Metamorphoses

by Ovid

Metamorphoses by Ovid, presented in this Penguin Classics hardcover edition, is a foundational work of Western literature. This epic poem is a brilliant collection of myths that explore themes of transformation, love, power, and fate. Through over 250 stories spanning gods, mortals, and mythical creatures, Ovid tells of dramatic and often tragic transformations, such as Daphne turning into a laurel tree or Narcissus becoming entranced by his own reflection. The narrative style combines wit, wisdom, and poetic elegance, making it a timeless exploration of the human experience. This deluxe edition brings Ovid’s masterpiece to life for contemporary readers, preserving the richness of the original Latin text alongside a modern translation.

Paperback

Published August 1, 2004

About the author

Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horatius, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. Although Ovid enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, the emperor Augustus exiled him to Tomis, the capital of the newly-organised province of Moesia, on the Black Sea, where he remained for the last nine or ten years of his life. Ovid himself attributed his banishment to a "poem and a mistake", but his reluctance to disclose specifics has resulted in much speculation among scholars.
Ovid is most famous for the Metamorphoses, a continuous mythological narrative in fifteen books written in dactylic hexameters. He is also known for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology today.