Reviews

Although Ovid is very liberal with his source material to put it lightly, the stories he produces are thoroughly entertaining, ranging from comical to deeply tragic (like the memorable Phaëton). The characters are often not particularly interesting or memorable, but Ovid makes up for it with surprising plotlines, always culminating (sometimes in a somewhat contrived way) in a metamorphosis of some sort. The stories are often only loosely connected to each other and long reading sessions can make one go dizzy with the number of names and epithets, so I'd recommend only reading one or two stories at a time. As far as I can judge, this is a quite good translation. The lyrical language flows nicely and the short introductions before each chapter help put everything into perspective. But, let's be honest, the best part is being able to sound smart by reciting the plots and characters from what is essentially a contrived but enjoyable fan-fiction of Graeco-Roman mythology.

erinn7's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

merixien's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring slow-paced

5.0

anarcho_zymurgist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Just as beautiful and dark as I had hoped it would be.

musicdeepdive's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the most instantly accessible of the ancient works, mainly due to its episodic structure that removes the reader from a lot of narrative constraints. It also contains what I'd reckon to be one of the most iconic final paragraphs (stanzas?) in all of literature, a parying statement that is as self-assured as it is prophetic.

goosemixtapes's review against another edition

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would you look at that! it is another case of "books i had to read really fast for class that i should definitely take the time to reread in more depth!" i did not have high hopes for this because i didn't remember loving ovid in high school, but (maybe because of the translation?) this was much better than i'd recalled so i'll probably come back to it (and like... if not all of it, definitely the medea bits)

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