Synopses & Reviews
It is savage and sophisticated, mischievous and majestic, witty and wicked. In its earthiness, its psychological acuity, it speaks over the centuries to our time. And with this new "fluid, readable, and accurate rendition" (
Library Journal), the
Metamorphoses for our age has been created.
The Metamorphoses is a treasury of classical myths, filtered through the far from reverent sensibility of the Roman poet Ovid (43 B.C.-A.D. 17). It weaves together every major mythological story to display a dazzling array of miraculous metamorphoses, from the time chaos is transformed into order at the moment of creation, to the time when the soul of Julius Caesar is turned into a star and set in the heavens. Through the poetic artistry of Allen Mandelbaum, this glorious achievement of classical literature, whose influence on English literature is rivaled perhaps only by that of the Bible, is revealed anew.
Review
"Mandelbaum's Ovid, like his Dante, is unlikely to be equalled for years to come." Bloomsbury Review
Review
"Reading Mandelbaum's extraordinary translation, one imagines Ovid in his darkest moods with the heart of Baudelaire....Mandelbaum's translation is brilliant. It throws off the stiff and mild homogeneity of former translations and exposes the vivid colors of mockery, laughter, and poison woven so beautifully by the master." Stuart Whitwell, Booklist
Review
"Mandelbaum...offers a fluid, readable, and accurate rendition of Ovid's elegant and witty verse. A happy contribution both to the student of literature and the lover of mythology." Library Journal
Synopsis
First published in 8 A.D. when he was 52, Ovid's epic poem contains profoundly entertaining tales of Adonis, Midas, Apollo, Icarus, and many others.
Synopsis
Through National Book Award-winning translator Allen Mandelbaum's poetic artistry, this gloriously entertaining achievement of literature -- classical myths filtered through the worldly and far from reverent sensibility of the Roman poet Ovid -- is revealed anew.Savage and sophisticated, mischievious and majestic, witty and wicked, The Metamorphoses weaves together every major mythological story to display a dazzling array of miraculous changes, from the time chaos is transformed into order at the moment of creation, to the time when the soul of Julius Caeser is turned into a star and set in the heavens. In its earthiness, its psychological acuity, this classic work continues to speak over the centuries to our time. Reading Mandelbaum's extraordinary translation, one imagines Ovid in his darkest moods with the heart of Baudelaire...Brilliant. -- Booklist
Synopsis
Through Mandelbaums poetic artistry, this gloriously entertaining achievement of literature-classical myths filtered through the worldly and far from reverent sensibility of the Roman poet Ovid-is revealed anew. “[An] extraordinary translation...brilliant” (Booklist). With an Introduction by the Translator.
About the Author
Allen Mandelbaum is the author of five verse volumes. His translations of Homer, Dante, Virgil, Quasimodo, and Ungaretti have all been richly praised. For his translation of The Aeneid, he won the National Book Award. Mandelbaum is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Humanities at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.