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A review by krissy_
Metamorphoses by Ovid
3.5
I've only read this particular translation from David Raeburn. So my review only is about this version of Ovid's poems.
There were a lot of stories in here in which I already knew due to ancient Rome and Greece overlaping in some areas of their mythology (BUT IN SAYING THAT, THEIE DIETIES ARE DIFFERENT, SAME WITH THEIR HEREOS AND MONSTERS AND BLENDING THEM IS ERACING A CULTURE AND RELIGION) but it was interesting in seeing how similar and different the stories are. Which attributes of the stories are highlighted and what ancient Rome prioritised in teaching through their mythology.
The stories at time felt like a dry translation and that I needed to force my through them. However, others were translated with rhythm and flowed nicely. Those poems I personally had the most annotations on as the flow made it easier to grasp.
A lot of the stories with deities in had a similar overaching lesson about respect and humbling yourself. Although there are a few outliers as well which unless you don't know the culture then (or use that for perspective) you may get frustrated and annoyed with the mythology. These are normally when female deities take their anger out on mortals due to the action of male deities. It is important to note, that mythology is mythology and is shaped on their culture and their values. And although mythology can teach you about deities, the deities are not their mythology.
Something I love about this collection of poetry is what they placed under the umbrella of 'metamorphosis'. Metamorphosis is the change if physical form, this has been done in a variety of ways. Some are obvious in depiction, whereas other depictions involve a bit more discernment.
I do think this is a good text if you are interested in Ancient Rome and/or Religio Romana. I do want to preference that this particular collection of poems does have dark themes and it is read very bluntly in the text. It doesn't shy away from the topics (similar to most ancient Rome or Greek texts) so please read the trigger warnings. If any of the topics are too much, but you are interested in learning, OVID does have other works which have limited the amount of triggering scenes.
There were a lot of stories in here in which I already knew due to ancient Rome and Greece overlaping in some areas of their mythology (BUT IN SAYING THAT, THEIE DIETIES ARE DIFFERENT, SAME WITH THEIR HEREOS AND MONSTERS AND BLENDING THEM IS ERACING A CULTURE AND RELIGION) but it was interesting in seeing how similar and different the stories are. Which attributes of the stories are highlighted and what ancient Rome prioritised in teaching through their mythology.
The stories at time felt like a dry translation and that I needed to force my through them. However, others were translated with rhythm and flowed nicely. Those poems I personally had the most annotations on as the flow made it easier to grasp.
A lot of the stories with deities in had a similar overaching lesson about respect and humbling yourself. Although there are a few outliers as well which unless you don't know the culture then (or use that for perspective) you may get frustrated and annoyed with the mythology. These are normally when female deities take their anger out on mortals due to the action of male deities. It is important to note, that mythology is mythology and is shaped on their culture and their values. And although mythology can teach you about deities, the deities are not their mythology.
Something I love about this collection of poetry is what they placed under the umbrella of 'metamorphosis'. Metamorphosis is the change if physical form, this has been done in a variety of ways. Some are obvious in depiction, whereas other depictions involve a bit more discernment.
I do think this is a good text if you are interested in Ancient Rome and/or Religio Romana. I do want to preference that this particular collection of poems does have dark themes and it is read very bluntly in the text. It doesn't shy away from the topics (similar to most ancient Rome or Greek texts) so please read the trigger warnings. If any of the topics are too much, but you are interested in learning, OVID does have other works which have limited the amount of triggering scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Death