Like many classic epics, Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is an anthology, retelling ancient oral tales, all lined up and arranged in a loose narrative arc, not much different in structure from the Odyssey, Iliad, Aeneid, not to mention the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Gilgamesh epic, and Arabian Nights. Ovid focuses on tales of shape shifting identity twists....hence the title. So we get the tale of Diana and Actaeon in which the hunter becomes the hunted. With Narcissus and his reflection, beauty falls in love with itself. Then the artist Pygmalion falls in love with his own creation, that comes conveniently to life. The artist and his art are one, the dancer is the dance. And self-reflective story telling about the comforts of story telling is central to the main symbol of the poet-singer Orpheus. As with all these classic Greco-Roman stories, there is an abundance of rape and pillage, and badly misbehaving gods. In many ways these contentious, arbitrary and cruel gods provide a more logical explanation of history than the Judeo Christian notion of a noble and just god. It is the beauty of art and the magic of poetry and song that lift the stories from savage brutality to something transcendent. And highly ambiguous. After emphasizing the transitory nature of all things, Ovid boasts that his songs will live for ever, --where ever Rome rules -- a point he has already put in doubt. And he has this Roman leader turn divine and ascend into heaven in an apotheosis of ridiculous proportions, meant to flatter I suppose, but only if one accepts the nonsense. There are no ancient manuscripts of the text, but it did survive the collapse of the Roman Empire. What I cannot quite get a handle on is what was going through the minds of all those medieval monks who copied and recopied these pagan tales of lust and blood and magical transformations to preserve them after the fall of the Roman empire. What were those sedentary, theoretically celibate guys in the scriptoria actually thinking of. What was it that appealed to them? And did they make any changes in the text? We may never know...https://www.wdl.org/en/item/4524/

A story of change and transformation
14 March 2014

tThe first thing that came into my mind as I was reading this book is a concept that was developed by the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus: matter is never created or destroyed, it only ever changes form. Then there is the idea Ovid explores: the universe in which we live is in a constant state of flux. Granted, this is the second time that I have read this book (and in fact this particular translation, and I do plan on reading it again) and I must say that while it is an absolutely beautiful piece of literature – one that rightly deserves the term classic – it is a very hard slog. However, the influence that Ovid has had on poetry throughout the ages, stemming from what one could consider his Magnus Opus is outstanding. In fact, another literary epic poem that comes to mind is The Divine Comedy (as well as Paradise Lost), though I must admit that it is nowhere near as saucy as Ovid (not that Metamorphoses is his worst, in fact compared to the  The Art of Love – not that I have read it – yet – Metamorphoses is tame).

tMetamorphoses could be seen as an epic journey through Greek and Roman mythology ending with the assassination of Julius Ceaser and the ascension of Augustus Ceaser to become Princeps of Rome, and with Rome transitioning from a Republic to an Imperium (though I suspect that if you were a foreigner or a slave, little had changed). I suspect that is the is whole reason behind the poem: the Roman state itself have just undergone a huge transition, a metamorphosis if you like, in that the nature of the government had changed, a change that was incredibly violent. However, as I have suggested, this change no doubt only affected the upper classes (of which Ovid was a member) in that the political and oratorical careers of the Republic had suddenly up and vanished. No longer could people aim to become Censors or Consuls because the Princeps had taken that role, and no longer could they form policy and shape the direction of the empire, because the Princeps was doing that as well, and the Princeps was not going anywhere, at all.

tWhat Ovid does in this poem is that he tells the story of the universe from its founding (if it indeed had one because many of the philosophers at the time believed that it had always been in existence and that it would have no end - rather it would simply keep on changing form, as it does in the Metamorphoses) and through many of the myths that had come out from the Greeks. Upon reaching the Trojan War, Ovid begins to follow Aeneas (leaving the stories of the Greek conquerors of Troy behind) through Carthage and to the founding of the colony at Alba Longa. It is clear that all of these myths (with the exception of Aeneas, and it is debatable – incredibly debatable – whether Aeneas was ever actually the ancestor of Romulus and Remus, but rather a creation of the Roman ruling class to set them apart from the Greeks, just as the story of Aeneas and Dido was a creation to set them against the Cartheginians and to give them a reason as to why they went to war – not that they were two superpowers fighting over the same lake being reason enough, but then again as most governments know, to send the population to war you have to have a really good reason) have been taken from their Greek origins and effectively Romanised (though Ovid was most likely working on what had developed before him, rather that doing something new

