Metamorphoses: A New Translation

Ovid, or Publius Ovidius Naso, justly deserves his acclaim as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature alongside Horace and Virgil. And he knows it and doesn't bother to hide it, as he appends this bit of encomium to himself at the very end: My work is finished now: no wrath of Jove nor sword nor fire nor futurity is capable of laying waste to it. ... wherever Roman governance extends over the subject nations of the world, my words will be upon the people's lips and if there is truth in poets' prophesies [sic, Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus, as the Romans would say] then in my fame forever I will live. So he is the worst kind of genius: a genius who knows he is a genius. Witty, elegant, and lively, his Metamorphoses is a masterpiece of epic poetry that tells of the myriad odd transformations that mythical (and sometimes historical) figures from Orpheus and Icarus to Romulus and Julius Caesar go through. Throughout, he is delightfully and cuttingly mocking of pretty much the entire epic tradition and every great poet that came before him, including no less authors than Virgil and Homer themselves. In at least three elaborate scenes, he makes so much fun of epic battles and they are hilariously and eerily reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's comical massacre scene in his Kill Bill Vol. 1. Hell, Ovid can be tragic, comic, moving, and sarcastic/satirical all at the same time without lacking in elegance. The poem, 15 books of 1,000 lines per book, so seamlessly integrates story after story of wildly differing genres and plots and lengths that it feels like you're reading a single monomyth without getting bored or overwhelmed. In fact, befitting its title, the stories are constantly changing and sprouting out - each little story feeding into the next and each book spilling into the next without pauses - always keeping the reader on his toe and more often than not leaving the reader breathless and reeling. Charles Martin did a superb job translating the work. He uses free verse in rendering Latin dactylic hexameter into iambic-friendly English, and it is really good. It's lively, swift, and above all, elegant - or in other words, as Ovid ought to be. Except in the scene where the Muses battle it out with the Pierides, a.k.a. P-Airides whose verse is rendered in modern rap, the translation had everything right and good (though even the surreal rap battle scene was not so bad - just weird). If you're looking to read Ovid, buy this edition. It apparently doesn't add anything new to the original (as many editions do, rather profusely and liberally and thus preposterously), faithful to the original, and very reader-friendly. In my opinion, it belongs to the best translations of the classics.

Translating books from Greek or Latin is a tricky job. Ovid's "Metamorphoses" was a textbook I had way back when I took for my Masters in art history, and that version was so dry it was unbearable. Understanding the kind of person supposedly was, how could this be true? It would be like if the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini had been written like a police report. This translation by Charles Martin is lively, engaging, and has the spark I can imagine Ovid likely wanted the reader to feel. The translation does use modern idioms and phrasing, making this a less "literal" translation, but if you consider that Ovid likely used idioms of his day to express the drama and excitement, then this is an acceptable practice. If you are a fan of Ovid, this translation will enthrall you.

There is some criticism against this book for using colloquial language. I don't think it is entirely fair. The author has clearly taken great care to render Ovid in English. In my opinion, the book is masterfully written and engrossing. It is understandable that modern slang could be jarring in a classical translation. I do not read Latin but, based on the text as a whole, I think it is safe to assume the author was only trying to render Ovid's language in a cadence that would connect with the modern ear. Colloquialisms are uncommon and when they do appear they are attributed to vulgar characters. This is an excellent book. Do not let a few colloquialisms deter you from buying it.

First off, I'm not a scholar of Latin, nor of Ovid. I do speak another language, though, so I'm familiar with the problems of translations. That said, my impression of this translation is that it is a vivid and entertaining read. Many of the stories are familiar to any educated person, especially because they form the subject matter for many of the Western world's most famous paintings and sculptures. Martin makes the stories come alive, painting striking visual images with his words while gracefully preserving the rhythmic drive that seems to have been part of the original. And all this while translating from Latin, whose case-driven structure is quite different from English! It's impressive - and fun to read.

I bought this book for use in a literature course. A word of warning: if you need it for a similar purpose, get a different kindle version also, or buy a print edition. There is a segment of Book X and a larger segment of Book VII where the line numbers are missing. This makes referencing lines from those portions very tedious unless you just love counting or you have another version from which you can obtain the proper line reference. Otherwise, I like the translation very much.

Just as pictured and arrived quickly! The description of the book is consistent with the actual book. Happy customer!

I am teaching this with upper-level seniors. It's approachable, engaging, and fun. My students are enjoying this piece of literature more than imagined they might. I will definitely keep this in the line-up for a few years because of the feedback I'm getting from the students.

Great fun and high culture too. Ancient Roman classic comics. Ovid knits together over 200 old stories from the mythology he received in mock heroic style, but lets you know that although he thinks they are great stories he's not taking the myths completely seriously by every once in while making asides like (nudge nudge wink wink) "and this next part is almost impossible to believe ..." But besides the fun, this is the source for stories retold by many later writers and depicted in paintings you are likely to see in fine art museums.

used it for reading

Like Orpheus's song, this translation vibrates with astonishing sound. Although I am not an Ovid scholar, I related to this verse translation at once and found it reads fluently. I would recommend it without restrictions, believing the translator's modern choice of words is an asset to this classical work.

🖤 Excellent 🤍 As Described