These are Ovid's Claims About the Pre-deluge gods and Their Powers Over Matter

Ovid wrote that the DEATHLESS gods controlled Matter.............
("I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities;").[26] Accompanying this theme is often violence, inflicted upon a victim whose transformation becomes part of the natural landscape.[27].......There is a great variety among the types of transformations that take place: from human to inanimate objects (Nileus), constellations (Ariadne's Crown), animals (Perdix), and plants (Daphne, Baucis and Philemon); from animals (ants) and fungi (mushrooms) to human; from one sex to another (hyenas); and from one colour to another (pebbles).[30]