Metamorphoses

Ovid's Metamorphoses, completed around AD8, shows the presence and prevalence of change in the world. Beginning with chaos and creation, Ovid embraces a vast array of mythological tales within his theme of transformation. Phaeton, Narcissus, Pyramus and This be, Daedal us and Icarus are only a few of the most famous. Passing through these to the serio-comic retellings of the Trojan War, the travels of Aeneas, and the events of Roman history down to Ovid's own times, his readers find infinite variety in a work that is, by turns, funny, pathetic and violent - always unpredictable and always engrossing. John Dryden's translations are featured in these collaborative Metamorphoses, first issued in 1717, to which eighteen translators contributed under the editorship of Sir Samuel Garth. Composed in a poetic idiom well suited to the satiric and mock-heroic aspects of this work, this is the only translation that can match Ovid's wit and stylistic sophistication.

INTRODUCTION by Gartb Tissol
A PPEFACE IN BEHALF OF THE TRANSLATORS
BOOK THE FIRST By Mr Dryden
The Creation of the World
The Golden Age
The Silver Age
The Brazen Age
The Giants' War
The Transformation of Daphne into a Lawrel
The Transformation of Io into a Heyfer
The Eyes of Argus transform'd into a Peacock's Train
The Transformation of Syrinx into Reeds
BOOK THE FIRST By Mr Adddison
The Story of Phaeton
Phaeton's Sisters transform'd into Trees
The Transformation of Cycnus into a Swan
The Story of Calisto
The Story of Calisto,and Birth of Aesculapius
Ocyrrhoe transform'd to a Mare
The Transforation of Battus to a Touchstone
The Story of Aglauros ,transform'd into a Statue
Europa's Rape
BOOK THE FIRST By Mr Addison
BOOK THE FOURTH
BOOK THE FIRST By Artbur Mainwaring
BOOK THE FIRST By Mr Croxall
BOOK THE SEVENTH
BOOK THE EIGHTH
BOOK THE NINTH
BOOK THE TENTH
BOOK THE ELEVENTH
BOOK THE TWELFTH By Mr Dryden
BOOK THE THIRTEENTH
BOOK THE FIRST By Sir Samuel Gartb,M.D.
BOOK THE FIFTEENTH