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Ovid

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Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics) Paperback – August 3, 2004

by Ovid (Author), David Raeburn (Translator), Denis Feeney (Introduction)

1,331 ratings

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Ovid’s sensuous and witty poem, in an accessible translation by David Raeburn

In Metamophoses, Ovid brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation—often as a result of love or lust—where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. Erudite but light-hearted, dramatic and yet playful, Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists throughout the centuries from Shakespeare and Titian to Picasso and Ted Hughes.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Editorial Reviews

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“The true brilliance, that is, the true reading, the accessibility, of McCarter’s tapestry lies in her use of poetic form.(…) Throughout, McCarter produces gorgeous basso continuo undertones juxtaposed against sharp and high-pitched rhymes. Such formal elements of the translation ultimately represent McCarter’s interpretation of Metamorphoses and the art of translation itself—that humble human craft that has the capacity to stand against and despite the will of gods, power, and time. McCarter has produced her own masterpiece that ‘Jove’s wrath cannot / destroy, nor flame, nor steel, nor gnawing time.’ ‘My name,’ she writes, ‘can’t be erased.’”
—Anna Deeny Morales, 2023 American Poets Prize citation for The Academy of American Poets

“The best translation of a work of ancient literature that I read this year was Stephanie McCarter's marvellous new translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, in fresh, readable, vivid iambic pentameter. McCarter captures Ovid's wit and cleverness, making us laugh at the escapades of abusive, lust-crazed, arrogant gods and hapless, also lust-crazed and arrogant mortals. But she also brilliantly evokes Ovid's more serious sides, including his attentiveness to power and the magical vivacity of the natural world. Her wonderful handling of the metrical poetic form is a fitting match for Ovid's artful, fluent Latin verse.”
—Emily Wilson, The New Statesman

“McCarter confronts the tricky issues associated with both the poet and his epic not only in her forthright introduction but in the translation itself, where, like an art restorer removing decades of browned varnish from an Old Master, she strips away a number of inaccuracies and embellishments that have accreted in translations over the decades and centuries, obscuring the sense of certain passages, particularly those portraying women and sexual violence… McCarter’s translation reproduces Ovid’s speed and clarity. Even better, she is alert to many of the sparkling verbal effects for which the poet was famous in his own time… If you didn’t know she was writing about the concerns of someone who died twenty centuries ago, you’d think her subject was still alive.”
—Daniel Mendelsohn, The New Yorker

“McCarter adroitly captures Ovid’s glittering darkness. There is horror here but there is also so much wonder and delight, all conveyed in nimble, fresh language.” —Kamila Shamsie, author ofHome Fire

“The Metamorphoses has it all: sex, death, love, violence, gods, mortals, monsters, nymphs, all the great forces, human and natural. With this vital new translation, Stephanie McCarter has not only updated Ovid's epic of transformation for the modern ear and era --- she's done something far more powerful. She's paid rigorous attention to the language of the original and brought to us its ferocity, its sensuality, its beauty, its wit, showing us how we are changed, by time, by violence, by love, by stories, and especially by power. Here is Ovid, in McCarter's masterful hands, refreshed, renewed, and pulsing with life.”
—Nina MacLaughlin, author of Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung

“Stephanie McCarter’s gorgeous verse translation of the Metamorphoses is ground-breaking not just in its refreshingly accessible approach to Ovid’s syntax and formal devices but for how she reframes the controversial subjects that have made Ovid, and Ovidian scholarship, so fraught for contemporary readers. McCarter’s translation understands that the Metamorphoses is a complex study of power and desire, and the dehumanizing ways that power asserts itself through and on a variety of bodies. McCarter’s deft, musical, and forthright translation returns much needed nuance to Ovid’s tropes of violence and change, demonstrating to a new generation of readers how our identities are always in flux, while reminding us all of the Metamorphoses’ enduring relevance.”
—Paisley Rekdal, author of Nightingale

"A graceful and fluid and deeply meaningful translation. Compared to the other translations of the Metamorphoses on which I’ve relied in the past, it’s as though this is of an entirely different book. The reader follows the lines with genuine emotion. And so do worlds open up—"
—Alexander Nemerov, Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Stanford University

