The primary pleasure of the book is to read about a great poem through the words of a sensitive and experienced teacher, who wears his erudition very lightly. It offers an introduction to Ovid's Metamorphoses and the life of the poet, guiding the reader through some of the epic’s most memorable moments. Newlands, author of Playing with Time: Ovid and the Fasti These are serious themes, but Williams adopts some of Ovid’s own wit and psychological nuance, providing an accessible and intellectually exciting approach to the Metamorphoses. Lucid, insightful, and lively, this book offers compelling new interpretations of Ovid that speak to current issues such as fake news, deceptive speech, sexual violence, gender inequity, and strategies of resistance within an autocracy. Genevieve Liveley, author of Ovid’s Metamorphoses: A Reader’s Guide The perfect sidekick to accompany readers on their journey through Ovid’s epic-whether approaching the Metamorphoses for the very first time or revisiting this ever-changing kaleidoscope of a poem. Smart close readings abound, and Williams’s punchy analyses make the book fun to read, though they never obscure his mastery of the subject. His fresh interpretations of the Metamorphoses reveal its power to enrich and inform our daily existence amid the uncertainties of life today. Capturing the energy and excitement that Ovid’s poem generates among readers, Williams also sheds new light on its modern provocations.
Ovid challenges us to recognize flux as fundamental to human experience: circumstances shift, fortunes ebb and flow, and our very identities ceaselessly evolve across from one life stage to another. He shows how the Metamorphoses is not just a colorful collection of stories about change but an exploration of change itself. Drawing on many years of teaching the Metamorphoses, Gareth Williams offers a brisk and lively reading of the poem that emphasizes why it speaks in compelling ways to a twenty-first-century audience. Borrowing liberally from Greek and Roman mythology, the poem tells hundreds of stories that share one essential theme: each tale depicts a transformation from one physical form into another. Ovid’s Metamorphoses has entranced audiences for two thousand years, from Rome under Augustus to humanities classrooms today.
0 kommentar(er)
