the common perception – not the subtle hints to already familiar plots, but rather an inspiration for composing of some new narratives subsequently. An example of a metaphor falsely interpreted as an allusion to existing mythological plot is the comparison of the Trojan queen Hecuba to a wild dog, eager to tear to pieces Achilles’ flesh. The lack of the motive of irreversible human metamorphosis in the epic means that the current literary genre is not among the sources of this extremely popular (from Hesiod on) mythological motive.

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