"Stephanie McCarter’s translation offers an attractive alternative to the finest versions to appear in recent decades, while the abundance of her introductory and explanatory material gives her work a clear advantage over those predecessors. As a vehicle for serious engagement with Ovid’s poem in English, McCarter has no rival." – Richard Tarrant, Harvard University, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About the Author

Ovid (43 BC-AD 17) was born in central Italy. He was sent to Rome where he realised that his talent lay with poetry rather than with politics. His first published work was 'Amores', a collection of short love poems. He was expelled in A.D. 8 by Emperor Augustus for an unknown reason and went to Tomis on the Black Sea, where he died.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 014044789X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 3, 2004
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 768 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780140447897
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140447897
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.8 x 5.08 x 1.79 inches
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1180L

Best Sellers Rank: #16,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16 in Ancient & Classical Poetry
- #490 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #1,495 in Literary Fiction (Books)

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1,331 ratings

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Publius Ovidius Naso (Classical Latin: [ˈpʊb.li.ʊs ɔˈwɪ.di.ʊs ˈnaː.soː]; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid (/ˈɒvɪd/) in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, he was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, "a poem and a mistake", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars.

The first major Roman poet to begin his career during the reign of Augustus, Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for collections of love poetry in elegiac couplets, especially the Amores ("Love Affairs") and Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love"). His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Ettore Ferrari [CC BY-SA 3.0 ro (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ro/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Customers find the translation of Metamorphoses to be fantastic, with one describing it as the most readable Latin classic. Moreover, the book provides helpful background in mythology, with one customer noting it gives a basic overview of the pantheon of gods. Additionally, they appreciate its lively pacing and find it fun to read. The design receives positive feedback, with one customer describing it as a great edition of this masterpiece. However, one customer reports receiving a damaged copy.

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Translation quality Introduction Readability Design Pacing Rip quality

20 customers mention "Translation quality"15 positive5 negative

Customers praise the translation of this Latin classic, describing it as magnificent poetry that is easy to understand.

"Wonderful book of a great poet, very well printed and high quality binding!" Read more

"This is a great translation. Each book is proceeded by an explanation of what is to come...." Read more

"...and expounds some potent philosophy in the work's most magnificent poetry. It is easy to see Ovid's influence on Shakespeare throughout the book...." Read more

"...It is an important work well translated. If that was all, I'd give it 5 stars. However, the book design is another matter...." Read more

12 customers mention "Introduction"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's introduction helpful, with one mentioning it provides a basic overview of the pantheon of gods and another noting it serves as an excellent introduction to the entire work.

"...It is helpful to have a background in mythology to keep track of the large cast of characters." Read more

"...It contains virtually all of the major Roman myths that are referred to constantly by the writers and artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods..." Read more

"...This work is important as a treasure trove of mythological material and transformation of the self...." Read more

"...And since it's broken down so nicely into individual stories and books, you can read a story here and there instead of the whole thing at once, if..." Read more

11 customers mention "Readability"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enjoyable to read, with one describing it as a real page turner.

"Wonderful book of a great poet, very well printed and high quality binding!" Read more

"...into a more modern voice, making it much more user friendly and fun to read. And it's written in verse form (as is should be)...." Read more

"the translation is spunky, energetic, lively, current, a real page turner...." Read more

"...This was a pleasure to read. I’ll die with this book in my possession. What a treasure!" Read more

4 customers mention "Design"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the design of the book, with one describing it as a great edition of this masterpiece, and another noting its poetic perfection from antiquity.

"...Raeburn's verse translation uses heightened language that is nevertheless unpretentious. He hits just the right tone...." Read more

"Another great edition of this masterpiece" Read more

"...Ovid’s prose flows off the paper like liquid gold in this edition. Really nice and short introduction to each section of the epic...." Read more

"Bad design..." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book lively.

"I very much enjoyed the translation. It is clear, lively, and poetic both in form and sense...." Read more

"the translation is spunky, energetic, lively, current, a real page turner...." Read more

"...it, I couldn't put it down because it was so great to read and interesting." Read more

"Fun stories" Read more

3 customers mention "Rip quality"0 positive3 negative

Customers report issues with the physical condition of the book, mentioning rips, damage, and unnecessary line breaks in the text.

