Metamorphoses: A New Verse Translation (Penguin Classics)

Ovid looked at the vast collection of Greco and Roman myths and understood the unifying factor to be metamorphosis. He therefore took on the monumental task of linking them together in one long continuous poem. The results are truly monumental. I think Penguin editions can sometimes linger a little too much on the intellectual understanding of classics but I enjoyed and continue to enjoy this edition. A chronology of Ovid's life and works is included before the text as well as an introduction by Denis Feeney which is interesting and comprehensive whilst not being terribly preachy on how 'Metamorphoses' should be experienced. There is a page dedicated to further books of interest. The translator David Raeburn also writes a short note on his intentions, the format of the original and his new version, which I also found very interesting. The fifteen books of the 'Metamorphoses' follows. On the first reading I dutifully read the summaries at the beginning of each book for a while, but they add very little, instead they mainly catalogue what happens in each segment before it does, which can ruin it a bit. Still they are nice to read after as they can add to your understanding. I found the notes on background information, points of detail and cross references incredibly useful and fascinating. The index was also useful to keep track of all the characters and to be used as a guide as it tells you where each character appears in the text so you can flick to the right section. An historical map of the world Ovid lived in is also included. Raeburn chose to compose the text in a metre which is closer to Ovid's dactylic hexameter - which in turns references the epic style of Homer and Virgil - as opposed to the traditional English metre for narrative poetry, which is iambic pentameter. He writes in his note that he has done this to reflect the relaxed flow of Ovid's narrative. Because of this I did find the rhythm a little tricky to pick up at first but after a few pages I had become immersed in the flow of the prose and found that the text is actually very easy to understand. Although Raeburn stresses how faithfully he has tried to reflect the original format and flavour (his 11,870 is very close to the originals 11,995) he also makes it clear that this is not a literal version of the original. To help with clarity and as he was working within the limits of idiomatic English he has altered the arrangement of some of the lines and compressed and expanded some also. For this I am grateful as I am not a student looking for an English translation to study alongside the original Latin and want the translation I read to be accessible. He also mentions that he has tried to stick to one name for most of the characters, whereas Ovid used many, he has still employed some of the better known equivalents though for others, if he didn't do this I would have likely been rather lost. As it was I was still got a little turned around, with the many names of Jupiter for example. The poem itself begins before time and takes you on a strange and mesmerising journey that finishes in Ovid's then present. Every recognisable and many minor Greco-Roman myths has a place in the poem. Ovid was a devious fellow, the scope and arrangement of 'Metamorphoses' is amazing. This is not a traditional narrative, instead Ovid plays with structure and reader expectation. The stories are connected through associated themes and characters. The whole can also be divided into three sets of five books; the first third deals heavily with the exploits of the gods and this is possibly my favourite as their base motivations are fascinating, the next focuses on the heroes and then history. But these lines are blurred and you are always being surprised as Ovid throws yet another curve ball. Sometimes the major recurring element of transformation links the stories ingeniously and other times it's tacked on. But most noteworthy is how these transformations and transitions encompass an extraordinary range of human experience. Ovid's understanding of human motivations and readers perceptions coupled with a philosophical richness and psychological intensity is something that can be seen in every part of the poem. The reason 'Metamorphoses' is so gripping and effecting is the reason myths are in general. By dealing in base human motivations and epic reactions, the subsequent spark of recognition the reader experiences feels integral because it is. We are all fascinated by our own identity and a collective identity. Transformations and transitions are integral to myths and integral to our sense of identity. You can also take immense pleasure in the many different forms of metamorphoses, the huge array of characters and the intensity of the themes. Compulsion and sexual desire are strong forces that power the sometimes shocking violence and grotesque gore. No matter how many times I read it I am always entranced by the magic, impassioned by the soaring speeches, excited by the epic battles and hunt scenes, sickened by the violence, devious and often demented behaviour, which is evident in the many rape scenes and violence against man, women and children but at the same time I'm still amused by the diabolical sense of humour and wit. Ovid's epic could be seen as sensational, it was after all meant to entertain the masses with the excessive violence and erotic lusty dark edge. But there is also such intelligence to Ovid's understanding of the human psyche and the way he plays with every element, the cruel and horrific is also mixed with justice and love, corruption with honour, true heroism with petty vengeance. I love this as it feels integral and powerful, it challenges how I see narrative, structure and most importantly myself and others.

