Editing Metamorphoses

{{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>

==Sources and models==
{{Quote box
|quote=Ovid's relation to the Hellenistic poets was similar to the attitude of the Hellenistic poets themselves to their predecessors: he demonstrated that he had read their versions&nbsp;... but that he could still treat the myths in his own way.
| source = — [[Karl Galinsky]]{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=2}}
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Ovid's decision to make myth the primary subject of the ''Metamorphoses'' was influenced by [[Hellenistic poetry|Alexandrian poetry]].{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=1}}  In that tradition, myth functioned as a vehicle for moral reflection or insight, yet Ovid approached it as an "object of play and artful manipulation".{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=1}} The model for a collection of metamorphosis myths was found in the [[metamorphosis poetry]] of the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic tradition]], which is first represented by [[Boios]]' ''[[Ornithogonia]]''—a now-[[Literary fragment|fragmentary]] poem of collected myths about the metamorphoses of humans into birds.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fletcher|first=Kristopher F. B.|title=Boios' ''Ornithogonia'' as Hesiodic Didactic|journal=Classical Association of the Middle West and South|year=2009|url=http://www.camws.org/meeting/2009/program/abstracts/10F3.Fletcher.pdf}}</ref>

There are three examples of ''Metamorphoses'' by later Hellenistic writers, but little is known of their contents.{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=2}} The ''[[Heteroioumena]]'' by [[Nicander|Nicander of Colophon]] is better known, and clearly an influence on the poem: 21 of the stories from this work are treated in the ''Metamorphoses''.{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=2}} However, in a way that was typical for writers of the period, Ovid diverged significantly from his models. The ''Metamorphoses'' was longer than any previous collection of metamorphosis myths (Nicander's work consisted of probably four or five books){{sfn|Galinsky|1975|pp=2–3}} and positioned itself within a historical framework.{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=3}}

Some of the ''Metamorphoses'' derives from earlier literary and poetic treatment of the same myths. This material was of varying quality and comprehensiveness; while some of it was "finely worked", in other cases Ovid may have been working from limited material.{{sfn|Anderson|1997|p=14}} In the case of an oft-used myth such as that of [[Io (mythology)|Io]] in Book I, which was the subject of literary adaptation as early as the 5th century BCE, and as recently as a generation prior to his own, Ovid reorganises and innovates existing material in order to foreground his favoured topics and to embody the key themes of the ''Metamorphoses''.{{sfn|Anderson|1997|p=19}}

==Contents==
[[File:Virgil Solis - Deification Caesar.jpg|thumb|A [[woodcut]] from [[Virgil Solis]], illustrating the [[apotheosis]] of [[Julius Caesar]], the final event of the poem (XV.745–850)]]

Scholars have found it difficult to place the ''Metamorphoses'' in a genre. The poem has been considered as an [[epic poem|epic]] or a type of epic (for example, an anti-epic or mock-epic);{{sfn|Farrell|1992|p=235}} a {{lang|de|Kollektivgedicht}} that pulls together a series of examples in miniature form, such as the [[epyllion]];{{sfn|Wheeler|2000|p=1}} a sampling of one genre after another;{{sfn|Solodow|1988|pp=17–18}} or simply a narrative that refuses categorization.{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=41}}

The poem is generally considered to meet the criteria for an epic; it is considerably long, relating over 250 narratives across fifteen books;{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=4}} it is composed in [[dactylic hexameter]], the [[Metre (poetry)|meter]] of both the ancient ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'', and the more contemporary epic ''[[Aeneid]]''; and it treats the high literary subject of myth.{{sfn|Harrison|2006|p=87}} However, the poem "handles the themes and employs the tone of virtually every species of literature",{{sfn|Solodow|1988|p=18}} ranging from epic and [[elegy]] to [[tragedy]] and [[pastoral]].{{sfn|Harrison|2006|p=88}} Commenting on the genre debate, [[Karl Galinsky]] has opined that "...&nbsp;it would be misguided to pin the label of any genre on the ''Metamorphoses''".{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=41}}

The ''Metamorphoses'' is comprehensive in its chronology, recounting the creation of the world to the death of [[Julius Caesar]], which had occurred only a year before Ovid's birth;{{sfn|Solodow|1988|pp=17–18}} it has been compared to works of [[Universal history (genre)|universal history]], which became important in the 1st century BCE.{{sfn|Solodow|1988|p=18}} In spite of its apparently unbroken chronology, scholar [[Brooks Otis]] has identified four divisions in the narrative:{{sfn|Otis|2010|p=83}}
* Book I – Book II (end, line 875): The Divine Comedy
* Book III – Book VI, 400: The Avenging Gods
* Book VI, 401 – Book XI (end, line 795): The Pathos of Love
* Book XII – Book XV (end, line 879): Rome and the Deified Ruler

Ovid works his way through his subject matter, often in an apparently arbitrary fashion, by jumping from one transformation tale to another, sometimes retelling what had come to be seen as central events in the world of [[Greek mythology]] and sometimes straying in odd directions. It begins with the ritual "invocation of the [[muse]]", and makes use of traditional [[epithet]]s and [[circumlocution]]s. But instead of following and extolling the deeds of a human [[hero]], it leaps from story to story with little connection.

The recurring theme, as with nearly all of Ovid's work, is love—be it personal love or love personified in the figure of ''Amor'' ([[Cupid]]). Indeed, the other [[Roman mythology|Roman gods]] are repeatedly perplexed, humiliated, and made ridiculous by [[Cupid|Amor]], an otherwise relatively minor god of the [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]], who is the closest thing this putative mock-epic has to a hero. [[Apollo]] comes in for particular ridicule as Ovid shows how irrational love can confound the god out of [[reason]]. The work as a whole inverts the accepted order, elevating humans and human passions while making the gods and their desires and conquests objects of low humor.

