Comprising fifteen books and over two hundred and fifty myths, Ovid's Metamorphoses is one of the longest extant Latin poems from the ancient world and one of the most influential works in Western culture. It is an epic on desire and transgression that became a gateway to the entire world of pagan mythology and visual imagination. This, the first complete commentary in English, covers all aspects of the text – from textual interpretation to poetics, imagination, and ideology – and will be useful as a teaching aid and an orientation for those who are interested in the text and its reception. Historically, the poem's audience includes readers interested in opera and ballet, psychology and sexuality, myth and painting, feminism and posthumanism, vegetarianism and metempsychosis (to name just a few outside the area of Classical Studies).

The verse-by-verse commentary on the Ovidian text includes the reading of more than 300 manuscripts, including the so-called Heinsian manuscripts, and of almost 100 editions, from the two "editiones principes" of 1471 to the present day. The introduction describes the manuscripts used, and a history of the Ovidian editions is also traced. A new text of book VI is presented, accompanied by a slim and lucid critical apparatus. Futher information appears in the commentary and in the appendices, particularly readings of manuscripts and editions. The verbatim commentary offers, with reliable quotes for each term, the critical observations of all the editors and commentators of the Ovidian work throughout the centuries. This aspect of critical edition has been neglected by commentators of Ovid since Heinsius (1659) and Burman (1727). Two appendices ("Readings of manuscripts" and "Readings of editions") are added for the first time for readers of the Ovidian work. The volume closes with a "Select index of textual problems", a large "Index locorum" and an "Index nominum".

Ovid is a poet to enjoy, declares William S. Anderson in his introduction to this textbook. And Anderson’s skillful introduction and enlightening textual commentary will indeed make it a joy to use. In these books Ovid begins to leave the conflict between men and the gods to concentrate on the relations among human beings. Subjects of the stories include Arachne and Niobe; Tereus, Procne, and Philomela; Medea and Jason; Orpheus and Eurydice; and many others, familiar and unfamiliar. For students of Latin-and teachers, too-they provide an interesting experience. In his introduction the editor discusses Ovid’s career, the reputation of the Metamorphoses during Ovid’s time and after, and the various manuscripts that exist or have been known to exist. He describes the general plan of the poem, its main theme, and the problem of its tone. Technical matters, such as style and meter, are also considered. In notes the editor summarizes the story being told before proceeding to the line-by-line textual comments.

This extract from Ovid's 'Theban History' recounts the confrontation of Pentheus, king of Thebes, with his divine cousin, Bacchus, the god of wine. Notwithstanding the warnings of the seer Tiresias and the cautionary tale of a character Acoetes (perhaps Bacchus in disguise), who tells of how the god once transformed a group of blasphemous sailors into dolphins, Pentheus refuses to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus or allow his worship at Thebes. Enraged, yet curious to witness the orgiastic rites of the nascent cult, Pentheus conceals himself in a grove on Mt. Cithaeron near the locus of the ceremonies. But in the course of the rites he is spotted by the female participants who rush upon him in a delusional frenzy, his mother and sisters in the vanguard, and tear him limb from limb.The episode abounds in themes of abiding interest, not least the clash between the authoritarian personality of Pentheus, who embodies 'law and order', masculine prowess, and the martial ethos of his city, and Bacchus, a somewhat effeminate god of orgiastic excess, who revels in the delusional and the deceptive, the transgression of boundaries, and the blurring of gender distinctions.This course book offers a wide-ranging introduction, the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and an extensive commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Gildenhard and Zissos's incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at AS and undergraduate level. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Ovid's poetry and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

The text of Ovid's Metamorphoses is not as indisputably established as one might think. 550 manuscripts, 500 editions and reprints, as well as countless critical notes must be taken into account when trying to determine the most reliable text. Thi