"...The book wastes a LOT of whitespace and adds unnecessary line breaks which are jarring to the reading of the poetry...." Read more

"Love this book, but the cover came with a huge, very noticeable rip (picture attached)...." Read more

"Arrived torn and damaged." Read more

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dcm
Wonderful book of a great poet
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Wonderful book of a great poet, very well printed and high quality binding!

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megan
Excellent translation
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2024
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
This is a great translation. Each book is proceeded by an explanation of what is to come. It is helpful to have a background in mythology to keep track of the large cast of characters.

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krebsman
Horror and wonder
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I got the book to use for an online course in Greek and Roman Mythology. For the course, we only read books 3, 12, and 13. But I wanted MORE! I found Ovid's METAMORPHOSES addictive. In 15 books, Ovid presents fabulous stories about humans or demigods that undergo miraculous transformations. These stories were mostly familiar to its original audience. It was Ovid's take on the material that made it a literary sensation. The metamorphoses invariably take place at a time of extreme emotional stress, usually terror or grief, and come about as a deity's reward for behavior that pleases or displeases him or her. Most often the change is to some kind of bird and the protagonist flies away from his troubles. But characters change to all sorts of other fauna, including dolphins, swine, spiders, frogs, and fish. Others turn into trees or flowers. A few turn into rocks or mountains. More than a few are transformed into rivers or streams. Some characters change sexes. While these stories may have originally been intended as moral lessons, Ovid turns them into something deeper and more affecting. He makes us feel what it's like to have one's skin turn into tree bark and one's feet stuck in the ground and unable to move while fingers sprout leaves. In the final book Ovid ties all the stories together thematically and expounds some potent philosophy in the work's most magnificent poetry. It is easy to see Ovid's influence on Shakespeare throughout the book. Ovid's METAMORPHOSES is a major building block in Western culture. It contains virtually all of the major Roman myths that are referred to constantly by the writers and artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Familiarity with Ovid is guaranteed to enhance one's appreciation of Western art, literature, and music. A trip to the library, the concert hall, or the art museum is bound to be enriched. Raeburn's verse translation uses heightened language that is nevertheless unpretentious. He hits just the right tone. I wish I had read this several decades ago. Five stars.

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Christopher R. Travers
Solid translation, but wasteful and annoying design
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I very much enjoyed the translation. It is clear, lively, and poetic both in form and sense.

This work is important as a treasure trove of mythological material and transformation of the self. It is deeply mystical and also important to the study of classical mythology. There is so much in the book that it is hard to summarize what I like about it in a review. It is an important work well translated. If that was all, I'd give it 5 stars.

However, the book design is another matter. The book wastes a LOT of whitespace and adds unnecessary line breaks which are jarring to the reading of the poetry. I have to wonder whether this was motivated by price (larger book, higher cost) or whether it was just simply due to lack of review of alternatives. For example, a slightly wider page, a slightly smaller font, or even a narrower margin could have avoided this problem. One gets the distinct impression that nobody was really reviewing the design. It's a shame really. The book could have used a lot less paper and been easier to read. For this I have deducted a star. It's still a book I'd recommend, but no longer as highly as I would have.

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Sara
Excellent edition and translation
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2006
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
After reading the old Penguin edition of this work, I was amazed at the improvement in not only the translation, but the organization and supplemental material as well. The old edition I read was written in prose (yuck), the translation was was dry and boring, the text was not broken up into sections, and there were no notes to speak of. This edition, however, has really come a long way. The text has been translated into a more modern voice, making it much more user friendly and fun to read. And it's written in verse form (as is should be). The organization is top-notch: not only is it divided into "books", but is further divided into the individual stories with appropriate headings (like "Mars and Venus" and "Pyramus and Thisbe"), so it's easy to find your favorite myth and know where you are in the epic. There's also an excellent introduction to the entire work as well as introductions to each individual book, providing insights and background information. The notes in the back of the book are very comprehensive and helpful, adding greatly to your understanding of the work. On top of all that, there's a glossary of the characters in the back which not only tells you who they are, but where they are featured in the epic. And finally, as if there wasn't enough already, there's even a map in the back of Rome during Ovid's time. Needless to say, this edition is chock full of stuff to please both casual readers of the work and scholars looking to get a little more in-depth. I believe this is one of the most important and influential works of Western civilization, and everyone should have a copy. It's especially great for those who love Greek and Roman myths, since it's packed full of just about every classical myth ever conceived. And since it's broken down so nicely into individual stories and books, you can read a story here and there instead of the whole thing at once, if you choose. Though since all the stories are connected and flow seamlessly into one another, reading it through from beginning to end is very rewarding and highly recommended.