The ''Metamorphoses'' ends with an epilogue (Book XV.871–879), one of only two surviving Latin epics to do so (the other being [[Statius]]' ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'').{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=466}} The ending acts as a declaration that everything except his poetry—even Rome—must give way to change:{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xvi}}

{{poemquote|And now, my work is done, which neither [[Jove]]
Nor flame nor sword nor gnawing time can fade.
That day, which governs only my poor frame, 
May come at will to end my unfixed life,
But in my better and immortal part
I shall be borne beyond the lofty stars
And never will my name be washed away.
Where Roman power prevails, I shall be read;
And so, in fame and on through every age
(If bards foretell the truth at all), I'll live.{{sfn|Soucy|2023|p=xxx}}}}

===Books===
[[File:Pygmalion (Raoux).jpg|thumb|upright|A depiction of the story of [[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]], ''Pygmalion adoring his statue'' by [[Jean Raoux]] (1717)]]

* '''Book I''' – [[Greek mythology#Origins of the world and the gods|The Creation]], the [[Ages of Man]]kind, the [[Flood myth|flood]], [[Deucalion]] and [[Pyrrha]], [[Apollo]] and [[Daphne]], [[Io (mythology)|Io]], [[Phaethon|Phaëton]].
* '''Book II''' – Phaëton (''cont.''), [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]], the [[Lycius (son of Clinis)|Raven]] and the [[Corone (crow)|Crow]], [[Ocyrhoe]], [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] and [[Battus (mythology)|Battus]], the envy of [[Aglaurus, daughter of Cecrops|Aglauros]], [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]].
* '''Book III''' – [[Cadmus]], [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] and [[Actaeon]], [[Semele]] and the birth of [[Dionysus|Bacchus]], [[Tiresias]], [[Narcissus (mythology)|Narcissus]] and [[Echo (mythology)|Echo]], [[Pentheus]] and Bacchus.
* '''Book IV''' – The daughters of [[Minyas (mythology)|Minyas]], [[Pyramus and Thisbe]], [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], the [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sun]] in love ([[Leucothoe (daughter of Orchamus)|Leucothoe]] and [[Clytie (Oceanid)|Clytie]]), [[Salmacis]] and [[Hermaphroditus]], [[Minyades|the daughters of Minyas transformed]], [[Athamas]] and [[Ino (Greek mythology)|Ino]], the transformation of [[Cadmus]], [[Perseus]] and [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]].
* '''Book V''' – Perseus' fight in the palace of [[Cepheus, King of Aethiopia|Cepheus]], [[Minerva]] meets the [[Muse]]s on [[Mount Helicon|Helicon]], the rape of [[Proserpina]], [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]], [[Triptolemus]].
* '''Book VI''' – [[Arachne]]; [[Niobe]]; the [[Lycian peasants]]; [[Marsyas]]; [[Pelops]]; [[Tereus]], [[Procne]], and [[Philomela]]; [[Boreas (god)|Boreas]] and [[Orithyia (Athenian)|Orithyia]].
* '''Book VII''' – [[Medea]] and [[Jason]], Medea and [[Aeson]], Medea and [[Pelias]], [[Theseus]], [[Minos]], [[Aeacus]], the plague at [[Aegina]], the [[Myrmidons]], [[Cephalus (son of Deione/Deioneus)|Cephalus]] and [[Procris]].
* '''Book VIII''' – [[Scylla (daughter of Nisus)|Scylla]] and [[Minos]], the [[Minotaur]], [[Daedalus]] and [[Icarus]], [[Perdix (mythology)|Perdix]], [[Meleager]] and the [[Calydonian Boar]], [[Althaea (mythology)|Althaea]] and [[Meleager]], [[Achelous]] and the [[Nymph]]s, [[Baucis and Philemon|Philemon and Baucis]], [[Erysichthon of Thessaly|Erysichthon]] and his daughter.
* '''Book IX''' – Achelous and [[Hercules]]; Hercules, [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]], and [[Deianira]]; the death and apotheosis of Hercules; the birth of Hercules; [[Dryope (daughter of Dryops)|Dryope]]; [[Iolaus]] and the sons of [[Callirrhoe (daughter of Achelous)|Callirhoe]]; [[Byblis]]; [[Iphis#Daughter of Ligdus|Iphis]] and Ianthe.
* '''Book X''' – [[Orpheus and Eurydice]], [[Cyparissus]], [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinth]], [[Pygmalion (mythology)|Pygmalion]], [[Myrrha]], [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and [[Adonis]], [[Atalanta]].
* '''Book XI''' – The death of [[Orpheus]], [[Midas]], the foundation and destruction of [[Troy]], [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], [[Daedalion]], the cattle of Peleus, [[Ceyx]] and [[Alcyone]], [[Aesacus]].
* '''Book XII''' – The expedition against Troy, [[Achilles]] and [[Cycnus of Kolonai|Cycnus]], [[Caeneus|Caenis]], the battle of the [[Lapiths]] and [[Centaur]]s, [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] and Hercules, the death of Achilles.
* '''Book XIII''' – [[Ajax the Great|Ajax]], [[Odysseus|Ulysses]], and the arms of Achilles; the [[Trojan War#Sack of Troy|fall of Troy]]; [[Hecuba]], [[Polyxena]], and [[Polydorus of Troy|Polydorus]]; [[Memnon (mythology)|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 (mythology)|Canens]], the triumph and apotheosis of Aeneas, [[Pomona (mythology)|Pomona]] and [[Vertumnus]], the [[Messapian shepherds|Messapian shepherd]], legends of early [[Rome]], the apotheosis of [[Romulus and Remus|Romulus]].
* '''Book XV''' – [[Numa Pompilius|Numa]] and the foundation of [[Crotone]], the doctrines of [[Pythagoras]], the death of Numa, [[Hippolytus (son of Theseus)|Hippolytus]], [[Cipus]], [[Asclepius]], the apotheosis of [[Julius Caesar]], [[epilogue]].{{sfn|Melville|2008|pp=vii–viii}}

==Themes==
[[File:Piero del Pollaiolo (attr.) Apollo and Daphne.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Apollo and Daphne]]'' ({{Circa|1470–1480}}) by [[Antonio del Pollaiuolo]] depicts one tale of transformation in the ''Metamorphoses''—Apollo lusts after Daphne, but she is changed into a [[bay laurel]] and escapes him.]]

