About this title: Ovid's epic poem-whose theme of change has resonated throughout the ages-is one of the most important texts of Western imagination. Charles Martin combines a close fidelity to Ovid's text with verse that catches the speed and liveliness of the original. Martin's Metamorphoses will be the translation of choice for contemporary readers in English. ...
read more
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780393326420ISBN:039332642X
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Like New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 624 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Fine. 039332642X NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black ink mark on outside edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780393326420ISBN:039332642X
Description: Good. Nice copy with rubbing & crease to wraps, corner edge wear & minor ink. 597 pp. "Ovid's epic poem-whose theme of change has resonated throughout the ages-is one of the most important texts of Western imagination, an inspiration from Dante's times to the present day, when writers such as Salman Rushdie and Italo Calvino have found a living source in Ovid's work. Charles Martin combines a close fidelity to Ovid's text with verse that catches the speed and liveliness of the original. Martin ... read more
Description: Very Good. 039332642X Pub date: 2005. Condition: Very Good. Has moderate shelf wear. Great used condition. We are a tested and proven company with over 400, 000 satisfied customers since 1997. Choose expedited shipping for much faster delivery. Delivery confirmation on all US. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
Date Published: 2005-01-30
ISBN-13:9780393326420ISBN:039332642X
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780393326420. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780393326420ISBN:039332642X
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"Do not look to this book as though it was an anthology of Gods from many years back. Ovid was a tortured man by the time that he got to work and finished his wonderful collection of imaginative transformations, and reading between the stories, one can feel his isolation and rage for the powers that were at the time. This book is great for the analysis of a history; this narrative poem is compiled so nicely and written so brilliantly that there is much to be learned about the life and times of the Roman Empire surrounding the dawning of Christ. Keep in mind that deep analysis should play a major part in your deciphering of the words that Ovid pieced together in order to take the most away from this classic."
"I think this is a fantastic work. I can't speak to it from a translation standpoint; I don't know Latin. However, after reading the translator's rationale, and then reading the book, I was much more moved than I was reading the older Mary Innes translation. I wish my grasp of the more "minor" tales had been better so that I could have really enjoyed Ovid's incessant name-dropping; instead, it became a constant movement back and forth between the lines, the notes, and the glossary. I don't think this translation would work well for the casual reader, but if you're into the idea of reading Ovid, this is the translation you want."
""While Ceres was a-eating this, before her gazing stood A hard fast boy, a shrewd pert wag that could no manners good; He laugh`ed at her and in scorn did call her greedy gut."
I read the Arthur Golding translation from 1567. This was somewhat trying and became a bit of a test of endurance over time. On the other hand the language, at least in this edition, seems quite modern. There is a glossary for the unfamiliar words, but I didn't need to use it very often.
On the whole I did find reading it rewarding. I read substantial portions of it aloud. The whole thing is written in fourteeners which at times would get rather drowsy in a dum-de-dum-de-dum-de-dum kind of way. However, attention to meter is one of my weaker points in reading poetry so I was looking for something with regular meter to help me track it. There was also a lot of complexity at times with the way that the semantic stress of sentances overlay the natural rythm of the lines, particularly because they are such long lines that they tend to have a rythm that wants to read like a sentence. The lines are also rymed in pairs. I definitely feel that though still quite an amateur in these matters the reading of this whole book with these constant auditory cues has helped me to be more attuned to this level of craftsmanship in poetry but I suppose the final judgment on that will have to come when I try to read something else.
As for the content, I found it to be somewhat similar. The stories were for the most part entertaining but there is a similar effect to plodding rythm in the repetition of certain elements. A lot of people were turned into trees, birds, or for the occaisonal variation, flowers. There are also at times passages that really had very little interest to me and I must admit I skimmed. There weren't very many of these. There is also a bit of the geneology type stuff that can get old in terms of someone being the related to some god or another this way or that.
Of course it is was also rewarding in that these stories form the backbone of much of western culture. It's amazing for me to think at times about the fact that these stories were ancient Greek folk tales that had been recast by a first century AD Roman poet, translated by a 16th century Englishman, and being read by me a person in 21st century America. Furthermore, this being the version of Ovid that Shakespeare read, that these stories have impacted western culture and me in a deep way through that poets work as well. This was driven home for me particularly in noticing the parallel between the story of Pyramus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet, although I had know this story long ago.
At it's best, interesting stories flow seamlessly into one another. At it's worst it can be a plod of uninteresting details and material without much narrative form. On the whole worth the work."
"This translation (by David Slavitt) has beautiful imagery and descriptive language. He also really captures the "read-aloud" feel of this epic poem.
Each story is connected to the one before it and after it, sometimes by the thinnest of threads, but Ovid manages to make them all flow together in a (mostly) logical order. The theme of changing (metamorphoses) shines through every tale. Most, if not all, of the stories had some unfortunate turning into an animal or a tree or turned to stone by Medusa's head. So many characters and relationships between them that it's hard (if not impossible) to keep them all straight.
I had forgotten how much of Greek and Roman mythology is based on rape and violence. Lots of rape. And very gory explicit violence. The gods were some of the worst offenders on both counts - talk about a sense of entitlement. I always wondered what it reveals about a culture that their gods were so capricious, self-centered, vindictive and inconstant."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
