Ovid's Metamorphoses Books 6-10

“Everything changes, nothing dies: the spirit wanders, arriving here or there,
occupying whatever body it pleases.”

Part II of our three-part, year-long reading of Ovid presents a perfect opportunity for new readers to join this study. The episodic structure of the Metamorphoses invites entry into the poem at any point along the way. In books 6 through 10, Ovid continues his artful version of the famous and infamous tales of gods and humans, among them the stories of Jason and Medea, Daedalus and Icarus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Venus and Adonis, Arachne, Niobe, Pygmalion, and Hercules.

The Roman poet Ovid’s (43 BCE – 17 CE) masterful work Metamorphoses weaves together over 200 of the most famous myths of the Greeks and Romans. Pulsating with energy, wit, sensuality and sensitivity, his epic poetic tapestry envisions the history of the cosmos as an unbroken and intertwining stream that stretches from the creation of the world to the rise of the Caesars. Ovid’s ever-flowing narrative explores life’s many changes, from the intimacies—and violence—of human love and desire, to the global scale of destruction and renewal.

Our study will read from two translations of the Metamorphoses, including the recently released version by Stephanie McCarter (please read notes below), that seek to address questions of accuracy in translation and the representation of women, gendered dynamics of power, and sexual violence in Ovid’s classic.

 If you have any questions about this study, please contact facilitator Mark Cwik.

STUDY DETAILS:

• Fifteen-week virtual study (on Zoom), 11 January – 25 April 2024 (N.B. no meeting on 15 February)
• Thursdays, 3.00-5.15 pm (UK), facilitated by Mark Cwik
• £375 for fifteen-week study
• Recommended editions:

  • The Metamorphoses of Ovid, translated by Allen Mandelbaum
    Harcourt/HMH/Mariner Books (1995)
    ISBN-13: 978-0156001267
  • Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by Stephanie McCarter
    Penguin Classics (13 April 2023)
    ISBN-13: 978-0525505990