The different genres and divisions in the narrative allow the ''Metamorphoses'' to display a wide range of themes. Scholar Stephen M. Wheeler notes that "metamorphosis, mutability, love, violence, artistry, and power are just some of the unifying themes that critics have proposed over the years".{{sfn|Wheeler|1999|p=40}}

===Metamorphosis===
{{see also|Metamorphoses in Greek mythology}}
{{Centered pull quote|In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora;
| author = Ov.
| source = ''Met.'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.met1.shtml Book I], lines 1–2.
}}

[[Metamorphosis]] or transformation is a unifying theme amongst the episodes of the ''Metamorphoses''. Ovid raises its significance explicitly in the opening lines of the poem: ''In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora;'' ("I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities;").<ref>{{cite journal|last=Swanson|first=Roy Arthur|title=Ovid's Theme of Change|journal=[[The Classical Journal]]|year=1959|volume=54|issue=5|pages=201–05|jstor=3295215}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Accompanying this theme is often violence, inflicted upon a victim whose transformation becomes part of the natural landscape.<ref name="Johnston">{{cite web|last=Johnston|first=Ian|title=The Influence of Ovid's Metamorphoses|url=http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/silver/frame.cgi?ovid,influ|work=Project Silver Muse|publisher=University of Texas at Austin|access-date=15 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407101129/http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/silver/frame.cgi?ovid,influ|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> This theme amalgamates the much-explored opposition between the hunter and the hunted<ref>Segal, C. P. Landscape in ''Ovid's Metamorphoses'' (Wiesbaden, 1969) 45</ref> and the thematic tension between art and nature.{{sfn|Solodow|1988|pp=208–213}}

There is a great variety among the types of transformations that take place: from human to inanimate objects (Nileus), [[constellation]]s (Ariadne's Crown), animals (Perdix), and plants (Daphne, Baucis and Philemon); from animals (ants) and fungi (mushrooms) to human; from one sex to another (hyenas); and from one colour to another (pebbles).<ref name="Johnston VIU">{{cite web|last=Ian|first=Johnston|title=The Transformations in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''|url=http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/ovid/transformations.htm|publisher=Vancouver Island University|access-date=9 May 2013|archive-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106184207/http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/ovid/transformations.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The metamorphoses themselves are often located metatextually within the poem, through grammatical or narratorial transformations. At other times, transformations are developed into humour or absurdity, such that, slowly, "the reader realizes he is being had",{{sfn|Galinsky|1975|p=181}} or the very nature of transformation is questioned or subverted. This phenomenon is merely one aspect of Ovid's extensive use of illusion and disguise.<ref>Von Glinski, M. L. ''Simile and Identity in Ovid's Metamorphoses''. Cambridge: 2012. p. 120 ''inter alia''</ref>

==Influence==
{{main|Cultural influence of Metamorphoses}}

{{Quote box
| quote = No work from classical antiquity, either [[Greek literature|Greek]] or [[Latin literature|Roman]], has exerted such a continuing and decisive influence on [[European literature]] as Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The emergence of French, English, and Italian national literatures in the [[late Middle Ages]] simply cannot be fully understood without taking into account the effect of this extraordinary poem.&nbsp;... The only rival we have in our tradition which we can find to match the pervasiveness of the literary influence of the ''Metamorphoses'' is perhaps (and I stress perhaps) the [[Old Testament]] and the [[Complete Works of Shakespeare|works of Shakespeare]].
| source = — Ian Johnston<ref name="Johnston" />
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The ''Metamorphoses'' has exerted a considerable influence on literature and the arts, particularly of [[Western culture|the West]]; scholar A. D. Melville says that "It may be doubted whether any poem has had so great an influence on the [[Western literature|literature]] and [[Art of Europe|art]] of Western civilization as the ''Metamorphoses''."{{sfn|Melville|2008|pp=xxxvi–xxxvii}} Although a majority of its stories do not originate with Ovid himself, but with such writers as [[Hesiod]] and [[Homer]], for others the poem is their sole source.<ref name="Johnston" />

The influence of the poem on the works of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] is extensive. In ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', the story of Coronis and Phoebus Apollo (Book II 531–632) is adapted to form the basis for [[The Manciple's Tale]].{{sfn|Benson|2008|p=952}} The story of Midas (Book XI 174–193) is referred to and appears—though much altered—in [[The Wife of Bath's Tale]].{{sfn|Benson|2008|p=873}} The story of Ceyx and Alcyone (from Book XI 266-345) is adapted by Chaucer in his poem ''[[The Book of the Duchess]]'', written to commemorate the death of [[Blanche of Lancaster|Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster]] and wife of [[John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster|John of Gaunt]].<ref name="Influences">{{cite web|title=Influences |url=http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/chaucer/influences.html |work=The World of Chaucer, Medieval Books and Manuscripts |publisher=University of Glasgow |access-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601062538/http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/chaucer/influences.html |archive-date=1 June 2009 }}</ref>

