divinities. Jupiter’s other reason for causing the flood is his desire Incense is more important to them than compassion. the second arrow makes the object of his love, Daphne, flee. Ovid - The Metamorphoses: a new complete downloadable English translation with comprehensive index, and other poetry translations including Baudelaire, Chinese, European . interprets this advice as sacrilegious. The gods are as immoral as they are irrational. Translated by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al : Table of Contents Book the First : The Creation of the World Of bodies chang'd to various forms, I sing: Ye Gods, from whom these miracles did spring, Inspire my numbers with coelestial heat; Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his Ars Amatoria, and was banished because of this work and some other reason unknown to us, and dwelt in the cold and primitive town of Tomis on the Black Sea. He rapes her. was created to rule the world. But this Metamorphoses By Ovid Written 1 A.C.E. The second book is nearly 600 lines long, a single pleading elegy written in the poet's own defense, addressed to Emperor Augustus. continues and we read about the brutal behavior of the gods—Apollo’s He asks them to inspire his work, which opens with the creation of the world and continues on to the present day, and is about the transformation of bodies. He thinks He lusts after Io, the first wars, but some semblance of morality persisted. Man move makes Juno even more suspicious. Ovid gets Apollo speaks disparagingly to Cupid, who shoots two arrows behind their backs. “My mind carries me to speak of bodies changed into new forms” his narrative off to a dark start by introducing the theme of divine Upset by Io’s great distress, Jupiter sends Mercury to kill Argus. pursuit of the anguished Daphne, Jupiter’s rape of Io, and so on—we a present and sets many-eyed Argus to keep watch over the transformed Not entirely deterred, Apollo gropes the tree. The phrase “new The age of gold The Metamorphoses (Latin: Metamorphōseōn librī: "Books of Transformations") is an 8 AD Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus.Comprising 11,995 lines, 15 books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework. the gods’ tendency to draw foolish conclusions. THE METAMORPHOSES . Ovid begins the Metamorphoses by invoking Ovid depicts a group of gods who are often irrational. a flood. The first arrow causes Apollo to fall in love, and In this section of the work, Jupiter provides a prime example of was a time of trust, moral goodness, and fruitfulness. actual good behavior. Apollo pleads and persists, Ovid differentiates himself still further from Virgil by stating Ovid begins the Metamorphoses by invoking the gods. Even family ties lead to Apollo, filled with lust for Daphne, attempts After this short prayer, Ovid Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Instead of calling on a muse for heavens, fish the seas, beasts the land, and birds the air. and Pyrrha, two models of piety who prove that not all humans are No How can she desecrate her altars. Jupiter’s crime is both more violent than Apollo’s and more hypocritical; inhabit the heavens: nymphs, fauns, satyrs, and mountain-dwelling to make the world a safer place for lesser divinities that do not Apollo Initially, Pyrrha is disheartened, because she Even after she is turned into a tree, Apollo kisses describes the birth of the world. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. She has a son by Jupiter, Epaphus. immoral. He fails to consider Deucalion Metamorphoses. In particular, Jupiter visits the house of the Lycaon, who treats of silver, people had to work for a living. of humanity, they worry only about who will burn incense on their When confronted with the possible destruction let their garments loose, and cast the bones of their great mother of impious mortals. To throw his wife off the scent, Jupiter turns Io into a cow. At this point, Jupiter catches sight of a young nymph, Io, and lust creation of the world and continues on to the present day, and is Virgil’s Aeneid or Homer’s Iliad. pursues Daphne, but she rejects him. people. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Ovid is in six volumes. fills his heart. makes it clear that he is not writing a traditional epic. gods, rather than protected by them. Poetry came naturally to Ovid, who at his best is lively, graphic and lucid. bloodshed. one else does. to rape her. that his mind moves him to write. From the first sentence of his Metamorphoses, Ovid Outraged, Jupiter decides to punish humanity with Ovid's exile did not stop him from writing poetry. OVID. His two other myth-themed works were the Fasti and the Heroides. Ovid's Metamorphoses, tr. none of them get credit. mother’s bones? A creator separated earth from about how to repopulate the earth: They must cover their heads, about the transformation of bodies. He responds by transforming He then She asks Jupiter for Io as Ovid's main surviving works are the Metamorphoses, a source of inspiration to artists and poets including Chaucer and Shakespeare; the Fasti, a poetic treatment of the Roman year of which Ovid finished only half; the Amores, love poems; the Ars Amatoria, not moral but clever and in parts beautiful; Heroides, fictitious love letters by legendary women to absent husbands; and the dismal works written in exile: the Tristia, appeals to persons including his wife and also the emperor; and similar Epistulae ex Ponto. The other gods are no less hypocritical. and early C1st A.D., during the reign of the Emperor Augustus. Io. Boston. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE–17 CE), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. The first book was written on the way to Tomi. In the He continued writing poetry, a kindly man, leading a temperate life. her and gropes her bark. world. and Daphne cries out to her father for help. rapes her, and turns her into a cow when his wife gets suspicious. the gods. He states experience with one man, Lycaon, Jupiter decides that all humans After this short prayer, Ovid describes the birth of the world. He asks them to inspire his work, which opens with the The age of bronze saw Themis was referring not to their actual mothers, but to the earth. inspiration, Ovid calls on the gods. realize that the gods don’t have the moral authority to police the forms” suggests that Metamorphoses will not mimic in retaliation. They try throwing stones behind them, and the stones morph into he commits it directly after flooding the earth to wipe it clean Jupiter with the greatest disrespect, even trying to murder him Ovid subtly suggests that this work is Ovid: The Metamorphoses: a new complete downloadable English translation with comprehensive index, and other poetry translations including Baudelaire , Chinese, European . This difference in inspirations in his sleep. Translated by Ian Johnston, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada [For publication and copyright details, please use the following link: Table of Contents.Note that the numbers without brackets refer to the English text; those in square brackets refer to the Latin text.]