tThe first change, or transformation, that we see in this story is the story of the flood. Now many Christians would like to use this as an excuse to justify a world wide flood, but while it is true that the Grecian flood story is quite old, no doubt it could have been picked up from other sources and Helenised (as many of these tales have been). However, my purpose here is to identify it as one of the first changes, in that what we have is an older world transforming into a new world through the flood (as is the case with the biblical account). The next change come about with the four ages (gold, silver, bronze, and lead), which have been lifted out of Hesiod (and note that Hesiod makes no mention of a flood). Once again we have a constant change as the nature of the ages change, as well as the occupants: as one age comes to an end and another age begins. In a sense, what Ovid is demonstrating is that nothing lasts forever and that change is inevitable.

tWhile one could look through the characters that change, such as Io shifting from a woman to a bull and back again, and Daphne with her transformation into a laurel tree, I would rather jump through to the Trojan War, which once again shows another transformation, and that is a transformation of societies and empires. Here we have one dominant empire coming to an end through war, but it is not completely destroyed because from the destruction wrought by the enemy, an seed is sent forth – Aeneas - to create a new empire that eventually rises up and overthrows the conquers of the fatherland. However, as things change, Ovid wants to show his readers (and remember his readers were most likely middle to upper class Roman citizens) that the flux is ongoing and that the current state of affairs will no doubt not last forever.

The Metamorphoses are Ovid’s masterpiece and one of the literary monuments of Antiquity, alongside the Bible, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid. As the title suggests, Ovid’s book is about change, transformation, mutation. Its scope is exceptionally ambitious, encyclopaedic even. It covers the whole of ancient mythology, from the creation of the world and the flood to the epic of Phaëton, from Jupiter’s rape of various nymphs to the abduction of Europa, from Narcissus in love with his own reflection to Perseus and Medusa, from the rape of Proserpina to Medea and Jason, from Theseus and the Minotaur to the fall of Icarus, from Meleäger and the Calydonian Boar to Byblis’ and Myrrha’s incestuous passions, from the works of Hercules to the doomed love of Orpheus and Eurydice in the underworld, from the desire of Venus for Adonis to King Midas turning everything into gold, from the shipwreck of Cëyx to the battle of the Centaurs and to the Trojan War, from the sufferings of Hecuba to the wanderings of Aeneas, from Ulysses in Polyphemus’ cave to Circe’s witchcraft, and last but not least, from Romulus down to Julius Caesar. In short, Ovid has it all figured out!

Ovid’s Metamorphoses, like Virgil’s Aeneid, was written under the reign of Augustus and both works are, in their way, a glorification of the Roman Empire. All prior tribulations of gods and men aim towards this apex of history, this ideal order of civilisation. But Virgil’s and Ovid’s ways are very different. While Virgil unfolds the story of Aeneas in a single grand narrative, taking inspiration from the Odyssey, Ovid seems to be jumping randomly from one legend to the next, sometimes arranged into a Russian doll structure, thus covering a vast body of material (several hundreds of tales borrowed mostly from Greek literature). Within this colourful poem, there is one obsessive idea: the metamorphose (other recurring themes are romantic passion and sexual obsession). In a way, Virgil and Ovid could be compared to the myth of Arachne, exposed in book 6: Virgil being the Minervean, elevated, distinguished bard and Ovid the Arachnean, careless, disorganised poet.

At first, it seems he has gathered together every legend where some magical transformation is involved (Jupiter turning himself into a white bull, Actaeon changed by Diana into a stag, and so on). But by the end of the epic, primarily through Pythagoras’ speech in book 15 (my fave section), we come to understand that Ovid has a sort of profound ontological idea in mind. His book illustrates some kind of Heraclitean world view, whereby everything is in constant transmutation and flux. In a way, while Virgil is putting forward a historical statement about the origins of Rome, placing everything in a genealogical line, Ovid suggests something much more unstable and uncertain. If Augustus’ Empire is the pinnacle of human history, the poem makes room for further transformations and alterations down the line — a non-dogmatic, almost modern vision of history. Ovid knows that the Augustinian Empire, like everything else under the moon, is condemned to decay and death. (Did this contribute to his later banishment to the Black Sea — see the fantastic Poems of Exile?) The only thing that will remain through time is, according to the Epilogue (15, 870 sqq.), the poem itself, a poem about growth, transformation, and degeneration.