The ''Metamorphoses'' was also a considerable influence on [[William Shakespeare]].{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xxxvii}} His ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' is influenced by the story of [[Pyramus and Thisbe]] (''Metamorphoses'' Book IV);<ref name="Halio 1998">{{cite book|title = Romeo and Juliet: A Guide to the Play|last = Halio|first = Jay|year = 1998|publisher = [[Greenwood Press]]|location = Westport|isbn = 978-0-313-30089-9|page = [https://archive.org/details/romeojulietguide0000hali/page/93 93]|url = https://archive.org/details/romeojulietguide0000hali/page/93}}</ref> and, in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', a band of amateur actors performs a play about Pyramus and Thisbe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Marshall|first=David|title=Exchanging Visions: Reading ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''|journal=ELH|year=1982|volume=49|issue=3|pages=543–75|jstor=2872755|doi=10.2307/2872755}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Shakespeare's early erotic poem ''[[Venus and Adonis (Shakespeare poem)|Venus and Adonis]]'' expands on the myth in Book X of the ''Metamorphoses''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Belsey|first=Catherine|author-link=Catherine Belsey|title=Love as Trompe-l'oeil: Taxonomies of Desire in ''Venus and Adonis''|journal=Shakespeare Quarterly|year=1995|volume=46|issue=3|pages=257–76|jstor=2871118|doi=10.2307/2871118}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In ''[[Titus Andronicus]]'', the story of Lavinia's rape is drawn from [[Tereus]]' rape of [[Philomela]], and the text of the ''Metamorphoses'' is used within the play to enable Titus to interpret his daughter's story.<ref name="West 1982">{{cite journal|last=West|first=Grace Starry|title=Going by the Book: Classical Allusions in Shakespeare's ''Titus Andronicus''|journal=Studies in Philology|year=1982|volume=79|issue=1|pages=62–77|jstor=4174108}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Most of Prospero's renunciative speech in Act V of ''[[The Tempest]]'' is taken word-for-word from a speech by Medea in Book VII of the ''Metamorphoses''.<ref name="Vaughan 1999">{{cite book |title = The Tempest|series = The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series|last1 = Vaughan | first1 = Virginia Mason | last2 = Vaughan | first2 = Alden T. | publisher = The Arden Shakespeare | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-1-903436-08-0|pages=26, 58–59, 66}}</ref> Among other English writers for whom the ''Metamorphoses'' was an inspiration are [[John Milton]]—who made use of it in ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', considered his ''[[Masterpiece|magnum opus]]'', and evidently knew it well{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xxxvii}}{{sfn|Melville|2008|pp=392–393}}—and [[Edmund Spenser]].<ref name="Cumming 1931">{{cite journal|last=Cumming|first=William P.|title=The Influence of Ovid's "Metamorphoses" on Spenser's "Mutabilitie" Cantos|journal=Studies in Philology|year=1931|volume=28|issue=2|pages=241–56|jstor=4172096|quote=The indebtedness to Ovid of passages and ideas in Spenser's Mutabilite cantos has been pointed out by various commentators;}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In Italy, the poem was an influence on [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] (the story of Pyramus and Thisbe appears in his poem ''L'Amorosa Fiammetta'')<ref name="Johnston" /> and [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]].<ref name="Gross 1985">{{cite journal|last=Gross|first=Kenneth|title=Infernal Metamorphoses: An Interpretation of Dante's "Counterpass"|journal=MLN|year=1985|volume=100|issue=1|pages=42–69|jstor=2905667|doi=10.2307/2905667}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="Most 2006">{{cite journal|last=Most|first=Glen W.|title=Dante's Greeks|journal=Arion|year=2006|volume=13|issue=3|pages=15–48|jstor=29737275}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

[[File:TitianDianaCallistoEdinburgh.jpg|thumb|''[[Diana and Callisto]]'' (1556–1559) by [[Titian]]]]
During the [[Renaissance]] and [[Baroque]] periods, mythological subjects were frequently depicted in art. The ''Metamorphoses'' was the greatest source of these narratives, such that the term "Ovidian" in this context is synonymous for mythological, in spite of some frequently represented myths not being found in the work.<ref name="Alpers 1971">{{cite book|last=Alpers|first=S.|title=The Decoration of the Torre della Parada ''(Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard Part ix)''|year=1971|location=London|page=151}}</ref>{{sfn|Allen|2002|p=336}} Many of the stories from the ''Metamorphoses'' have been the subject of paintings and sculptures, particularly during this period.{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xxxvii}}<ref name="NG Ovid">{{cite web|title=Who was Ovid?|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/who-was-ovid|publisher=The National Gallery|access-date=18 April 2013|archive-date=2 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233247/http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/who-was-ovid|url-status=dead}}</ref> Some of the most well-known paintings by [[Titian]] depict scenes from the poem, including ''[[Diana and Callisto]]'',<ref name="NG DandC">{{cite web|title=Diana and Callisto|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-diana-and-callisto|publisher=The National Gallery|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> ''[[Diana and Actaeon (Titian)|Diana and Actaeon]]'',<ref name="NG DandA">{{cite web|title=Diana and Actaeon|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-diana-and-actaeon|publisher=The National Gallery|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> and ''[[Death of Actaeon]]''.<ref name="NG DofA">{{cite web|title=Death of Actaeon|url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-the-death-of-actaeon|publisher=The National Gallery|access-date=18 April 2013}}</ref> These works form part of [[Venus and Adonis (Titian)|Titian's "''poesie''"]], a collection of seven paintings derived in part from the ''Metamorphoses'', inspired by ancient Greek and Roman mythologies, which were reunited in the Titian exhibition at [[National Gallery|The National Gallery]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Titian's 'poesie': The commission {{!}} Titian: Love Desire Death {{!}} National Gallery, London|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/titian-love-desire-death/titian-s-poesie-the-commission|access-date=8 February 2021|website=www.nationalgallery.org.uk}}</ref> Other famous works inspired by the ''Metamorphoses'' include [[Pieter Brueghel the Elder|Pieter Brueghel]]'s painting ''[[Landscape with the Fall of Icarus]]'' and [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]]'s sculpture ''[[Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)|Apollo and Daphne]]''.{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xxxvii}} The ''Metamorphoses'' also permeated the [[theory of art]] during the Renaissance and the [[Baroque]] style, with its idea of transformation and the relation of the myths of Pygmalion and Narcissus to the role of the artist.<ref name="Barolsky 1998">{{cite journal|last=Barolsky|first=Paul|title=As in Ovid, So in Renaissance Art|journal=Renaissance Quarterly|year=1998|volume=51|issue=2|pages=451–74|jstor=2901573|doi=10.2307/2901573|s2cid=192959612 }} {{subscription required}}</ref>

