How Well Do You Think Ovid Engages the Reader in the Telling of Scylla and Minos?

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Scylla and Minos is one of the more light-hearted stories of the Metamorphoses in contrast with the previous episodes that Ovid inserts to keep the reader engaged and in the telling of the whole epic. Ovid includes many techniques to provide interest to the poem and engage the reader in the poem, all of which make the reader's experience much more enjoyable. The story is one that the reader relates with to quite and extent as the character of Scylla gets blinded by her love for Minos as the reader might have experienced themselves. Her young and childlike attitude is shown when she is idly throwing pebbles at the musical wall of the tower, thinking of her love who she has never met before. The fact that she is so innocent and does not realise what she is getting into by loving a man who is an enemy to her city engages the reader as they know that she is not thinking quite straight and may do things that she regrets later on. Scylla's description of Minos is very lengthy and in depth, showing every single aspect of Minos she adores - "How handsome that helmeted warrior looks!". The description shows how much Scylla is infatuated with Minos, thinking of the war as 'heart-breaking', not because of the fact that her city is being besieged by his army, but because it means that Minos is her enemy. The reader is shown from the start that Scylla does not seem to think about what she is doing and she is not thinking about the consequences of the plans that she is forming in her mind to have Minos for herself. Ovid's portrayal of Scylla emphasizes this and engages the reader in her irrational behaviour. In addition, Scylla's melodramatic urges show her enthusiasm to do anything for Minos without even meeting him, again engaging the reader in the lovesick feelings that will undoubtedly give her trouble - "...she was filled with the urge / to leap from the top of the
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