Metamorphoses

The Metamorphoses (Latin: Metamorphōsēs, from Ancient Greek μεταμορφώσεις [metamorphṓseis], lit. 'Transformations') is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his magnum opus. The poem tells many stories from ancient myths, showing how people, animals, and objects changed forms over time. It covers events from the world's creation to the time when Julius Caesar became a god.

Although it has elements of an epic, the poem is special because it mixes many different stories and feelings. Ovid used ideas from older poems about change, but he made his own unique version of each myth.

The Metamorphoses has had a big impact on art and literature in Western culture. Famous writers like Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare were inspired by it. Artists during the Renaissance often showed scenes from the poem in paintings and sculptures. Even today, the stories from the Metamorphoses continue to be told in new ways, and many people have translated the poem into English, starting with William Caxton in 1480.

Sources and models

Ovid's poem Metamorphoses was inspired by earlier writers and stories. He used ideas from Alexandrian poetry, where myths were used to share important lessons. Ovid also looked at older poems about changes in shape, like Boios' Ornithogonia, a poem about people turning into birds.

Ovid took stories from writers like Nicander of Colophon, but he made his own version of these tales. His poem was much longer and told these stories as part of a big history of the world. Ovid also used and changed older stories, such as the tale of Io, to focus on his main ideas and themes. He added new details and connections to make the myths even more interesting.

Contents

The Metamorphoses is a long poem written by the Roman writer Ovid around the year 8 CE. It tells many stories about changes in shapes and forms, pulling together over 250 myths into fifteen books. Scholars aren't sure what category to put it in — some say it's like an epic, while others see it as something different.

The poem starts with the creation of the world and ends with the death of Julius Caesar. It jumps from one story to another, often telling famous myths in a new way. One big idea in the poem is love, shown in many different ways. The stories show how love can bring both joy and trouble.

• Book I – The Creation, the Ages of Mankind, the flood, Deucalion and Pyrrha, Apollo and Daphne, Io, Phaëton.
• Book II – Phaëton (cont.), Callisto, the Raven and the Crow, Ocyrhoe, Mercury and Battus, the envy of Aglauros, Jupiter and Europa.
• Book III – Cadmus, Diana and Actaeon, Semele and the birth of Bacchus, Tiresias, Narcissus and Echo, Pentheus and Bacchus.
• Book IV – The daughters of Minyas, Pyramus and Thisbe, Mars and Venus, the Sun in love (Leucothoe and Clytie), Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, the daughters of Minyas transformed, Athamas and Ino, the transformation of Cadmus, Perseus and Andromeda.
• Book V – Perseus' fight in the palace of Cepheus, Minerva meets the Muses on Helicon, the rape of Proserpina, Arethusa, Triptolemus.
• Book VI – Arachne; Niobe; the Lycian peasants; Marsyas; Pelops; Tereus, Procne, and Philomela; Boreas and Orithyia.
• Book VII – Medea and Jason, Medea and Aeson, Medea and Pelias, Theseus, Minos, Aeacus, the plague at Aegina, the Myrmidons, Cephalus and Procris.
• Book VIII – Scylla and Minos, the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus, Perdix, Meleager and the Calydonian Boar, Althaea and Meleager, Achelous and the Nymphs, Philemon and Baucis, Erysichthon and his daughter.
• Book IX – Achelous and Hercules; Hercules, Nessus, and Deianira; the death and apotheosis of Hercules; the birth of Hercules; Dryope; Iolaus and the sons of Callirhoe; Byblis; Iphis and Ianthe.
• Book X – Orpheus and Eurydice, Cyparissus, Ganymede, Hyacinth, Pygmalion, Myrrha, Venus and Adonis, Atalanta.
• Book XI – The death of Orpheus, Midas, the foundation and destruction of Troy, Peleus and Thetis, Daedalion and Chione, the cattle of Peleus, Ceyx and Alcyone, Aesacus.
• Book XII – The expedition against Troy, Achilles and Cycnus, Caenis, the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs, Nestor and Hercules, the death of Achilles.
• Book XIII – Ajax, Ulysses, and the arms of Achilles; the fall of Troy; Hecuba, Polyxena, and Polydorus; Memnon; the pilgrimage of Aeneas; Acis and Galatea; Scylla and Glaucus.
• Book XIV – Scylla and Glaucus (cont.), the pilgrimage of Aeneas (cont.), the island of Circe, Picus and Canens, the triumph and apotheosis of Aeneas, Pomona and Vertumnus, the Messapian shepherd, legends of early Rome, the apotheosis of Romulus.
• Book XV – Numa and the foundation of Crotone, the doctrines of Pythagoras, the death of Numa, Hippolytus, Cipus, Asclepius, the apotheosis of Julius Caesar, epilogue.

