Reviews

Metamorphoses by Ovid

benwillie's review against another edition

4.0

I feel slightly disingenuous adding this definitely to my read (past tense—isn't it odd that "to read" is one of those few verbs whose present and past forms are identical?) pile as I only studied a few sub-books of Ovid's opus with genuine attention (most notably book 12), and skimmed the rest. While disagreeing with Ovid on a few fundamental points, the topics he tackles are important and give rise to important and transcendental questions. His great thesis is that desire, universal among humanity, is the engine of metamorphosis/change, which when taken to extremes is a fascinating theory. Each brief vignette is a unique moment in Greek mythology, but great metanarrative is what truly sets Ovid among the trifecta of revered poets. Ovid made for great discussions and a thought-provoking essay. A pagan classic, but one of high moral value nonetheless. I had to do some thinking about Dante's relationship to Ovid for another essay, and here is a great quote I found in researching:

Like Virgil, Ovid is a canonical member of Dante's scriptura paganorum, an authoritative voice able to speak divine truth and moral guidance; like Virgil, he also shares the title of "altissimo poeta" (Inf. iv, 180) and a place of privilege in Limbo. And yet, far more dramatically than is the case with Virgil's "pious" epic, the Metamorphoses demonstrates the need to read literature for its inner meaning. What this means for Dante is reading in accordance with Christian revelation, the "spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9) which enables one to see in the wanton transformations of gods and mortals the fullness of Gospel truth. Without such a spiritual gloss, Ovid's luxuriant letter may deceive, mislead or even kill. With it, however, the Metamorphoses becomes an allegory, a work of human language whose "other term" is God's own speech.

(Hawkins, Peter. 1980. “Virtuosity and Virtue: Poetic Self-Reflection in the ‘Commedia.’” Dante
Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society 98:18.)

Worth a read.

r_boakes's review against another edition

adventurous informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

heart_288's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the_cassie_case's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

micklz24's review against another edition

3.0

It’s kinda hard to know how to rate a book like this, because it’s really just a collection of stories. I didn’t particularly enjoy it - but that’s probably simply because my mythology kick faded before I got to the end of the book. It was a little tricky to follow sometimes, and it’s harder to read because of its age, but regardless there were definitely some crazy and interesting stories in here, and I’m glad I stuck it out.

lys_anders's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

beccaattiffanys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

anastasiyak's review against another edition

3.0

read this book for a class. it’s very dense. i listened to it on audio which helped at first. but then there were so many characters and things happening i just couldn’t keep up.
it’s really interesting to see how things tie in with one another. ovid starts it with a creation story and also has a flood story in there.
also enjoyed the etymology stories that would describe short stories of how for example mulberries became red or the crow became black. they’re obviously not true but it’s interesting to read.
also saw a lot of ties to Shakespeare’s stories and characters. would be interested to read some of his stuff now having seen that. but also romeo and juliet existed way before shakespeare wrote about it.

slumberbee's review against another edition

5.0

Nothing beats a collection of myths! And Ovid manages to order them all to form a coherent story which you can follow along from Chaos to Rome, excellent! Thoroughly enjoyable, I only wish to one day read in the original Latin.

blssdlullaby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75