Though Ovid was popular for many centuries, interest in his work began to wane after the Renaissance, and his influence on 19th-century writers was minimal.{{sfn|Melville|2008|p=xxxvii}} Towards the end of the 20th century his work began to be appreciated once more. [[Ted Hughes]] collected together and retold twenty-four passages from the ''Metamorphoses'' in his ''[[Tales from Ovid]]'', published in 1997.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Ted|author-link=Ted Hughes|title=[[Tales from Ovid]]|year=1997|publisher=Faber and Faber|location=London|isbn=978-0-571-19103-1|edition=2nd print.}}</ref> In 1998, [[Mary Zimmerman]]'s stage adaptation ''[[Metamorphoses (play)|Metamorphoses]]'' premiered at the [[Lookingglass Theatre Company|Lookingglass Theatre]],<ref name=Lookingglass>{{cite web|title=Metamorphoses|url=https://lookingglasstheatre.org/event/metamorphoses/|publisher=Lookingglass Theatre Company|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> and the following year there was an adaptation of ''Tales from Ovid'' by the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]].<ref name="Archive Catalogue">{{cite web|title=Archive Catalogue|url=http://calm.shakespeare.org.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Performance&dsqSearch=PerfCode==%27TAF199904%27&dsqCmd=Show.tcl|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505154415/http://calm.shakespeare.org.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Performance&dsqSearch=PerfCode=='TAF199904'&dsqCmd=Show.tcl|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|publisher=Shakespeare birthplace trust|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> In the early 21st century, the poem continues to inspire and be retold through books,<ref name="Mitchell 2010">{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Adrian|title=Shapeshifters : tales from Ovid's Metamorphoses|year=2010|publisher=Frances Lincoln Children's Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-84507-536-1|others=Illustrated by Alan Lee}}</ref> films<ref name="Beck 2005">{{cite book|last=Beck|first=Jerry|title=The Animated Movie Guide|year=2005|publisher=Chicago Review Pr.|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-55652-591-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/animatedmoviegui0000beck/page/166 166]–67|url=https://archive.org/details/animatedmoviegui0000beck|url-access=registration|edition=1.}}</ref> and plays.<ref name="Nestruck 2013">{{cite news|last=Nestruck|first=J. Kelly|title=Onstage pools and lots of water: The NAC's Metamorphoses (mostly) makes a splash|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/theatre-reviews/onstage-pools-and-lots-of-water-the-nacs-metamorphoses-mostly-makes-a-splash/article8275542/|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> A series of works inspired by Ovid's book through the tragedy of Diana and Actaeon have been produced by French-based collective LFKs and his film/theatre director, writer and visual artist Jean-Michel Bruyere, including the interactive 360° audiovisual installation ''Si poteris narrare, licet'' ("if you are able to speak of it, then you may do so") in 2002, 600 shorts and "medium" film from which 22,000 sequences have been used in the 3D 360° audiovisual installation ''La Dispersion du Fils''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newmediaart.eu/str10.html|title=N E W M E D I A A R T . E U|website=www.newmediaart.eu|accessdate=18 July 2024}}</ref> from 2008 to 2016 as well as an outdoor performance, "Une Brutalité pastorale" (2000).
\

==Manuscript tradition==
[[Image:Bartolomeo di Giovanni - The Myth of Io - Walters 37421.jpg|upright=1.35|thumb|This panel by [[Bartolomeo di Giovanni]] depicts the second half of the story of [[Io (mythology)|Io]]. In the upper left, Jupiter emerges from clouds to order Mercury to rescue Io.<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher= [[The Walters Art Museum]]
 |url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/18298
 |title= The Myth of Io
 |access-date= 4 October 2012
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516084101/http://art.thewalters.org/detail/18298
 |archive-date= 16 May 2013
 |url-status= dead
 }}</ref>]]

In spite of the ''Metamorphoses''{{'}} enduring popularity from its first publication (around the time of [[Exile of Ovid|Ovid's exile]] in 8 AD) no manuscript survives from antiquity.{{sfn|Anderson|1997|p=31}} From the 9th and 10th centuries there are only fragments of the poem;{{sfn|Anderson|1997|p=31}} it is only from the 11th century onwards that complete manuscripts, of varying value, have been passed down.{{sfn|Anderson|1997|pp=31–32}}

The poem retained its popularity throughout [[late antiquity]] and the Middle Ages, and is represented by an extremely high number of surviving manuscripts (more than 400);{{sfn|Tarrant|2004|p=vi}} the earliest of these are three fragmentary copies containing portions of Books 1–3, dating to the 9th century.<ref>Reynolds, L. D., ed., ''Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics'', 277.</ref>

But the poem's immense popularity in antiquity and the Middle Ages belies the struggle for survival it faced in late antiquity. The ''Metamorphoses'' was preserved through the Roman period of [[Christianization]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Though the ''Metamorphoses'' did not suffer the ignominious fate of the ''Medea'', no ancient [[scholia]] on the poem survive (although they did exist in antiquity<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/310573|author=[[Brooks Otis]]|title=The Argumenta of the So-Called Lactantius|journal=[[Harvard Studies in Classical Philology]]|year=1936|volume=47|pages=131–163|jstor=310573}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2023}}), and the earliest complete manuscript is very late, dating from the 11th century.

Influential in the course of the poem's manuscript tradition is the 17th-century Dutch scholar [[Nikolaes Heinsius the Elder|Nikolaes Heinsius]].{{sfn|Tarrant|1982|p=343}} During the years 1640–52, Heinsius collated more than a hundred manuscripts and was informed of many others through correspondence.{{sfn|Tarrant|1982|p=343}}

Collaborative editorial effort has been investigating the various manuscripts of the ''Metamorphoses'', some forty-five complete texts or substantial fragments,{{sfn|Tarrant|2004|loc=Praefatio}} all deriving from a [[Gauls|Gallic]] archetype.<ref name="Gallic">{{cite journal | doi=10.2307/310594 | author=Richard Treat Bruere| title=The Manuscript Tradition of Ovid's Metamorphoses| journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology| year=1939| volume=50| pages=95–122 | jstor=310594}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2023}} The result of several centuries of critical reading is that the poet's meaning is firmly established on the basis of the manuscript tradition or restored by conjecture where the tradition is deficient. There are two modern critical editions: William S. Anderson's, first published in 1977 in the Teubner series, and [[R. J. Tarrant]]'s, published in 2004 by the Oxford Clarendon Press.

