PODCAST · arts

Metamorphoses (Howard Version)

by Publius (Ovid) Ovidius Naso

Translated from Latin into English blank verse, this classic Roman text gives an account of a series of fabulous episodes from creation through to Ovid's contemporary times, wherein changes in material forms have come to shape the world. The descriptive detail in this poem is graphic: battle scenes, brawls, grisly injuries and dismemberment, rape, incest, lycanthropy, abuse of power, the enduring power of love and fidelity, the beauty of nature, the inexorability of fate, are all there as a matrix and rationale for the endless parade of physical transformations. Said to be a major influence on Shakespeare. - Summary by Peter Tucker