This material was of varying quality and comprehensiveness-while some of it was 'finely worked', in other cases Ovid may have been working from limited material. Some of the Metamorphoses derives from earlier literary and poetic treatment of the same myths. The Metamorphoses was longer than any previous collection of metamorphosis myths (Nicander's work consisted of probably four or five books) and positioned itself within a historical framework. However, in a way that was typical for writers of the period, Ovid diverged significantly from his models.

The Heteroioumena by Nicander of Colophon is better known, and clearly an influence on the poem-21 of the stories from this work were treated in the Metamorphoses. There are three examples of Metamorphoses by later Hellenistic writers, but little is known of their contents. The model for a collection of metamorphosis myths was found in the metamorphosis poetry of the Hellenistic tradition, which is first represented by Boio(s)' Ornithogonia-a now- fragmentary poem of collected myths about the metamorphoses of humans into birds. In that tradition myth functioned as a vehicle for moral reflection or insight, yet Ovid approached it as an 'object of play and artful manipulation'. Ovid's decision to make myth the primary subject of the Metamorphoses was influenced by Alexandrian poetry. but that he could still treat the myths in his own way. Ovid's relation to the Hellenistic poets was similar to the attitude of the Hellenistic poets themselves to their predecessors: he demonstrated that he had read their versions . Numerous English translations of the work have been made, the first by William Caxton in 1480. The Metamorphoses continues to inspire and be retold through various media. There was a resurgence of attention to Ovid's work near the end of the 20th century. Numerous episodes from the poem have been depicted in works of sculpture, painting, and music, especially during the Renaissance. It has inspired such authors as Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare. The Metamorphoses is one of the most influential works in Western culture. Although some of the Metamorphoses derives from earlier treatment of the same myths, Ovid diverged significantly from all of his models. Ovid took inspiration from the genre of metamorphosis poetry. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar in a mythico-historical framework comprising over 250 myths, 15 books, and 11,995 lines.Īlthough it meets some of the criteria for an epic, the poem defies simple genre classification because of its varying themes and tones. The Metamorphoses ( Latin: Metamorphōsēs, from Ancient Greek: μεταμορφώσεις: 'Transformations') is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. Hayden White Rare Book Collection, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Title page of 1556 edition published by Joannes Gryphius (decorative border added subsequently). Narrative poetry, epic, elegy, tragedy, pastoral (see Contents) Page from the edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses published by Lucantonio Giunti in Venice, 1497

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