"The Metamorphosis", "The Thousand and One Nights", and "Decameron" all tell stories within stories which demonstrate a woman's love, deception, and virtue. In "The Metamorphosis" and "Decameron", Ovid and Boccaccio devised stories within stories to demonstrate that women will transform themselves to protect their innocence and love when her faithfulness is cruelly tested by her spouse. A woman's love will overcome all obstacles. In a similar fashion, the stories of "The Thousand and One Nights" told by Sherazad to King Shahrayar demonstrate the patience required to earn the king's love.
In "The Metamorphosis", the frame narrative allows Ovid to include many different stories to make his point. Apollo is lusting for Daphne's love, and Apollo beset Daphne for marriage, but in return she turns into a tree to sacrifice her virginity. She becomes a Laurel tree as this was her only way of escaping from marrying Apollo. Apollo takes Daphne's eternal chastity and makes a wreath out of her branches. Apollo displays the wreath to show his mastery of her innocence. He wants to show his masculinity, so he can have it on exhibit for himself and other poets. .
In the story of Jove and Io, the beautiful Io resists Jove. In return, Jove covers the earth with fog and he rapes the lovely Io. Queen Juno suspects her husband of the rape, so she clears the fog, but not soon enough. Jove turns Io into a cow to keep the queen from discovering his adultery. Argus, who is Queen Juno's watchman, is the only one who can communicate with Io by drawing in the dirt with her hoof. Jove morns for her, but he cannot stop Argus from taking her to pasture to graze. This story of Apollo and Daphne and the story of Jove and Io are similar because they both cause the transformation of women they lust after for years to come.
The story of Atalanta and Hippoumenes is a love story about love and deception. It is a story within the story of book ten of Metamorphosis.
