Editing Metamorphoses (section)

{{short description|Influential mythological narrative poem by Roman poet Ovid}}
{{Italic title}}
{{About|the poem by Ovid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox poem
| name              = ''Metamorphoses''
| image             = Ovidius Naso - Metamorphoses, del MCCCCLXXXXVII Adi X del mese di aprile - 1583162 Carta a1r.jpeg
| image_size        = <!-- custom size for image (defaults to 220px)   -->
| caption           = Page from the edition of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' published by [[Lucantonio Giunti]] in Venice, 1497
| author            = [[Ovid]]
| original_title    = ''Metamorphoses''
| translator        = <!-- Translator(s), if original not in English   -->
| first             = 8 CE
| language          = [[Latin]]
| genre             = [[Narrative poetry]], [[epic poetry|epic]], [[elegy]], [[tragedy]], [[pastoral]] (see [[#Contents|Contents]])
|form                = <!-- Form (i.e. Sonnet, Quatrain, Ode...etc)     -->
|meter               = [[Dactylic hexameter]]
|rhyme               = <!-- Rhyme scheme: (i.e. ABBA CDDC EFFE GG)      -->
|publisher           = <!-- Publisher of main publication (prefer 1st edition)                        -->
| publication_date  = 1471
| publication_date_en = {{start date and age|1480}}
|media_type          =[[Incunable]]
|lines               = 11,995
|pages               = <!-- Pages (prefer 1st edition)                  -->
|size_weight         = <!-- Size and Weight                             -->
|isbn                = <!-- [[International Standard Book Number|ISBN]] -->
|oclc                = <!-- [[OCLC]]                                    -->
|preceded_by         = 
|followed_by         = <!-- Followed by title of subsequent poem in series          -->
|wikisource          = Metamorphoses

}}
[[File:Hayden White 11.jpg|thumb|Title page of 1556 edition published by Joannes Gryphius (decorative border added subsequently). Hayden White Rare Book Collection, University of California, Santa Cruz.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Hayden White Rare Book Collection|url=http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits|publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz|access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref>]]

The '''''Metamorphoses''''' ({{langx|la|Metamorphōsēs}}, {{etymology|grc|''μεταμορφώσεις'' (metamorphṓseis)}}, {{lit|Transformations}}) is a [[Latin]] [[Narrative poetry|narrative poem]] from 8 [[Common Era|CE]] by the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet [[Ovid]]. It is considered his ''[[Masterpiece|magnum opus]]''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its [[Creation myth|creation]] to the deification of [[Julius Caesar]] in a mythico-historical framework comprising over 250 myths, 15 books, and 11,995 lines.

Although it meets some of the criteria for an [[epic poem|epic]], the poem defies simple genre classification because of its varying themes and tones. Ovid took inspiration from the genre of metamorphosis poetry. Although some of the ''Metamorphoses'' derives from earlier treatment of the same myths, Ovid diverged significantly from all of his models.

The ''Metamorphoses'' is one of the most influential works in [[Western culture]]. It has inspired such authors as [[Dante Alighieri]], [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], and [[William Shakespeare]]. Numerous episodes from the poem have been depicted in works of sculpture, painting, and music, especially during the [[Renaissance]]. There was a resurgence of attention to Ovid's work near the end of the 20th century. The ''Metamorphoses'' continues to inspire and be retold through various media. Numerous English translations of the work have been made, the first by [[William Caxton]] in 1480.<ref>More, Brookes. Commentary by [[Wilmon Brewer]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uL0mAQAAIAAJ ''Ovid's Metamorphoses (Translation)''], pp. 353–86, Marshall Jones Company, Francestown, New Hampshire, revised edition, 1978. {{ISBN|978-0-8338-0184-5}}, {{LCCN|77020716}}.</ref>