Introducing Ovid’s Metamorphoses

When Virgil died in 19 BCE, the Aeneid became an instant classic, and even before his death references had been made to it in the works of other authors. In some ways it may have seemed impossible to write epic now – how could you follow up Virgil? The up and coming poet, Publius Ovidius Naso was working on quite a different form of poetry, and composed his love poems, the Amores around the time of Virgil’s death. Even in a different genre, Ovid cannot help but be aware of the Aeneid’s presence; but when he did come to write his own epic poem, he chose to give us an alternative to the traditional, monolithic narrative. The Metamorphoses deconstructs epic poetry and is a brilliantly daring composition in its own right.

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