This is one of the four classic heavy weights of ancient heroic poetry (along with Homer’s The Iliad & Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid). The poem stretching to 634 pages was written by Ovid 43BC-18AD for Rome and Augustus. It brings together many myths and legends from Greece and Rome including Daedalus, Pygmalion (made into My Fair Lady), Perseus, Hercules with characters like Cyclopes, Centaurs, Circe, Apollo and the usual gods and people used to name moons. I read the hexameter poem translation and this worked really well for me; it included a detailed summary introduction to each of the 15 books and an index of characters/places (25 pages about #500 in total!), notes and a map. The poem has had a major impact on western literature. It does have reference to various incest (father-daughter, sister-brother etc), cannibalism, murder-revenge and war, lots of women avoiding or being raped and blasphemy. It has humorous notes but is otherwise a relatively serious entertainment. The poem works to bring the many ideas of time, mental and bodily change and karma (gods punish to match the crime etc) to the human condition. It starts with creation (and has a flood event) and ends with the deification of the Emperor. So apart from getting under the skin of ancient religious world view, broadly I could see how such a then contemporary work (which already embraced Greek to Roman god correspondence) could parallel the intellectual development of early Christian understandings of the transformation and transformative nature of a man to human-god entity by the authors of the New Testament or indeed how texts can metamorphose to religion and how religion can them metamorphose into a justification for killing. Interestingly the book contained a passage on vegetarianism (and not to kill for sacrifice); it also seemed to have very few non-human transformations i.e. vast majority are people turning to birds, rivers, trees etc - I think a statue comes alive and some trees become nymphs. A couple of quotes “you credit the gods with too much power if you think they create and then alter the shapes in Nature” I love this poetic description of Rumour:- “Picture a space at the heart of the world, between the earth, the sea and the sky, on the frontiers of all three parts of the universe. Here there are eyes for whatever goes on, no matter how distant; and here there are ears whose hallows no voice can fail to penetrate. This is the Kingdom of Rumour, who chose to live on a mountain, with numberless entrances into her house and a thousand additional holes, though none of her thresholds are barred with a gate or a door. Open by night and by day, constructed entirely of sounding brass, the whole place hums and echoes, repeating whatever it hears” “The centaur then bounded forward, trailing his guts on the ground; as he trailed them he trampled them under his hooves; what he trampled he burst till he caught his legs in the sludge and fell with his abdomen empty” “Helen weeps too when she looks in her mirror to see her old woman’s wrinkles, and wonders how she came to be twice abducted. Time, the universal devourer, and spiteful decay, there is nothing you cannot destroy”.

The book has 723 numbered pages and another 41 pages of introduction. All of this for a cover price of £9.99 (I paid €11.34). There have to be compromises at this price point, and if I have to find a defect it's that the cover could be sturdier. As for the contents, the book finishes with 34 pages of notes, a 50-page glossary, and two maps. I suppose it was an editorial choice to put the notes at the end of the book, so as not to interrupt the flow of the story, rather than putting them at the bottom of the page they refer to. This means I have to use two bookmarks, one to keep my place in the book, the other to keep my place in the notes. I would have prefered the notes as footnotes, but that is my personal preference. Anyway, it's something I can live with. Regarding the translation, I don't read Latin so I have no way of knowing how faithful it is, but it seems fine to me. If you want an inexpensive copy of one of the world's classic books, this is a good choice.

A great classic book. If people are still interested in reading today, after thousands years has been written, it means it has got an intrinsic beauty and meaning.

Highly recommend for mythology lovers!

Se ve bien en contenido del libro, tiene notas, glosario y mapa del mediterraneo al final del libro, asi como el material complementerio al inicio del libro, lo que más me puedo quejar de él es que llego maltratado de la portada, pero me lo esperaba por tan barato, aun así deberían de especificar si tiene algún desperfecto o es usado, el tamaño de letra es bueno, al igual que la impresión pero el papel no me agrada nada lo más parecido que lo puedo comparar es a un delgado papel periódico, un color gris y un tacto parecido.

Along with the works of Homer, Aeschylus, and Sophicles, this epic masterpiece is a must read for anyone wanting to expand their understanding of ancient myths while at the same time gaining much more enjoyment out of modern poetry, from which these tales often refer. Ovid begins with Creation before going into the ancient world's legends and myths, and wraps it up with a tribute to Augustus. Translation is superb, and plenty of footnotes with useful information. A must read!