Dec 19, 2009

The Metamorphoses of Ovid | Summary

Ovid himself sums up his poetic intention in the introductory quatrain (four-line unit) of the Metamorphoses:

My intention is to tell of bodies changed
To different forms; the gods, who made the changes,
Will help me — or I hope so — with a poem
That runs from the world’s beginning to our own days.

These few lines explain that he will sing about changes: that the changes were brought about by the gods; and that he will sing a continuous song, encompassing tales from the creation of the world to his own time....