Another surprising fact about the Metamorphoses, also in line with Ovid’s metaphysical view of an all changing universe, is the justification of vegetarianism in book 15: “What a heinous crime is committed when guts disappear inside a fellow-creature’s intestines” (15, 86-87). Indeed, if gods and men can mutate into animals, a meat-eating individual is in some way a barbaric cannibal or a sacrilegious god-eater. Note the similarities between Ovid’s pagan doctrine on this issue and modern religious practices based on the belief on reincarnation (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism). In a broader sense, this very much resonates with our contemporary concerns about animal suffering and climate change. (One last thing that resonates with me in that same book 15, during this present time of coronavirus global pandemic, is the mention of Aesculapius, the saviour of Rome during the plague.)

Ovid is always a delight to read, chiefly because his descriptions are still readable and to the point, often playful or emotional, and never shy away from graphic details, visceral or sexual. See, for instance, the gory wedding banquets at the beginning of book 5 and book 12 (possible influence to the “Red Wedding” in Game of Thrones). Also see the erotic and gruesome story of Tereus and Philomela (book 6) — incidentally a blueprint for Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus (which is, in turn, a recipe for the episode of the “Frey Pies”, again in Game of Thrones!). Furthermore (considering that the little Latin I have ever known is gone forever), David Raeburn’s recent translation into English hexameters is extraordinarily readable and never draws the reader’s attention to itself.

The Metamorphoses have had an enormous influence on Western culture, not just on other Roman writers, such as Apuleius with his spicy Golden Ass. It has made a particular impression on numerous artists since the Renaissance. Think of Botticelli, of course. Think of Titian’s Poesie, ordered by King Felipe II of Spain. Think of Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (from book 8). Think of the Pre-Raphaelites (see below the exquisite Echo and Narcissus by Waterhouse — from book 3). Think of countless references made by Dante, Montaigne, Cervantes or Shakespeare in their works. Case in point: Pyramus and Thisbe (book 4) is inserted within A Midsummer Night's Dream and is the inspiration of Romeo and Juliet; the affliction of Hecuba (book 13) is slotted into Hamlet; Prospero’s late speech in The Tempest is inspired by Medea’s speech (book 7). Think too of all the plays based on the myth of Pygmalion (e.g. the Broadway musical and the film version of My Fair Lady). Think of the popular sword-and-sandal movies such as Jason and the Argonauts. And think nowadays of all the bestsellers that borrow from Greco-Roman myths — most of which are to be found chiefly in the Metamorphoses — indirectly, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, or more directly, Madeline Miller or Stephen Fry’s latest books.

In short, Ovid’s Metamorphoses is to Greco-Roman mythology more or less what Snorri Sturluson is to Norse myths. While Snorri is essential to understanding the culture of the Vikings, without some knowledge of Ovid’s book, it would be practically impossible to comprehend Mediterranean Antiquity and, indeed, Western culture.

I read this for one of those bucket-list reasons, having read a bunch of scholarly articles in college that constantly quote from Ovid... but I had NEVER READ THE ORIGINAL.

Alas. How many years has it been, with that guilt slowly creeping up on me?

So I did it. I read Ovid.

And I fell in love.

What the hell was I thinking? Avoiding this? I mean, how many damn mythology books have I read that go on and on about all the Greek classics, touted for their clear and concise styles, but really what I should have been doing is read the damn book of prose/poetry by the first-century master!

Even in translation, it's clear, entertaining, full of action and wit and subversiveness and plain JOY. And get this: it's not much longer than those full mythology books.

SO SILLY! Enjoy the ART! The action! The joy of beautiful text!

We even get poetical treatments of segments of the Illiad and Odyssey! But my favorites were Orpheus and the whole damn slew of the poor mortals getting f***ed over by the gods. :)

Granted, if you're not already familiar with the kind of name-dropping that comes with a world that normally knowns all these legends, it might seem rather overwhelming, but for all of you who've read at least one book on the Greeks and are tolerant of learning on the fly, I TOTALLY recommend Ovid.

