The Cage of the Object and the Forest of the Subject: On the Ecological Revision of the Metamorphosis Logic and the Life Community in The Overstory to Metamorphoses
Abstract
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the classical paradigm of transforming gods into plants as an escape mechanism is presented, in which the poet regards trees as the object of human emotional projection and the cage of fate. Richard Powers' The Overstory reconstructs this mythological archetype through modern plant science, transforming metamorphosis from physical alienation to cognitive awakening, shifting the narrative subject from anthropocentrism to the ontology of trees, and rewriting the isolated fate fixation into an interconnected life community. The Overstory is not a simple retelling of classical myths, but a profound ecological ontological revision, aiming to break the objectifying gaze of anthropocentrism and rebuild the ethical symbiotic relationship between human and non-human lives.
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