==In English translation==
[[File:Caxton Ovid, 1480.jpg|thumb|An illumination of the story of [[Pyramus and Thisbe]] from a manuscript of [[William Caxton]]'s translation of the ''Metamorphoses'' (1480)—the first in the English language]]
The full appearance of the ''Metamorphoses'' in English translation (sections had appeared in the works of Chaucer and [[John Gower|Gower]]){{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=249}} coincides with the beginning of printing, and traces a path through the history of publishing.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=249}}{{sfn|Gillespie|Cummings|2004|p=207}} [[William Caxton]] produced the first translation of the text on 22 April 1480;<ref name="Blake 1990">{{cite book|last=Blake|first=N. F.| author-link = Norman Blake (academic)|title=William Caxton and English literary culture |year=1990 |publisher=Hambledon |location=London |isbn=978-1-85285-051-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/williamcaxtoneng0000blak/page/298 298] |url=https://archive.org/details/williamcaxtoneng0000blak|url-access=registration}}</ref> set in prose, it is a literal rendering of a French translation known as the ''Ovide Moralisé''.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|pp=250–251}}

In 1567, [[Arthur Golding]] published a translation of the poem that would become highly influential, the version read by Shakespeare and Spenser.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=252}} It was written in [[rhyming couplet]]s of [[iambic heptameter]]. The next significant translation was by [[George Sandys]], produced from 1621 to 1626,{{sfn|Gillespie|Cummings|2004|pp=208–209}} which set the poem in [[heroic couplet]]s, a metre that would subsequently become dominant in vernacular English epic and in English translations.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=254}}

In 1717, a translation appeared from [[Samuel Garth]] bringing together work "by the most eminent hands":{{sfn|Gillespie|Cummings|2004|p=212}} primarily [[John Dryden]], but several stories by [[Joseph Addison]], one by [[Alexander Pope]],{{Sfn|Soucy|2023|p=xxx}} and contributions from [[Nahum Tate|Tate]], [[John Gay|Gay]], [[William Congreve|Congreve]], and [[Nicholas Rowe (writer)|Rowe]], as well as those of eleven others including Garth himself.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=256}} Translation of the ''Metamorphoses'' after this period was comparatively limited in its achievement; the Garth volume continued to be printed into the 1800s, and had "no real rivals throughout the nineteenth century".{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=258}}

Around the later half of the 20th century a greater number of translations appeared{{sfn|Gillespie|Cummings|2004|pp=216–218}} as literary translation underwent a revival.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|p=258}} This trend has continued into the twenty-first century.{{sfn|Gillespie|Cummings|2004|p=218}} In 1994, a collection of translations and responses to the poem, entitled ''[[After Ovid: New Metamorphoses]]'', was produced by numerous contributors in emulation of the process of the Garth volume.{{sfn|Lyne|2006|pp=259–260}}

== French translation ==

=== The 1557 edition ===
One of the most famous translations of the ''Metamorphoses'' published in France dates back to 1557. Published under the title ''[[La Métamorphose d'Ovide figurée]]'' (The Illustrated Metamorphosis of Ovid) by the [[Maison Tournes]] (1542–1567) in [[Lyon]], it is the result of a collaboration between the publisher [[Jean de Tournes]] and [[Bernard Salomon]], an important 16th-century engraver. The publication is edited [[octavo]] format and presents Ovid's texts accompanied by 178 engraved illustrations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Sharratt |first1=Peter |title=Bernard Salomon: illustrateur lyonnais |last2=Salomon |first2=Bernard |date=2005 |publisher=Droz |isbn=978-2-600-01000-9 |series=Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance |location=Genève}}</ref>

In the years 1540–1550, the spread of contemporary translations led to a true race to publish the ancient poet's texts among the city of Lyon's various publishers. Therefore, Jean de Tournes faced fierce competition, which also published new editions of the ''Metamorphoses''. He published the first two books of Ovid in 1456, a version that was followed by an illustrated reprint in 1549. His main competitor was [[Guillaume Rouillé|Guillaume Roville]], who published the texts illustrated by [[Pierre Eskrich]] in 1550 and again in 1551. In 1553, Roville published the first three books with a translation by [[Barthélemy Aneau|Barthélémy Aneau]], which followed the translation of the first two books by [[Clément Marot]]. However, the 1557 version published by Maison Tournes remains the version that enjoys the greatest fortune, as testified by historiographical mentions.

The 16th-century editions of the ''Metamorphoses'' constitute a radical change in the way myths are perceived. In previous centuries, the verses of the ancient poet had been read above all in function of their moralising impact, whereas from the 16th century onwards their aesthetic and hedonistic quality was exalted. The literary context of the time, marked by the birth of the [[La Pléiade|Pléiade]], is indicative of this taste for the beauty of poetry.

"The disappearance of the {{lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} and the {{lang|la|[[Remedia Amoris|Remedia amoris]]}} marks the end of a Gothic era in Ovidian publishing, just as the publication in 1557 of the Métamorphose figurée marks the appropriation by the Renaissance of a work that is as much in line with its tastes as the moralizing of the Metamorphoses had been with the aspirations of the 14th and 15th centuries".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ovide en France dans la Renaissance |date=1981 |publisher=Publ. de l'Univ. Toulouse-Le Mirail |isbn=978-2-85816-011-2 |editor-last=Lamarque |editor-first=Henri |series=Cahiers de l'Europe classique et néo-latine |location=Toulouse}}</ref>

The work was republished in French in 1564 and 1583, although it had already been published in Italian by Gabriel Simeoni in 1559 with some additional engravings.