I fairly danced with fun as I read this. I felt like I was watching the original Clash of the Titans for the first time. This had some really bloody sequences! The funny ones and the clever ones and even the LGBTQ ones are spread throughout, too! :) I'm frankly amazed we don't just have THIS to read in school. It's much better than most!

lol *shakes head*

This is the ONE book that you must have read if you any reader of classic literature,
Whatever you read you will find refernces and quotations to Ovids Metamorphoses.
And anyway, The book in itself is soo imaginatif and wonderfull. Where is the line between legend and fiction, if there is any.

The book is a collection of many ancient myths united by the theme of metamorphosis.

Plot. Rating 5
The myths collected by the author are very diverse. The vast majority of them are from Greek mythology; it is a real encyclopedia. There are simple plots, but many plots are quite intricate with unexpected twists and miraculous transformations. The poem shows and considers the whole spectrum of human emotions and deeds. From extreme cruelty and insane revenge (for example, the myth of Prokne and Philomela) to love and humor. I think most myths are little known; although, their heroes have turned into the concepts, beings, and words of our modern life. For example, such a phenomenon as an echo has a beautiful explanation in Greek mythology.
Nevertheless, the book has a general chronological movement from the creation of the world to Julius Caesar.

Characters. Rating 5
The poem features a huge number of characters. A frequent motive is the struggle of people against the gods through voluntary or involuntary rivalry. The Greek gods are cruel, vindictive, and capricious. However, Ovid manages to fill the characters with true emotions and experiences. He accurately uses words and phrases to depict heroes in states of passion, falling in love, spiritual uplift, or complete collapse of hopes. Many transformations correspond very well to the character and behavior of their heroes.

Dialogues. Rating 4
The meaning of the dialogues is conveyed well, but the florid style of the poem introduces some redundancy and emotionality. However, since the characters are almost always in extraordinary and unusual circumstances, these dialogues suit them. But this is a common feature of many ancient works.

Writing style. Rating 4
I liked the writing style of the book; although, in my opinion, it is not easy to read because the poem contains a large number of exclamations, rhetorical questions, self-talk, and various topics little known to the modern reader. Also, the stories change quite abruptly. However, this is offset by the excellent descriptions. Ovid builds a detailed scene of dramas and tragedies and shows the character behavior well. He also describes the details of the situation, the unusual appearance of various gods and monsters, and their metamorphoses well.

Worldbuilding. Rating 5
This is a grandiose study and reconstruction of ancient mythology. Ovid conveyed the myths in a precise and tangible way, unfolding a poetic movie before the reader's eyes. His worldbuilding details always work to change the plot, motives, and emotions of the characters. This creates a vast and rich fantasy world, which when read, comes to life.
And of course, the metamorphoses themselves are excellent worldbuilding. It was interesting for me to find out which animals, birds, plants, constellations, and concepts have roots in Greek mythology.

Conclusion. Overall rating 5
Ovid perfectly conveyed the vast world of ancient mythology to human civilization in a concentrated and fascinating form.

This book is phenomenal.

I had read parts of the Metamorphoses in high school, and my focus then was on the language and structure of the text, not so much on the stories. That's just what happens when you're trying to learn how to translate texts from Latin.

When I picked up the book again earlier this year, I had no such restrictions (and no deadline) and I was looking forward to reading Ovid's history of the world - from its creation to Julius Caesar.

What I was looking forward to even more, was to read about the myths and legends that have informed so many other works from Dante to our own contemporaries like Ali Smith, and find out more about Ovid's view of the world in 8 AD.

Yes, Ovid's view. The Metamorphoses may be a collection of ancient Greek and Roman myths, but there is a slant to them that is influenced by Ovid's view. Some of the myths differ from the earlier versions found in the works of Hesiod and Homer, and then there are stories about Julius Caesar and Pythagoras that are not based on ancient myths but are informed by Ovid's time. The book, or rather the last book of the 15 books of poems that make of the Metamorphoses, ends with Ovid praising Augustus. Incidentally, it was Augustus who banished Ovid from Rome at about the same time that the book was finished - the reason for this remains one of the unsolved mysteries of history.

Anyway, more about the book: The book starts with the creation of the world and tells of how the world was transformed by the elements and by man, going through different ages, and finally focusing on the stories of gods and men and the many transformations that take place when they interacts.

