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Book 13: The Daughters of Anius
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Metamorphoses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Metamorphosis
Humanity vs. Nature
Love and Destruction
Gods and Humans
Time, Fate, and Poetry
Summary
Analysis
The Trojans spend the night at Delos and visit the shrine of Phoebus in the morning. The god tells them to search for their “kindred shores.” Before they depart, King Anius gifts Anchises a staff and Aeneas a mixing bowl that depicts a funeral taking place in a city. The daughters of Orion—girls who had died for their people—are depicted being carried out to the funeral pyre while the citizens lament. In return, the Trojans give the people of Delos gifts.
The wandering Trojans are looking for their “kindred shores,” suggesting that they are searching for their true home—a home even more theirs than Troy was. This is reminiscent of how Cadmus found the land for the city that he founded after he was banished from his kingdom. Together, the two stories suggest that bad things can transform into good things.
Themes
