Read the excerpt from The Metamorphoses by Ovid.
They go down . . . and cast stones, as ordered, behind their footsteps. The stones . . . began to lay aside their hardness and their stiffness, and by degrees to become soft; and when softened, to assume a new form. Presently after, when they were grown larger . . . some shape of man might be seen in them. . . . Yet that part of them which was humid with any moisture, and earthy, was turned into portions adapted for the use of the body. That which is solid, and cannot be bent, is changed into bones. . . . And in a little time, by the interposition of the Gods above, the stones thrown by the hands of the man, took the shape of a man, and the female race was renewed by the throwing of the woman. Thence are we a hardy generation, and able to endure fatigue, and we give proofs from what original we are sprung.
Read the excerpt from the adaptation "The Flood” by James Baldwin.
And so they walked on, down the steep slope of Mount Parnassus, and as they walked they picked up the loose stones in their way and cast them over their shoulders; and strange to say, the stones which Deucalion threw sprang up as full-grown men, strong, and handsome, and brave; and the stones which Pyrrha threw sprang up as full-grown women, lovely and fair. When at last they reached the plain they found themselves at the head of a noble company of human beings, all eager to serve them.
So Deucalion became their king, and he set them in homes, and taught them how to till the ground, and how to do many useful things; and the land was filled with people who were happier and far better than those who had dwelt there before the flood.
How does the adaptation differ from the original?
Baldwin focuses on how the rocks transform into humans, while Ovid simply says that the rocks transform.
Ovid explains that women come from Pyrrha and men come from Deucalion, while Baldwin gives a more general explanation of the re-creation of humankind.
Ovid says that the humans are immediately created from rocks, while Baldwin says that it takes some time.
Baldwin emphasizes how Deucalion becomes a king to the new humans, while Ovid provides details of how humans come about.
