Book description
'Still remarkably vivid. It is easier to read this for pure pleasure than just about any other ancient text' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian
Ovid's sensuous and witty poem begins with the creation of the world and brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Metamorphoses as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This classic is one of the main sources for Greek and Roman mythology, giving us the tales, among others, of the daughter of the river god, the nymph Daphne, turning into a laurel tree to escape the suffocating love of Apollo; the son of Neptune, Cygnus, beaten in battle by Achilles and turned by his father into a swan to escape terrible death; the King of Cyprus, Pygmalion, falling in love with his own sculpture, only to have her turn into a real woman.
When Ovid completed his great work, he stated: “Evening has overtaken me, and the sun has…
From Oren's list on The best books about metamorphosis.
Metamorphoses is like a compact classic for the classical era. If you’re interested in the works of Apollonius of Rhodes, Homer, or Virgil, but the idea of epic poetry is a bit intimidating, or if you love them and want to get an early start introducing your kids to them—Metamorphoses is a great start.
Ovid takes all the beautiful mythology—Perseus, Argonautica, Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Romulus and Remus, Atalanta—and presses them down to easily-digestible bites that are written with such levity and humour that nobody can walk away unmoved.
I love the classics. Jason and the Argonauts is probably the…
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