Metamorphoses Paperback – 13 April 2018

Good product

A must read for the avid Ovid reader. Good quality book for the price point.

This book is a joy to read. The notes are great. The price is very reasonable. I love it!

Questa è onestamente la miglior traduzione delle Metamorfosi di Ovidio. Ho letto i libri in latino e in Italiano, e questa traduzione di Rolfe Humphries è l'unica che non mi fa venire mal di testa per l'uso di eccessiva pomposità e parole pseudo-italiane ricercate che dovrebbero arricchire il testo ma lo gonfiano soltanto (ho detto quello che ho detto e non mi pento). Questa traduzione riflette la narrativa semplice e diretta di Ovidio, come giusto che sia.

This book is wonderful. The Rolfe Humphries is THE translation. This printing is also very nice. The paper, the type, everything makes it a good book. When you turn the page, it turns nicely and lies flat; how refreshing.The stories of the Metamorphoses are, of course, wonderful. It's the book itself that I want to talk about.The beautiful Waterhouse painting on the cover spans the front and part of the back covers. The line numbers at the top of each text page are those of the Latin text in the Loeb edition; how many translators would go to that kind of trouble for you? Rolfe Humphries' introduction is light, funny, and enjoyable. His love of his work shines through. The last line of his intro is, "So - here he is [Ovid], and I hope you like him."The table of contents is annotated, making it easy to find any major story you are looking for. I also love the designs at the beginning of each book/chapter: such details enhance my enjoyment of reading this edition.If you have never read Ovid's Metamorphoses, don't be intimidated. It is a collection of mythology stories, and you will find much that is probably familiar to you (Echo and Narcissus, Jason, Pygmalion, and more). If you are at all serious about literature, this is a basic building block in your knowledge. And even if you're not, it's just a damn good book.The translation itself is so fluent and enjoyable. Just listen to the introduction:My intention is to tell of bodies changedTo different forms; the gods, who made the changes,Will help me - or so I hope - with a poemThat runs from the world's beginning to our own days.This is exciting, eloquent stuff! Please do yourself a favor and make sure you read this at some point during your lifetime.

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formascorpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundiad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!The Metamorphoses is a Latin epic poem divided into sixteen books, where myths and legends are collected in chronological order: from the origin of the world to the Four Ages of Man, until the triumph of Rome and the glorification of Julius Caesar, a huge encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology. The last book is considered a small Aeneid for the variant of the themes, Ovid is the main narrator of the whole poem.Summary of contents:Books I-IIPrimeval chaos, the universal deluge, Prometheus creates man; Gigantomachia, the Milky Way and various metamorphic stories connected with various deities.Books III-VIThe Heroic Age: Theban myths and those associated with Perseus, along with other myths such as: Jupiter and Semele - birth of Bacchus.Book VIIJason and the Argonauts, Medea's deeds.Book VIIIMyths of Minos, Scylla, Theseus and Ariadne, the Minotaur, and Daedalus and Icarus.Books IX-XMyths of Hercules, Orpheus and Eurydice, who tells other stories like Pygmalion's and other documents.Book XIMyths of Peleus and Thetis, Alcyone.Books XII-XIVSacrifice of Iphigenia, Trojan War, death of Achilles. Enea's journey to Italy: Scylla and Circe, stories of Rome: Cumaean Sibyl, Romulus and Remus.Book XVMyths of Hercules, Pythagoras' speech to Numa Pompilius, Final of the poem: Apotheosis of Caesar, Glorification of Augustus, The immortality of the poet.I personally chose this edition because the cover captured me, but the English translation and the commentary at the end of the book were excellent and easy to read. I enjoyed this book so much, from the beginning to end, that I'm gonna try reading it in Latin next time.