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 his most important work. 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.

The Metamorphoses has influenced 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. The stories from the Metamorphoses are still told today, 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 helped share important lessons. Ovid also read older poems about shape changes, like Boios' Ornithogonia, a poem about people turning into birds.

Ovid took stories from writers such as Nicander of Colophon, but he told them in his own way. His poem was longer and told these stories as part of a big history of the world. Ovid used older stories, such as the tale of Io, and added new details to make the myths 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, bringing 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. Perseus throws the spear back, but Phineus hides, and the spear strikes Rhoetus.

Themes

The Metamorphoses talks about many ideas through its stories. One big idea is change, or turning into something new. Ovid starts by saying he wants to tell stories about people and things changing into new shapes. These changes often happen when someone is hurt, and the change becomes part of nature, like becoming a tree or a star.

The stories have many kinds of changes, such as people turning into animals, plants, stars, or rocks. Sometimes animals turn into people, and other times the stories have funny or surprising changes. Through these tales, Ovid makes readers think about what is real and what is not.

Influence

Main article: Cultural influence of Metamorphoses

Ovid's Metamorphoses has greatly influenced literature and art, especially in Western cultures. It helped shape writing in France, England, and Italy. Famous writers, like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, used stories from the poem in their own work. For example, Shakespeare used the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, many artists 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 still inspires new books, films, and plays.

Manuscript tradition

The Metamorphoses has been very popular since it was 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.

An 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 started to appear in English when printing was young. The first translation was done by William Caxton on April 22, 1480. He used a French version called the Ovide Moralisé and wrote it in simple words.

Later, in 1567, Arthur Golding made a very important translation. He used a style called rhyming couplets. Famous writers like Shakespeare read his work. 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 famous writers, including John Dryden and Alexander Pope, to make another translation. After that, there were fewer big translations until the later half of the 20th century, when many new versions started 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 bring the old stories to life.

During the years 1540 to 1550, many publishers in Lyon were working hard to share Ovid's stories with 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 made a version with pictures. Other publishers, like Guillaume Roville, also made 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 match 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. In 1978, Takashi Masunaga made an animated film called Metamorphoses. In 1981, Barbara Keesey wrote a drama with the same name. In 1996, Mary Zimmerman created a play named Metamorphoses. In 2014, Christophe Honoré directed a film version called Métamorphoses.