Some copies from 1557 are today held in public collections, namely the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|National Library of France]], the Municipal Library of Lyon, the Brandeis University Library in Waltham (MA) and the [[Library of Congress]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C.]], USA. A digital copy is available on [[Gallica]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71516d|title=La métamorphose d'Ovide figurée|first=Ovide (0043 av J.-C.-0017) Auteur du|last=texte|date=18 July 1557|accessdate=18 July 2024|via=gallica.bnf.fr}}</ref>  It would also appear that a copy has been auctioned at [[Sotheby's]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sothebys.com/buy/ccde4c72-8b60-4681-9e69-c80fefa7f480/lots/bde62f01-88fb-4886-89c0-af8f6d63f701|title=La Metamorphose d'Ovide... Lyon, 1557. Petit in-8. Rel. de Allô. Ed. originale. 178 bois de B. Salomon. &#124; Livres et Manuscrits du XVe siècle à nos jours, dont Cinéma, Art contemporain et Bande dessinée &#124; 2023|website=Sotheby's|accessdate=18 July 2024}}</ref>

==== Illustrations ====
The 1557 edition published by [[Jean de Tournes]] features 178 engravings by [[Bernard Salomon]] accompanying Ovid's text.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lejeune |first=Maud |title=Gravures et dessins de Bernard Salomon, peintre à Lyon au XVIe siècle |date=2021 |publisher=Droz |isbn=978-2-600-06277-0 |series=Cahiers d'humanisme et Renaissance |location=Genève}}</ref> The format is emblematic of the collaboration between Tournes and Salomon, which has existed since their association in the mid-1540s: the pages are developed centred around a title, an engraving with an octosyllabic stanza and a neat border.

The 178 engravings were not made all at once for the full text, but originate from a reissue of the first two books in 1549. In 1546, Jean de Tournes published a first, non-illustrated version of the first two books of the ''Metamorphoses'', for which Bernard Salomon prepared twenty-two initial engravings. Salomon examined several earlier illustrated editions of the ''Metamorphoses'' before working on his engravings, which nevertheless display a remarkable originality.

In the book ''Bernard Salomon. Illustrateur lyonnais'', [[Peter Sharratt]] states that the plates in this edition, along with that of the ''Bible'' illustrated by the painter in 1557, are Salomon's works that most emphasise the illustrative process based on "a mixture of memories".<ref name=":0" /> Among the earlier editions consulted by Salomon, one in particular stands out: ''Metamorphoseos Vulgare'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71497z?rk=21459;2|title=Metamorphoseos vulgare |website=gallica.bnf.fr|date=1497 }}</ref> published in Venice in 1497. The latter shows similarities in the composition of some episodes, such as the 'Creation of the World' and '[[Apollo and Daphne]]'. In drawing his figures, Salomon also used Bellifontaine's canon, which testifies to his early years as a painter. Among other works, he created some frescoes in Lyon, for which he drew inspiration from his recent work in [[Palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]].

Better known in his lifetime for his work as a painter, Salomon's work in ''La Métamorphose d'Ovide figurée'' nevertheless left a mark on his contemporaries. These illustrations contributed to the celebration of the Ovidian texts in their hedonistic dimension. In this respect, [[Erwin Panofsky|Panofsky]] speaks of "extraordinarily influential woodcuts"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Panofsky |first=Erwin |title=Problems in Titian mostly iconographic |date=1969 |publisher=Phaidon [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-7148-1325-7 |series=The Wrightsman lectures |location=London}}</ref> and the American art historian Rensselaer W. Lee describes the work as "a major event in the history of art".<ref name=":0" />

In the [[Musée des Beaux-arts et des fabrics]] in Lyon, it is possible to observe wooden panels reproducing the model of Salomon's engravings for Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' of 1557.

==Adaptations==
* The animated [[Metamorphoses (1978 film)|''Metamorphoses'' (1978 film)]] by writer-director Takashi Masunaga
* The 1981 drama ''Metamorphoses'' by author Barbara Keesey<ref>{{cite news |last1=Attanasio |first1=Paul |title=Hit or myth |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1981-09-29_10_39/page/n76/mode/1up |access-date=19 May 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=29 September 1981}}</ref>
* [[Metamorphoses (play)|''Metamorphoses'' (play)]] (1996) by Mary Zimmerman
* [[Métamorphoses (2014 film)|''Métamorphoses'' (2014 film)]], directed by Christophe Honoré

==See also==
* [[Isis (Lully)|''Isis'' (Lully)]], a French opera based on the poem
* [[List of Metamorphoses characters|List of ''Metamorphoses'' characters]]
* [[Tragedy in Ovid's Metamorphoses|Tragedy in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'']]
{{Clear}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

===References===

====Modern translations====
*{{cite book|author=Ovid|title=Metamorphoses|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-953737-2|translator-first=A. D. |translator-last=Melville|others=Introduction and notes by [[Edward John Kenney]]|ref={{harvid|Melville|2008}}}}
* {{Cite book |author=Ovid |date=2023 |title=Ovid's Metamorphoses: A New Translation |translator-first=C. Luke |translator-last=Soucy |location=Oakland |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-5203-9485-8 |ref={{harvid|Soucy|2023}}}}

