UMass Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press

Book Jacket: "The Metamorphoses of Ovid" translated by M. Simpson

Translated with an introduction and commentary by Michael Simpson

A highly readable new translation of Ovid’s classic work

Composed in Latin in the early years of the first century by the Roman poet Ovid, the Metamorphoses presents a collection of amazing tales of transformation based on Greek mythology and legend. Michael Simpson's prose translation of Ovid's masterpiece in the rapid and direct American idiom catches the swiftness and clarity of the Latin original. His introduction sketches the poet's life, describes his extant works, discusses his unusual exile to the west coast of the Black Sea (where he died), and provides a useful context for reading the Metamorphoses. Simpson has also prepared extensive endnotes that serve as mini-essays, illuminating the manifold aspects of the poem and offering commentary and interpretation that enable readers to enter Ovid's magical world and enjoy its richness.

"This is by far the best prose translation of Ovid's masterpiece. It fully captures the verve, nuance, and entertainment of Ovid's narration. The extensive and up-to-date notes are an additional bonus."

Karl Galinsky, University of Texas at Austin
"This translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses is a welcome surprise amid the many translations that have appeared in the past twenty years. It makes no strained effort to find a metrical scheme and pose as the modern equivalent to Ovid's poetic form. Instead, it seeks—and achieves with remarkable success—to render the flowing elegance of Ovid's narrative style with a sensitivity that captures the versatility of the Latin and of the stories that Ovid chose to tell. This is an especially effective text for studying Ovid."

William S. Anderson, University of California, Berkeley
"Simpson conveys the rapid flow of Ovid's wonderful mythological, epic-style poem in clear, accessible, and straightforward prose. The running commentary that accompanies the translation offers interesting and sometimes challenging interpretations, informed by recent scholarship and a concern with the meaning of the poem for a wide audience."

Charles Segal, Harvard University

Michael Simpson is professor of classics in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is author of Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The "Library" of Apollodorus (University of Massachusetts Press, 1976).

Classics / Poetry
512 pp., LC 00-069082
$39.95s cloth, ISBN 978-1-55849-309-4
$27.95s paper, ISBN 978-1-55849-399-5
2001 cloth, April 2003 paper
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