Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid

by Simon Reade (Adapted by), Tim Supple (Adapted by), Ted Hughes

An adaptation of Ted Hughes's Tales from Ovid for the stage. Tim Supple is Artistic Director of the Young Vic. He has already adapted Grimm and Rushdie, and worked with Hughes on Spring Awakening and Blood Wedding.

Genres: Poetry, Theatre, Classics, 20th Century, Retellings, Plays, Mythology

128 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2000

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting selection with a clear intent to arouse awe from the readers, while making them feel relieved to not have lived during antiquity.

[leni swagger · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am the tomb of my boy”

[kenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly brutal?? still not a big fan of ted hughes but this translation was admittedly great imo. ‘Arachne & Minerva’ stood out to me, alongside ‘Echo & Narcissus’. loved piecing together these works with my previous (although limited) knowledge of romanised & greek myth; makes for a very interestingly linked narrative. in the intro. the phrase ‘current of human passion’ struck out to me & i think this resonates.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read (an afternoon). This was more accessible than I expected. Some of the language is absolutely beautiful as you'd expect from Hughes, and although I didn't realise it was an adaptation for the stage until I brought it home, and that would have put me off trying it, I found the format helped bring it to life for me. An enjoyable reminder of these timeless stories.

[Clarence]

Vivid and powerful. Great poetry.

"You forget the hard face of the future
With its hungry mouth and its battle cry
That waits behind the time of plenty
Hungry for all you have,
And that massacres for amusement, for thrills.
You forget the strangers that are not friendly.
They will lift off your roofs and remove your walls like driftwood
And take all you have,
Leaving you hugging the burnt earth."

Bacchus and Pentheus

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great stage version of Ovid derived from Ted Hughes great translation.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten poems from Ted Hughes's Tales of Ovid are adapted for the stage by Tim Supple and Simon Reade. Wonderful.

[Jaimie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In typical book-obsessed fashion, I attempted to read a translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses to work towards completing the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" list. The list iteself is obviously complete folly in the first place, but this instance was an early example of how carefully one must choose their translations and how much I generally dislike ridiculously long and drawn-out poetry. Clearly my OCD and stubbornness were still getting the best of me. I very much wish that someone had suggested at the time that I source Ted Hughes' translations, because having read and enjoyed much of his poetry would have been a good indicator of a translator who could handle the scholarly art of translation from Latin but could also treat Ovid's poetry with proper license (or abandonment, as the case may be). I found this slim volume, promising "selections" only, from the semi-annual fundraising bookstall for the symphony and figured that I would pick it up as an experiment. Would Hughes make Ovid readbale and enjoyable - who knows. Ironically, the book isn't even strictly a selection of Hughes' translations of Metamorphoses, but is a further adaptation of the stories for the stage by Simon Reade and Tim Supple! Surprise content aside, I very much enjoyed the collection of stories that they wove together as a performance. The language of the play is decidedly Hughes-esque and retains the feeling and tone of the classical-era drama (which I can't believe I remember from University year 1 classes). I'm not sure how close to Ovid the second-gen interpretation actually gets, but it's definitely a fun interpretation that explores a good (yet random) selection of classical mythology. If anything, I would have liked to see how they treated even more of the stories, since many of my favourite gods and goddesses (Artemis/Diana, Neptune, etc) didn't quite make the cut. Then again, many of the stories are so familiar that it's far more fun for the playwrites (and their audiences) to explore the lesser-known tales that appeal more to adults.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hughes’s translation of Ovid’s original Latin, brings to life the century old stories in a formidable and engaging light. Thoroughly enjoyable and raises interesting questions about the eligibility of translation as an art form/ poetic skill.

[Trijntje Van Doorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Als je nog metamorfosen wilt lezen, maar liever het poëtische wijze wilt lezen. Ted dicht de verhalen op zijn een mooie manier, maar blijft tegelijkertijd zich vasthouden aan wat Ovidius heeft geschreven. Prachtig!

[Verity · Rating 4 out of 5]

poor itys

[Freddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a student of English Renaissance lit and a reader of Dante, I've tried to read The Metamorphoses for years, but never really got into it. This is a dramatic adaptation from Ted Hughes's poem Tales from Ovid (which I didn't know existed, so now I want to read that). Very vivid and clear entry into the stories. This play reprints Hughes's intro from the poem itself, which contains some incisive comments about Ovid, namely this bit: "Above all Ovid was interested in passion. Or rather, in what passion feels like to the one possessed by it. Not just ordinary passion either, but human passion in extremis-- passion where it combusts or levitates, or mutates into an experience of the supernatural'. And yes, the creepiness of Greek myth comes through.