====Secondary sources====
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite book|last=Allen|first=Christopher|date=2002 |author-link=Christopher Allen (critic)|title=The Cambridge Companion to Ovid|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/CCOL0521772818.022|isbn=978-0-521-77528-1|editor=[[Philip Hardie]]|chapter=Ovid and art|pages=336–367}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Anderson|editor-first=William S.|title=Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 1–5|year=1997|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=978-0-8061-2894-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t12AuG0q144C&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Benson|editor-first=Larry D.|editor-link=Larry Benson|title=The Riverside Chaucer|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-955209-2|edition=3rd}}
* {{cite journal|last=Farrell|first=Joseph|title=Dialogue of Genres in Ovid's "Lovesong of Polyphemus" (''Metamorphoses'' 13.719–897)|journal=[[American Journal of Philology]]|year=1992|volume=113|issue=2|pages=235–268|jstor=295559|doi=10.2307/295559|url=https://repository.upenn.edu/classics_papers/120}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Galinsky|first=Karl|author-link=Karl Galinsky|title=Ovid's Metamorphoses: an introduction to the basic aspects|year=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-02848-7|url=https://archive.org/details/ovidsmetamorphos00gali|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Gillespie|first1=Stuart|last2=Cummings|first2=Robert|title=A Bibliography of Ovidian Translations and Imitations in English|journal=[[Translation and Literature]]|year=2004|volume=13|issue=2|pages=207–218|jstor=40339982|doi=10.3366/tal.2004.13.2.207}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Harrison (classicist)|title=The Cambridge Companion to Ovid|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-511-99896-6|editor=[[Philip Hardie]]|chapter=Ovid and genre: evolutions of an elegist}}
* {{cite book|last=Lyne|first=Raphael|title=The Cambridge Companion to Ovid|year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-511-99896-6|editor=[[Philip Hardie]]|chapter=Ovid in English translation}}
* {{cite book|last=Otis|first=Brooks|author-link=Brooks Otis|title=Ovid as an Epic Poet|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-14317-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6or5xZ_wl-YC&pg=PP1|edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book|last=Solodow|first=Joseph B.|title=The World of Ovid's Metamorphoses|year=1988|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill|isbn=978-0-8078-1771-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0vdulnvcvoC&q=sources+for+ovid%27s+metamorphoses&pg=PR9}}
* {{cite journal|last=Tarrant|first=R. J.|author-link=R. J. Tarrant|title=Review Article: Editing Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'': Problems and Possibilities|journal=[[Classical Philology (journal)|Classical Philology]]|year=1982|volume=77|issue=4|pages=342–360|jstor=269419|doi=10.1086/366734|s2cid=162744932}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Tarrant|first=R. J.|year=2004|title=P. Ouidi Nasonis Metamorphoses|series=Oxford Classical Texts|location=Oxford|publisher=Clarendon Press}}
* {{cite book|last=Wheeler|first=Stephen M.|title=A Discourse of Wonders: Audience and Performance in Ovid's Metamorphoses|year=1999|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-8122-3475-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WyOcvs7HQXcC&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book|last=Wheeler|first=Stephen M.|title=Narrative dynamics in Ovid's Metamorphoses|year=2000|publisher=Narr|location=Tübingen|isbn=978-3-8233-4879-5}}
{{div col end}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box|onlinebooks=yes}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Anderson|editor-first=William S.|title=Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 6–10|year=1972|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-1456-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RUhlNVR758C&pg=PP1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Behm |first1=Torben |title=Städte in Ovids Metamorphosen: Darstellung und Funktion einer literarischen Landschaft |date=2022 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |location=Göttingen |isbn=9783525311394}}
*{{cite journal|last=Elliot|first=Alison Goddard|title=Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'': A Bibliography 1968–1978|journal=[[Classical World (journal)|Classical World]]|year=1980|volume=73|issue=7|pages=385–412|jstor=4349232|doi=10.2307/4349232|ref=none}} {{subscription required}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Hollis|editor-first=A. S.|title=Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book VIII|year=1970|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-814460-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmnHym1SlsEC&pg=PP1|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Martelli |editor1-first=Francesca |editor2-last=Sissa |editor2-first=Giulia |editor2-link=Giulia Sissa |title=Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Environmental Imagination |date=2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |isbn=9781350268944}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Martindale|editor-first=Charles|title=Ovid Renewed: Ovidian Influences on Literature and Art from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century|year=1988|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-39745-2|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Sharrock |editor1-first=Alison |editor2-last=Möller |editor2-first=Daniel |editor3-last=Malm |editor3-first=Mats |title=Metamorphic Readings: Transformation, Language, and Gender in the Interpretation of Ovid's Metamorphoses |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780192609595}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}

===Latin versions===
{{wikisourcelang|la|Metamorphoses (Ovidius)|''Metamorphoses''}}
* [http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/ovidillust.html Ovid Illustrated: The Renaissance Reception of Ovid in Image and Text] – An elaborate environment allowing simultaneous access to Latin text, English translations, commentary from multiple sources along with woodcut illustrations by [[Virgil Solis]].
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Ov.+Met.+1 ''Metamorphoses'' in Latin edition and English translations] from [[Perseus Project|Perseus]] – Hyperlinked commentary, mythological, and grammatical references)
* [http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/index.html University of Virginia: ''Metamorphoses''] – Contains several versions of the Latin text and tools for a side-by-side comparison.
* [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid.html The Latin Library: P. Ovidi Nasonis Opera] – Contains the Latin version in several separate parts.
* [https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/specialcollectionsclassics/ovid List of 16th-century printed editions]

===English translations===
{{wikisource|Metamorphoses|''Metamorphoses''}}
* [https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/ovid/metamorphoses/john-dryden_joseph-addison_laurence-eusden_arthur-maynwaring_samuel-croxall_nahum-tate_william-stonestreet_thomas-vernon_john-gay_alexander-pope_stephen-harvey_william-congreve_et-al Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''] trans. by Sir [[Samuel Garth]], [[John Dryden]] et al., 1717.
* [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/sandys/contents.htm Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''] trans. by [[George Sandys]], 1632.
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.02.0028 Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''] trans. by Brookes More, 1922, revised edition 1978, with commentary by [[Wilmon Brewer]]. {{oclc|715284718}}.

===Analysis===
* [http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/ovid The Ovid Project: Metamorphising the ''Metamorphoses''] – Illustrations by Johann Whilhelm Baur (1600–1640) and anonymous illustrations from George Sandys's edition of 1640.
* [http://www.tonykline.co.uk/Browsepages/Latin/AHoneycombForAphrodite.htm ''A Honeycomb for Aphrodite''] by A. S. Kline.

===Audio===
* {{librivox book | title=Metamorphoses | author=Publius (Ovid) Ovidius Naso}}
* [https://archive.org/details/OvidMetamorphoses08-2008 Ovid ~ ''Metamorphoses'' ~ 08-2008] – Selections from ''Metamorphoses'', read in Latin and English by Rafi Metz. Approximately 4½ hours.

===Images===
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4524/ "Neapolitan Ovid"] – An illustrated manuscript from 1000–1200 AD, hosted by the [[World Digital Library]].

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