Metamorphoses

Publius (Ovid) Ovidius Naso (c. 43 BC - 18 AD)
Translated by Brookes More

The Metamorphoses of Ovid is probably one of the best known, certainly one of the most influential works of the Ancient world. It consists of a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world through mythological tales, starting with a cosmogony and finishing with the deification of Julius Caesar. Published around 8 AD, the Metamorphoses are a source, sometimes the only source, for many of the most famous ancient myths, such as the stories of Daedalus and Icarus, Arachne or Narcisus.

Ovid works his way through his subject matter often in an apparently arbitrary fashion; however, the connection between all the seemingly unconnected stories is that all of them talk about transformation. Change as the only permanent aspect of nature is the certainty that underlies the work of Ovid, who jumps from one transformation tale to another, sometimes retelling what had come to be seen as central events in the world of Greek myths and sometimes straying in odd directions. The poem is often called a mock-epic. It is written in dactylic hexameter, the form of the great heroic and nationalistic epic poems, both those of the ancient tradition (the Iliad and Odyssey) and of Ovid's own day (the Aeneid). It begins with the ritual "invocation of the muse," and makes use of traditional epithets and circumlocutions. But instead of following and extolling the deeds of a human hero, it leaps from story to story sometimes in very cunning ways, and, because of the clever ways in which it connects the stories, the Metamorphoses were once called the "Thousand and One Nights of the Ancient World". (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Leni)

Genre(s): Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity), Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales, Poetry

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 01 - Book 1, Part 1 Leni
00:18:49
Play 02 02 - Book 1, Part 2 ontheroad
00:21:28
Play 03 03 - Book 1, Part 3 ontheroad
00:15:38
Play 04 04 - Book 2, Part 1 mwharrington
00:29:15
Play 05 05 - Book 2, Part 2 Bellona Times
00:18:58
Play 06 06 - Book 2, Part 3 ravenotation
00:21:55
Play 07 07 - Book 3, Part 1 MorganScorpion
00:17:10
Play 08 08 - Book 3, Part 2 Leni
00:20:52
Play 09 09 - Book 3, Part 3 mwharrington
00:17:39
Play 10 10 - Book 4, Part 1 Neeru Iyer
00:15:19
Play 11 11 - Book 4, Part 2 aphrael
00:18:03
Play 12 12 - Book 4, Part 3 David Goldfarb
00:24:45
Play 13 13 - Book 5, Part 1 Jenni
00:23:04
Play 14 14 - Book 5, Part 2 David Goldfarb
00:21:18
Play 15 15 - Book 6, Part 1 Elizabeth Klett
00:22:06
Play 16 16 - Book 6, Part 2 Elizabeth Klett
00:07:28
Play 17 17 - Book 6, Part 3 Elizabeth Klett
00:22:49
Play 18 18 - Book 7, Part 1 Elizabeth Klett
00:21:33
Play 19 19 - Book 7, Part 2 Elizabeth Klett
00:23:40
Play 20 20 - Book 7, Part 3 Elizabeth Klett
00:14:31
Play 21 21 - Book 8, Part 1 MorganScorpion
00:12:47
Play 22 22 - Book 8, Part 2 Paul Huckerby
00:19:41
Play 23 23 - Book 8, Part 3 MorganScorpion
00:12:35
Play 24 24 - Book 8, Part 4 Christina Vasilevski
00:20:42
Play 25 25 - Book 9, Part 1 Diapadion
00:22:15
Play 26 26 - Book 9, Part 2 Diapadion
00:14:40
Play 27 27 - Book 9, Part 3 Diapadion
00:24:53
Play 28 28 - Book 10, Part 1 Julie VW
00:20:25
Play 29 29 - Book 10, Part 2 Julie VW
00:27:22
Play 30 30 - Book 10, Part 3 Neeru Iyer
00:13:40
Play 31 31 - Book 11, Part 1 Diapadion
00:19:57
Play 32 32 - Book 11, Part 2 Diapadion
00:10:31
Play 33 33 - Book 11, Part 3 David Goldfarb
00:26:30
Play 34 34 - Book 12, Part 1 Michael Wolf
00:13:08
Play 35 35 - Book 12, Part 2 Michael Wolf
00:29:10
Play 36 36 - Book 13, Part 1 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:14:26
Play 37 37 - Book 13, Part 2 Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
00:27:02
Play 38 38 - Book 13, Part 3 DrBeccaAnne
00:23:41
Play 39 39 - Book 13, Part 4 bhagerty
00:17:55
Play 40 40 - Book 14, Part 1 bhagerty
00:19:53
Play 41 41 - Book 14, Part 2 Kevin Were
00:26:12
Play 42 42 - Book 14, Part 3 Christina Vasilevski
00:18:42
Play 43 43 - Book 15, Part 1 Zoe Dickinson
00:20:39
Play 44 44 - Book 15, Part 2 MorganScorpion
00:16:56
Play 45 45 - Book 15, Part 3 David Goldfarb
00:20:06