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Brenda
Get this if you want to feel like hozier
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2024
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I saw hozier had been reading this book while working on unreal unearthed and decided to get it. My braincells have gone up by atleast 2 and now I too feel like a forest fae,yearning poet.

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Brenda

Get this if you want to feel like hozier

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2024
I saw hozier had been reading this book while working on unreal unearthed and decided to get it. My braincells have gone up by atleast 2 and now I too feel like a forest fae,yearning poet.

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5 people found this helpful

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S. Shaffer
BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2024
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Another great edition of this masterpiece

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Salima
this translation is a page turner ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
the translation is spunky, energetic, lively, current, a real page turner. I was bored when I had to study it in school (different translation), but honestly I cannot put down this translation's edition, and I am really enjoying the whole book! What a treat!

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Mateen
Amazing Book, Still damaged but who cares
Reviewed in India on March 10, 2024
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Ovid's metamorphoses is like a place in time where you just lose in those stories man, its so good coming from apollodorus its hard to get their roman names but nice book at this price point, great fonts the cover art is kinda explicit but well with that said worth 100%.

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Peter
A great classic from the Ancient World.
Reviewed in Germany on July 11, 2020
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
A great classic book. If people are still interested in reading today, after thousands years has been written, it means it has got an intrinsic beauty and meaning.

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mojo jojo
A slightly damaged cover but other than that it came in great condition
Reviewed in Saudi Arabia on November 9, 2022
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Highly recommend for mythology lovers!

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Oscar
Bien si lo encuentras barato
Reviewed in Mexico on May 9, 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Se ve bien en contenido del libro, tiene notas, glosario y mapa del mediterraneo al final del libro, asi como el material complementerio al inicio del libro, lo que más me puedo quejar de él es que llego maltratado de la portada, pero me lo esperaba por tan barato, aun así deberían de especificar si tiene algún desperfecto o es usado, el tamaño de letra es bueno, al igual que la impresión pero el papel no me agrada nada lo más parecido que lo puedo comparar es a un delgado papel periódico, un color gris y un tacto parecido.

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Oscar

Bien si lo encuentras barato

Reviewed in Mexico on May 9, 2025
Se ve bien en contenido del libro, tiene notas, glosario y mapa del mediterraneo al final del libro, asi como el material complementerio al inicio del libro, lo que más me puedo quejar de él es que llego maltratado de la portada, pero me lo esperaba por tan barato, aun así deberían de especificar si tiene algún desperfecto o es usado, el tamaño de letra es bueno, al igual que la impresión pero el papel no me agrada nada lo más parecido que lo puedo comparar es a un delgado papel periódico, un color gris y un tacto parecido.

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Mike Thompson
All the myths and legends in one grand epic!
Reviewed in Canada on September 11, 2020
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Along with the works of Homer, Aeschylus, and Sophicles, this epic masterpiece is a must read for anyone wanting to expand their understanding of ancient myths while at the same time gaining much more enjoyment out of modern poetry, from which these tales often refer. Ovid begins with Creation before going into the ancient world's legends and myths, and wraps it up with a tribute to Augustus. Translation is superb, and plenty of footnotes with useful information. A must read!

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Metamorphoses (Penguin Classics) Paperback – August 3, 2004

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5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book, Still damaged but who cares

5.0 out of 5 stars A great classic from the Ancient World.

4.0 out of 5 stars A slightly damaged cover but other than that it came in great condition

4.0 out of 5 stars Bien si lo encuentras barato

Bien si lo encuentras barato

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5.0 out of 5 stars All the myths and legends in one grand epic!

Amazing Book, Still damaged but who cares

A great classic from the Ancient World.

A slightly damaged cover but other than that it came in great condition

Bien si lo encuentras barato

All the myths and legends in one grand epic!