10 things about Ovid's Metamorphoses

Ovid (43 B.C. – 17/18 A.D.) was a Roman poet. Metamorphoses is his most famous work. It contains over 200 stories in which transformations serve as the central theme. In all of these stories, one idea is central: everything is constantly changing.

According to Ovid, everything began with chaos. The four elements – earth, air, fire and water – struggled to find their place. An unknown deity brought order: fire rose to the sky, water filled the seas, earth stayed firm and air hovered in between. In this way, the elements found their harmony and brought balance to the world.

A golden age began: people lived carefree, in harmony with nature. The earth was fertile, the weather mild and there was no work or war. Then came the Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages, in which the world gradually declined, violence increased and people had to work harder and harder to survive.

Not only the world changes, but the relationship between gods and humans is constantly shifting as well. The Titan Prometheus gave fire to humans so they could survive and develop. Angry at this act, the Jupiter had him chained to a rock, where an eagle ate his liver every day, only for it to grow back at night. Eventually, Hercules freed him by killing the eagle and breaking the chains.

In the Metamorphoses, Jupiter assumes various disguises to seduce women. His loves are rarely mutual and often overpowering. One of his victims is Io, a priestess of Jupiter’s wife, Juno. In Ovid’s myth, Jupiter covers the earth in mist to conceal his act. To hide Io from his spouse, Jupiter transforms her into a white heifer. Juno demands the calf as a gift and has her guarded by Argus, the giant with a hundred eyes. He is killed by Mercury, and after a long wandering, Jupiter grants Io immortality.

Zeus also set his sights on Leda, the queen of Sparta. When he failed to persuade her to have sexual relations with him, he transformed himself into a swan and overpowered her. Nine months later, she gave birth to twins, said to have hatched from an egg.

Sometimes the power of change does not come from the gods, but from humans itself. Narcissus, a handsome youth, rejected everyone who loved him. One day he saw his own reflection in a pool of water and fell madly in love with it. He does not realize that it is only a fleeting reflection, and this leads to his downfall. According to Ovid, he ultimately transforms into a narcissus on the water’s edge. With this painting, Caravaggio shows that painting, too, is merely a mirror of reality.

Medusa, a priestess of Minerva, is raped by Neptune in the temple. Not he, but the victim, is punished. Enraged, Minerva transforms her into a monster with snakes for hair and a gaze that turns anyone to stone. She continues to live in isolation until Perseus beheads her and uses her head as a weapon. Once meant to intimidate, her head is now a symbol of strength: a weapon and a sign of female rage and resilience.

Pygmalion, a gifted sculptor, wanted nothing to do with real women and therefore created a perfect female figure out of ivory. He fell in love with his own artwork and asked Venus to bring the statue to life. His wish was granted: the statue came to life, and Pygmalion married Galatea.

In Ovid’s stories, people, gods, and objects constantly change form, but nothing ever truly disappears. This is also true of Marsyas, an overconfident satyr. He challenged Apollo to a musical contest - and lost. Apollo flayed him alive. During the Renaissance, this story was interpreted as a metaphor: the soul is set free and can thus make its way to another body. Once the soul has claimed that new body, the metamorphosis has taken place.