Metamorphoses Read-along: Introduction

Welcome to our second annual Classics read-along!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we read Homer’s Odyssey together, and I’m so excited to get stuck into Ovid and to discuss my favourite characters and scenes and quotes with you again.

I studied some sections of the Metamorphoses at university but I’ve never read the entire text before - let alone from beginning to end! - so I’m very intrigued to see what it’s like taken as a whole.

The text is very episodic in nature: it’s roughly chronological, with a central theme of transformation, but divided into dozens (and dozens!) of smaller stories and myths, many of which I’m sure you’ll recognise from music, cinema, theatre, art, modern literature, or other ancient texts you might have read.

This means that you can dip in and out of the text if you find that you don’t have the time to commit to reading the entire Metamorphoses. You can choose to read the stories featuring the characters you recognise, or the ones you don’t; you can skip the stories you might find trigging or upsetting - and in fact, I would advise that you do.

As well as dealing with transformation, the Metamorphoses is also about power: who holds power, who doesn’t, and how power is exploited. This often manifests as rape and sexual assault.

The text can be heavy. But it can be fun, too - it is at times silly and whimsical and light-hearted, just as it is tragic and emotive and challenging. However you choose to read it, and however you choose to join in with the read-along, I hope you will find a way to enjoy it.

How the read-along will work:

Each week, starting from Monday 5th June, we will read one Book of the Metamorphoses. I’d encourage you to annotate your text or make notes as you read, because each Sunday we will gather to discuss what we’ve read that week!

I’ll appear on Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr around 12pm each Sunday to share some of my favourite moments from what we’ve read, and encourage you to share your thoughts, too.

If you can’t wait until the Sunday discussions, you can post your thoughts at any time during the week - make sure you use the hashtag #MetamorphosesReadalong so we can join in with you!

I’m also going to post a ‘reading guide’ here on my website each Friday: this will include a summary of the book we’re reading that week, along with a deep-dive into my favourite story from that book, and some tips for further exploration. These tips will include other ancient texts Ovid drew inspiration from for the characters and themes of that Book, as well as ideas for exploring the stories further through art, theatre, cinema, comedy, and literature.

To get you started, here are some general guides to Ovid and his Metamorphoses:

Retellings:

Metamorphoses, Classics For Plebs
Attica retells Ovid’s Metamorphoses - currently up to Book 9.

Audio Read-alongs:

Liv Reads Ovid: The Metamorphoses, Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!
Liv reads the Metamorphoses, from the Bookes More translation - currently up to book 8.

About Ovid:

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Ovid, BBC Sounds
Natalie Haynes discusses Ovid’s life and works with Llewelyn Morgan and Michael Squire.

In Our Time: Ovid, BBC Sounds
Melvin Bragg discusses Ovid’s life and works with Maria Wyke, Gail Trimble, and Dunstan Lowe.

About the Metamorphoses:

Chronology & Mythology Don’t Mix, Unless They Do… Time In Ovid’s Metamorphoses w/ Freddie Kimpton, Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!
Liv talks to Freddie Kimpton, PhD student, about time and chronology in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Ovid in Changing Times, BBC Sounds
Tom Holland discusses Ovid’s Metamorphoses and its cultural influence.

Author Interviews:

How a New Translation Changes The Way We Understand Ovid’s METAMORPHOSES (w/ Stephanie McCarter), Moan Inc.
Erica interviews Stephanie McCarter, the translator of the latest edition of the Metamorphoses (and the one I’m reading for this read-along!)

Bringing New Life to Everyone’s Favourite Roman, Translating Ovid w/ Stephanie McCarter, Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!
Another interview with Stephanie McCarter, translator of the Metamorphoses!

ClassicsNow 23: Helen Morales and Stephanie McCarter, ClassicsNow
Helen Morales, author of Antigone Rising, talks to Stephanie McCarter, translator of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses Retold: NINA MACLAUGHLIN Discusses The Ancient Women of “Wake, Siren”, Moan Inc.
Erica interviews Nina MacLaughlin, the author of Wake, Siren, a modern retelling of the Metamorphoses from its female characters’ points of view.