The Metamorphoses

Ovid's mock-epic of transformation, stringing some 250 myths from creation to Caesar's apotheosis.

Specifications & Metrics

author

Ovid

type

Epic poem / mythological compendium

era

Augustan Rome (8 AD)

language

Latin

verse form

Dactylic hexameter

cantos count

15

Core Principles & Analysis

• Fifteen books hold some 250 myths linked by the theme of change.
• Its close on Pythagoras's philosophy of flux frames the whole as transformation.
• Ovid's exile in 8 AD coincided with the poem's completion.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Metamorphoses