Transformation, as the title says, is the theme of the book: some are literal when people are transformed into plants or animals, some are less tangible, for example when Medea loses herself to witchcraft, and finally the philosophical theories that Ovid describes in the story about Pythagoras, who believes in a continuous and fluid world in which everything is temporary, and in which everything is in a state that changes into something else, and in which existence is thus infinite.

It's very zen for a 2000 year old book (that is not a major religious text) right?

This probably is what surprised me most about the book: how many times I caught myself being astounded to read about concepts that seem a lot more modern.

Medea and mental illness, for example. Ovid does not tell the full story (and yes I will dig out Euripides' work to find out what drove her over the edge!) but by his leaving out such detail, I can't but marvel about what Ovid's audience would have made of it. Would they also have wondered about what caused her breakdown?

Or, the stories of individuals struggling against higher powers, fate, or society.

Ancient gods were assholes. Not many of the stories have happy endings, and in some, even happy-ish endings are pretty sad. However, all of them have a message, which is why Ovid selected them, and which is why so many of the stories have permeated Western culture. Even if they now only exist by reference to a name and most people won't know the story behind the reference.

My favourite of those, probably is the story of Arachne. I'm not a fan of spiders, and I had imagined all sorts of variations of a horrible monster to be the origin of all spider-related words. But no. Arachne was a master waver who dared to enter into a weaving contest with Athena. Long story short, in Ovid's version, Arachne dared to show how unfair the gods and goddesses are and she dared to defeat Athena. Athena throws a fit of rage and destroys Arachne's tapestry. Arachne hangs herself in a fit of rage. (Yeah, I don't get this part - revenge suicide???) Athena, again, out of rage over Arachne's suicide turns her and her into a spider.

Now, this is not the most logical of stories, granted, but I love that the story's metaphorical content is still applicable. I won't be able to look at spiders with quite the same level of aversion again. Well, some of them at least. Most will still freak me out.

So, yes, this book took me a few months to finish, but it was a lot to digest. A lot of stories that required some thought, a lot that just needed a break before getting to the next one. It was an amazing book. After 2000 years, this is still entertaining, thought provoking, and beautiful.

In his epilogue, Ovid proclaims that his work will make him immortal.
Ovid does still live in his fame, and for all the right reasons.

Lastly, a word on the Penguin 2004 edition with David Raeburn's translation: It rocks. There are plenty of free or cheap translations avaialble on the internet. I tried a few of them, but none really worked. I found those translations to be either too literal or too liberal. Raeburn's work combines a great balance of keeping close to the original text while still creating a work of poetry, and even keeping the original rhyme scheme.

4.5****

RTC

Tempos houve em que tudo ligado à mitologia me parecia excessivo. Desde logo, a quantidade de figuras e as inúmeras versões atribuídas a cada uma. A intensidade dos amores e dos ódios! As manipulações! As vinganças! O sangue! A crueldade! Hoje, tudo me sabe a pouco!
Metamorfoses, carrega o peso inquestionável das grandes obras cuja grandeza resiste incólume ao passar do tempo. Entre este e As Núpcias de Cádmo e Harmonia de Roberto Calasso, o meu coração divide-se por igual, ambos merecem ser revisitados amiúde.

So the hardback of this new translation is beautiful. I should buy this yes?
It will look great on the shelf.
It’s also long and will I ever actually read it? Maybe?
But it will look great on the shelf.
And I should probably read it which will be easier if I have it looking gorgeous on my shelf, right?

Never had I been more surprised to like a book in further recommended reading for World literature I, an exam I have passed two years ago.

This is a collection of stories told in various points of view and set in different time periods, from the beginning of time until Julius Caesar, and they are centered on transformations – literal and metaphorical.

There are many well-known stories and characters like Lycaon, Apollo and Daphne, Io, Semele, Persephone, Europa, Pygmalion, Arachne, Medusa, Medea and Jason and etc.

Of course, the Gods are present as well, and heroes like Theseus and Hercules, Ulysses, and Achilles.

Even if you didn’t have any knowledge about Greek/Roman mythology this book is enjoyable. And has a great reread ability? You have a wish to reread it right after reading it. Certainly worth spending your day/week on reading.
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A must-read for anyone who likes mythology. Review to come.

Not going to leave a rating on this one... I read it but I can't say it held my attention span. Have to say though that probably says more about me than the text!