Ovid Metamorphosed

by Philip Terry (editor), Margaret Atwood (contributor), A.S. Byatt (contributor)

Philip Terry asked a number of contemporary writers to take a story from Ovid as their starting point and to set their imaginations free. The results are varied, startling, scary, sexy, endlessly illuminating and suggestive, often changing the shape of the modern short story itself. Contributors include Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, M.J. Fitzgerald, Paul Griffiths, Sunit Namjoshi, Joyce Carol Oates, Michele Roberts, Marina Warner, Paul West and others.

Genres: Short Stories, Mythology, Classics, Fiction, Anthologies

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sophie (RedheadReading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read! I will add my voice to the other reviewers saying that it is a bit of a mixed bag, but there were three real standouts to me which made me really glad to have read this collection.

[Weasel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy going as I didn't find many of the authors wrote in a style that I enjoyed sadly.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised by some of the names in this collection – A.S. Byatt, Margaret Atwood, and Joyce Carol Oates to name a few. Many authors took a very somber, heavy tone in their retellings, and others were quite tongue-in-cheek.

What stood out to me the most was how much harder it was for me to read all of the rape and violence in Ovid’s myths when they were presented in the short-story format. They weighed heavier on me, and I felt more intimately connected to the women. Many authors added further rape and violence to Ovid’s original tales, which is understandable given their frequency in myth but, again, hard to read.

Three stars because this was a mixed bag – I loved some of the retellings and thought they added a lot to my understanding of the original, and a felt very MEHHHH about others.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

As another reviewer said, three stars for a (very) mixed bag. Some of these were wonderful and made me immediately want to go out and buy more of the author's work, some I found a surprise and sat wondering "why THIS volume, editor?" (A.S. Byatt was one such, though I did quite like the piece), and some were just... painful to read. Whether because the punctuation was offputting (one of J. C. O's sentences literally went for *an entire page*) or stylistic choice (Leto's Flight. No. The filth and gore was just not necessary). Overall though, a lovely set of interpretations and reinterpretations of one of my favourite writers, and a work I will take much glee in inflicting upon the next lot of students who are unfortunate enough to have me for their tutor on Ovidian reception studies.

[Delia Marrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn't love the horrendous tales of mischievous gods who are down right horrible? Greek mythology is not for the faint of heart.