However, despite the initial reservations of our students, many of them will have been practising the skill of composition since they began their Latin careers: as a compound language, the years of reproducing their fundamental accidence and syntax allow them an immediate entry into this facet of A Level. At first glance, this makes little sense: Ovid’s verse is fairly limited in terms of syntax (and certainly in comparison to Livy), while the prospect of translating Latin into English fills many with dread. Even in departments that prepare their pupils for the rigours of examined prose composition at A Level, translating Ovid will be the hardest element of the course. Prevented from returning to his beloved Rome, but still continuing to write from an alien land, Ovid outlived Augustus, and died at Tomis in 17AD.For many students, tackling verse unseens will be their Everest. In his letters from exile he claims his punishment was for a poem, probably the Art of Love, and an error. Ovid was banished in 8AD, to Tomis (now Constanta, in Romania) on the Black Sea coast. Involved on the fringes of power and politics, it seems that Ovid saw but was not directly implicated in some event that antagonised the Emperor. Ovid made amends, to a degree, in the Metamorphoses, where Augustus and Livia are echoed in Jupiter and Juno, and marriage is celebrated in key moments of the text. Intended for the law he instead took up poetry, writing the Amores, and the Art of Love (Ars Amatoria), works which caused offence in some quarters, including amongst the ruling dynasty. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) was born in Sulmo, Italy in 43BC. Ovid was aware of the scale and beauty of his achievement, and himself ended the work with a promise of his own literary immortality. ![]() The Metamorphoses are an ideal resource for those wishing to enter the world of the Greek myths, as well as the refined atmosphere of Augustan Rome. Dante, and Shakespeare, in particular, echo sentiments and imagery in the Metamorphoses. The role of women in the myths seems particularly important to Ovid, and this aspect of his work, his interest in the female element, is reflected elsewhere in his poetry, and strongly influenced European culture. Each tale involves a transformation of some kind, and the whole collection provided a potent source of motifs and images for later art, especially the paintings, sculpture, and verse of the Renaissance. ![]() ![]() His charming and graceful versions, full of life and interest, express his humanist approach, his feeling for pathos, and his endless curiosity and delight in human affairs. In the Metamorphoses Ovid retells stories from the Greek myths, arranging them in roughly chronological order, from the origins of the world to his own times. Each Book is arranged in paragraphs, with each paragraph headed by the corresponding line reference in the Latin text. The Text is fully hyper-linked to the Mythological index and vice versa. With illustrations by Hendrik Goltzius (The Netherlands, 1558-1617) courtesy of LACMA and the Rijksmuseum.īook I (Chaos, Four Ages, Flood, Daphne, Io, Syrinx, Phaethon)īook II (Phaethon’s fall, Callisto, Coronis, Aglauros, Europa)īook III (Cadmus, Actaeon, Semele, Tiresias, Narcissus, Pentheus)īook IV (Pyramus, Leucothoe, Salmacis, Ino, Cadmus, Perseus)īook V (Perseus, Calliope, Proserpine, Arethusa, The Pierides)īook VI (Arachne, Niobe, Marsyas, Procne, Philomela, Boreas)īook VII (Jason, Medea, Minos, The Plague, Myrmidons, Procris)īook VIII (Scylla, Daedalus, Icarus, Meleager, Philemon and Baucis)īook IX (Hercules, Alcmene, Iole, Galanthis, Dryope,Byblis, Iphis)īook X (Orpheus, Pygmalion, Myrrha, Venus and Adonis, Atalanta)īook XI (Death of Orpheus, Midas, Peleus, Ceyx, Alcyone, Aesacus)īook XII (Rumour, Cycnus, Caeneus, Lapiths and Centaurs, Achilles)īook XIII (Ajax, Ulysses, Polyxena, Hecuba, Memnon, Galatea, Glaucus)īook XIV (Scylla, Sibyl, Polyphemus, Circe, Picus, Pomona, Romulus)īook XV (Pythagoras, Hippolytus, Cipus, Aesculapius, The Caesars) A Complete English Translation and Mythological Index
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