If alive I offend the living and dead I offend the dead, throw me from both zones:
change me.
—Ovid, “Myrrha”, Metamorphoses
The poet Ovid plays a central role in Roman literary history and culture. Best known for his Metamorphoses, a 15-book mythological epic, and his collections of love poetry, particularly Amores and Ars Amatoria, Ovid’s poetry has greatly influenced Western art, and his works remain some of the most important sources of classical mythology. From Perseus’s killing of Medusa to the story of Venus and Adonis, the heroes, gods, nymphs, and characters of the classical world are brought to life. From Jane Alison’s new translation, Change Me: Stories of Sexual Transformation from Ovid, here is a slideshow of scenes from Ovid’s stories in art.
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Tristia 2.519
“My poems have often been danced for a crowd.
(Roman mosaic, 3rd CE) -
Amores 1.4
“So your man will be at the dinner party, too. I wish it were his last supper.”
(Roman mosaic, 2nd CE) -
Arachne
“The two set up in separate stations and stretch fine threads upon twinned looms.”
(black-figure lekythos, 550–530 BCE) -
Actaeon
“They cluster upon him, muzzles deep in his flesh, and tear apart their master.”
(red-figure bell crater, about c. 470 BCE) -
Perseus and Andromeda (and Medusa)
“While she and the snakes were deeply asleep he swiped the head from her neck…”
(red-figure pelike, 475–425 BCE) -
Perseus and Andromeda (and Medusa)
“He was so entranced by the image he saw that he almost forgot to keep beating his
wings.”
(fresco, last decade of 1st BCE) -
Europa
“She clutches his horn with one hand and his back with the other. Her shivering
veils flit in the wind…”
(marble, early mid-2nd CE) -
Salmacis
“She just bathed her lovely self in her pond, often drew a boxwood comb through her hair, and gazed in her glassy pool to see what looked best.”
(red-figure amphora, 6th BCE) -
Proserpina
“Dis controlled his temper no more: he spurred the frothing horses, swung his royal sceptre, and plunged it deep in the pool’s sunken bed.”
(marble sarcophagus, c. 140–150 CE) -
Hyacinth
“The two stripped off their clothes, slicked their skin with sleek olive oil, and set off to compete with the discus.”
(red-figure cup, 5th BCE) -
Atalanta
“I won’t be had unless beaten in a race. So race with me.”
(mosaic, late 3rd or early 4th CE) -
Adonis
“Adonis pierced the boar with a slanting thrust.”
(red figure cup, 500–475 BCE) -
Glaucus
“I used to be human but, it’s true, addicted to ocean, for my work was with the sea.”
(red-figure cup, 510–500 BCE) -
Scylla
“She stands amid raving dogs that were once her poor hips.”
(terracotta relief, 5th BCE) -
Myrrha
“If alive I offend the living and dead I offend the dead, throw me from both zones:
change me.”
(terracotta, 3rd BCE) -
Tiresias
“In greening woods one day he’d seen a pair of snakes entwined and struck them with his walking-stick—then changed from man to woman.”
(bronze, forming handle of drawer or door, Roman)
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