Metamorphoses in Ovid's Metamorphoses and Further Metamorphoses

Dec 31, 2019 Peter added it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

There is no rating with my review for a reason. I simply do not dare to assess such a masterpiece of literature. What I can write about, however, is my own experience with this “universal poem” as it is called in the epilogue. My first encounter with the Metamorphoses was back at grammar school, when we read and translated a few fragments. I remember that, after Caesar and Cicero, this was a wholly new experience. For the first time I realized the beauty of the Latin language and enjoyed what I ...more

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Dec 14, 2019 Elena rated it it was amazing

Like many classic epics, Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is an anthology, retelling ancient oral tales, all lined up and arranged in a loose narrative arc, not much different in structure from the Odyssey, Iliad, Aeneid, not to mention the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Gilgamesh epic, and Arabian Nights. Ovid focuses on tales of shape shifting identity twists....hence the title. So we get the tale of Diana and Actaeon in which the hunter becomes the hunted. With Narcissus and his reflection, beauty falls Like many classic epics, Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is an anthology, retelling ancient oral tales, all lined up and arranged in a loose narrative arc, not much different in structure from the Odyssey, Iliad, Aeneid, not to mention the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Gilgamesh epic, and Arabian Nights. Ovid focuses on tales of shape shifting identity twists....hence the title. So we get the tale of Diana and Actaeon in which the hunter becomes the hunted. With Narcissus and his reflection, beauty falls in love with itself. Then the artist Pygmalion falls in love with his own creation, that comes conveniently to life. The artist and his art are one, the dancer is the dance. And self-reflective story telling about the comforts of story telling is central to the main symbol of the poet-singer Orpheus. As with all these classic Greco-Roman stories, there is an abundance of rape and pillage, and badly misbehaving gods. In many ways these contentious, arbitrary and cruel gods provide a more logical explanation of history than the Judeo Christian notion of a noble and just god. It is the beauty of art and the magic of poetry and song that lift the stories from savage brutality to something transcendent. And highly ambiguous. After emphasizing the transitory nature of all things, Ovid boasts that his songs will live for ever, --where ever Rome rules -- a point he has already put in doubt. And he has this Roman leader turn divine and ascend into heaven in an apotheosis of ridiculous proportions, meant to flatter I suppose, but only if one accepts the nonsense. There are no ancient manuscripts of the text, but it did survive the collapse of the Roman Empire. What I cannot quite get a handle on is what was going through the minds of all those medieval monks who copied and recopied these pagan tales of lust and blood and magical transformations to preserve them after the fall of the Roman empire. What were those sedentary, theoretically celibate guys in the scriptoria actually thinking of. What was it that appealed to them? And did they make any changes in the text? We may never know...https://www.wdl.org/en/item/4524/ ...more

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Nov 08, 2018 Jim Puskas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Having worked my way through Mary Innes' prose translation and found it less than satisfying, I've now selected this version, which immediately on opening it sings a great deal better tune in my ear.
But for sheer enjoyment and colorful phrasing, there's nothing to match the sprightly fourteeners of the Golding of 1567, never mind the bizarre English words and archaic spelling. Golding has been roundly criticized for his wordiness (adding 2500 lines to Ovid's 12,000); personally, I care not a wh Having worked my way through Mary Innes' prose translation and found it less than satisfying, I've now selected this version, which immediately on opening it sings a great deal better tune in my ear.
But for sheer enjoyment and colorful phrasing, there's nothing to match the sprightly fourteeners of the Golding of 1567, never mind the bizarre English words and archaic spelling. Golding has been roundly criticized for his wordiness (adding 2500 lines to Ovid's 12,000); personally, I care not a whit, it's simply fun to read! So now I'm reading the Mandelbaum and the Golding simultaneously, while keeping the Miller translation with its Latin at hand for reference.
Having just finished Book I, a couple of thoughts: One is constantly reminded that this is simply a collection of linked short stories, all of them colorful, many of them able to stand on their own. Constructing a cohesive story arc out of all this must have presented quite a challenge. I found that Book I in fact breaks down into three separate story arcs, with only the flimsiest of bridges connecting the first to the second and the second to the third.
It's the recurring themes rather than a cohesive narrative that actually holds the stories together. In addition to the transformation motif, there is a pervasive rivalry among the gods and the gods' resentment of mortal impiousness or disrespect. There's one additional emerging theme that I plan to explore further as we move along: The complexity of parent-offspring relationships. That's a topic that offers a wealth of dramatic possibilities and one that I've often encountered in the world of opera.
Over the 15 months that we've taken to read, discuss, deconstruct, extrapolate and ruminate upon the Metamorphoses, we've ventured far afield; our collective commentaries range far beyond any evaluation of this (or any) particular translation. And each of the many translations bring into the discussion unique insights into the original work, coloring the end product with the translator's interpretation of Ovid's spare Latin verse. Further, our modern day images that we retain have been further modified, elaborated, enriched by the many thousands of artworks inspired by Ovid's words.
In the end, I've come to a view that no single version can ever be considered definitive, while each has its own merits. For me, this translation by Mandelbaum has proven the most satisfactory. For much expanded comments, go to https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
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Oct 07, 2019 Faizah rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

A definite must-read for anyone with even the slightest bit of interest in classical mythology or art history. If you're a connoisseur of art and literature in any sense of the word, you'll start seeing its influence lighting up in little bright spots across centuries of artworks and literary opuses.

I would class this as being amongst the more accessible works of ancient epic literature, especially when compared to Homer (whose works I have yet to read into completion). The stories are short but ...more

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Sep 06, 2018 Jim Puskas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, folklore-mythology

I've refrained from commenting directly on this book until now, having been part of a group reading Ovid for the past 15 months. This can hardly be chosen as one's primary version of Ovid, several excellent modern translations being available. That said, what an entertaining treat this one is, swinging along rhythmically in 'fourteens' meter, gaily decorated with whimsical Shakespearean-era language! Golding seems to have felt no compunction in adding little details (some researched from other s ...more

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Jun 21, 2020 Sylvia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: over-de-oude-romeinen, dit-boek-heb-ik

(Deze review is geschreven bij de vertaling door Marietje d’Hane-Scheltema, inmiddels zijn er twee vertalingen bijgekomen: van Piet Schrijvers en van Harrie Geleen die ik afgelopen maand allebei heb gelezen)

Meer dan een jaar heb ik erover gedaan om dit boek helemaal te lezen. Deels omdat er gewoonweg andere boeken voorbij kwamen, maar ook doordat ik het lastig vond het boek te doorgronden. Recent heb ik het boek “Altijd alles anders” gelezen, ook van mevrouw d’Hane-Scheltema, waarin zij veel ver ...more

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