Minor characters

• Rhoetus: a character mentioned in Book V. After Perseus rescues Andromeda from the sea monster, her betrothed Phineus, brother of her father, attacks Perseus, throwing a spear at him. Perseus, in turn, throws the spear back, but Phineus hides behind the altars, and the spear strikes Rhoetus.

Themes

The Metamorphoses explores many important ideas through its many stories. One main idea is change, or transformation. Ovid starts his poem by saying he wants to tell stories about people and objects changing into new forms. These changes often happen when someone is hurt, and the transformation becomes part of nature, like turning into a tree or a star.

The transformations in the stories include many different kinds, such as people turning into animals, plants, stars, or even rocks. Sometimes animals turn into people, and other times the story includes funny or surprising changes. Through these stories, Ovid plays with ideas about truth and illusion, making readers think about what is real and what is not.

Influence

Main article: Cultural influence of Metamorphoses

Ovid's Metamorphoses has had a huge impact on literature and art, especially in the West. It helped shape French, English, and Italian writing. Many famous writers, like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, used stories from the poem in their own works. For example, Shakespeare used the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, artists often painted scenes from the Metamorphoses. Famous paintings and sculptures based on the poem include works by artists like Titian and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Even today, the poem continues to inspire new books, films, and plays.

Manuscript tradition

The Metamorphoses has been very popular since it was first written around 8 CE, but no original copies from that time have survived. The oldest pieces we have are from the 9th and 10th centuries, and full copies appear from the 11th century onward.

Even though it was popular in ancient times and during the Middle Ages—with over 400 copies still around today—the poem had a tough time surviving. It made it through changes in the Roman world, but we don’t have any ancient notes or explanations about it. The oldest complete copy we have is from the 11th century.

A important person in studying these copies was a Dutch scholar from the 1600s, Nikolaes Heinsius. He looked at many copies and learned about others through letters. Today, experts continue to study the different versions of the poem to understand what the writer, Ovid, really meant. There are two main modern versions of the poem that scholars use.

In English translation

The Metamorphoses began to appear in English during the early days of printing. The first translation was made by William Caxton on April 22, 1480. He used a French version called the Ovide Moralisé and wrote it in simple prose.

Later, in 1567, Arthur Golding created a very important translation. He used a style called rhyming couplets, which would be read by famous writers like Shakespeare. Another well-known translation was done by George Sandys between 1621 and 1626, using a style called heroic couplets.

In 1717, Samuel Garth worked with many famous writers, including John Dryden and Alexander Pope, to make another translation. After that, there were fewer major translations until the later half of the 20th century, when many new versions began to appear. In 1994, a book called After Ovid: New Metamorphoses collected many modern translations inspired by the original work.

French translation

The 1557 edition

One of the most famous French translations of Ovid's Metamorphoses was published in 1557 in Lyon. It was called La Métamorphose d'Ovide figurée and was made by the publisher Jean de Tournes and the artist Bernard Salomon. This book had 178 beautiful illustrations that helped make the old stories come alive.

During the years 1540 to 1550, many publishers in Lyon were racing to bring Ovid's stories to readers. Jean de Tournes was one of them, and he released the first two books of Ovid's work in 1456. Later, in 1549, he put out a version with pictures. Other publishers, like Guillaume Roville, also created their own versions with illustrations. But the 1557 edition by Jean de Tournes is still famous today.

This edition helped change how people saw these old stories. Before the 1500s, people mostly read Ovid's work for lessons. But after this time, they began to enjoy the beauty and fun of the stories. The book was printed again in French in 1564 and 1583, and it was also published in Italian in 1559.

Some copies of the 1557 edition are kept in libraries, such as the National Library of France and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., USA. You can also see a digital copy online at Gallica.

Illustrations

The 1557 edition had 178 illustrations made by Bernard Salomon. These pictures were made to go with each part of Ovid's story. Bernard had started making pictures for the first two books back in 1549. He looked at older books with pictures to help him, but his own work was very special.

People liked these illustrations a lot. They helped make Ovid's stories popular for their beauty and fun. Experts say these pictures were very important in art history. You can still see wooden models of these pictures in a museum in Lyon.

Adaptations

The story of Metamorphoses has inspired many artists over the years. There is an animated film from 1978 called Metamorphoses made by Takashi Masunaga. In 1981, Barbara Keesey wrote a drama also titled Metamorphoses. A play named Metamorphoses was created by Mary Zimmerman in 1996. More recently, in 2014, Christophe Honoré directed a film version called Métamorphoses.