In book 1 of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Ovid asks the Gods to inspire his work and begins to depict how the world was created. This is typically something I would find common in a master narrative. A master narrative is essentially a narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience, and knowledge. This includes creation myths, apocalypse tales, and stories of a figure holding all mighty wisdom. In the case of the Greek and Roman gods, Zeus/Jupiter represents the all-powerful deity that commands the other gods.
Within book 1, we encounter Lycaon, a blood-thirsty man that tries to murder Jupiter in his sleep. Because of the great disrespect that Jupiter feels coming from Lycaon, he punishes the earth and condemns humanity with a great flood. This purging occurs and leaves two people alive; Deucalion and Pyrrha. They represent the pious and most reverent of humans, which is why they survived the flood. Together, they were tasked with repopulating the earth.
This tale is very similar to that of Noah's ark. A great flood comes and wipes out the Earth's population in order to purge the world of those that are considered irreverent of the wrath of the gods. In Noah's tale, sinners were the ones being purged from the Earth.
- This picture depicts the great flood in which Deucalion and Pyrrha were the only survivors. The seas came up and swallowed the land.
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