Metamorphoses
Ovid's epic of transformation, desire, and divine caprice
In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)
adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi
ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!
My mind is set on telling of bodies transformed
into new forms. You gods—since you're the ones who made these changes happen—
breathe life into my project and spin my song in one unbroken thread
from the world's beginning to my own time.
The Fifteen Books
Read in order, or enter anywhere
The Creation and the Age of Gods
Phaethon's Ride and Divine Desire
Thebes: Founding, Tragedy, and Bacchic Madness
Stories Within Stories: Resistance and Transformation
Perseus's Adventures and the Rape of Proserpina
Art, Pride, and Unspeakable Violence
Medea: Magic, Betrayal, and Deadly Love
Heroes, Monsters, and the Price of Hubris
Hercules, Doomed Love, and Miraculous Transformations
Orpheus: Love, Loss, and Songs of Forbidden Desire
The Death of Orpheus and the Power of Devotion
The Trojan War: Fame, Battles, and the Centaur Brawl
Troy Falls: Rhetoric, Revenge, and Tragic Transformations
Circe's Island and Aeneas's Destiny
Pythagoras, Rome's Destiny, and Ovid's Immortality
The Complete Metamorphoses Playlist
89 songs across all 15 books
The Table of Transformations
Every metamorphosis in Ovid's masterwork, catalogued and interconnected
Lycaon Tests Jupiter
Lycaon's palace in Arcadia
Jupiter punished him for plotting to murder the god disguised as a guest and for serving human flesh.
Deucalion and Pyrrha Rebuild Humanity
The slopes of Mount Parnassus after the flood
Obeying Themis' oracle, the couple repopulated the world by casting Mother Earth's 'bones' over their shoulders.
Apollo and Daphne
The banks of the river Peneus in Thessaly
Her father answered her prayer to escape Apollo's pursuit by transforming her body into evergreen bark and leaves.
Io Hidden from Juno
The plains near Argos
Jupiter tried to conceal his affair by changing Io into a cow before Juno could catch them.
Io Restored
The Nile delta in Egypt
After long suffering, Jupiter restored Io's human shape and honored her as a goddess once Juno relented.
Argus' Eyes Memorialized
Juno's sacred groves
Juno set her slain watchman's eyes into her peacock's feathers so his vigilance would never be forgotten.
Pan and Syrinx
The Ladon river marshes in Arcadia
Water nymphs answered Syrinx's plea to escape Pan's desire by dissolving her into reeds.
Heliades' Endless Mourning
The banks of the river Eridanus
Their grief for Phaethon's fiery death rooted them to the spot and hardened their bodies into trees.
Cycnus' Lament
The river Eridanus
The gods answered his mourning with a form that keeps him forever skimming the cooling waters.
Callisto's Punishment
Arcadian forests
Juno's jealousy over Jupiter's assault transformed the nymph into a beast hunted by all.
Ursa Major and Minor
The northern sky
Jupiter swept mother and son into the heavens to keep Arcas from killing the bear he did not recognize.
Apollo's Raven Marked
Coronis' home in Thessaly
Apollo scorched the tattler for revealing Coronis' infidelity, condemning ravens to dark plumage.
Nyctimene's Hiding
The island of Lesbos
Minerva turned her into a night bird so she could hide her shame after committing an unspeakable crime.
Ocyrhoe Silenced
Chiron's cave on Mount Pelion
The gods punished her for revealing too much of fate by fusing her with the herd she loved.
Battus the Tell-Tale
The pastures near Pylos
Mercury petrified the gossip when he broke his promise to keep the cattle theft secret.
Aglauros' Envy
The Acropolis of Athens
Mercury froze her where she stood after she blocked his way out of spite for her sister's romance.
Europa's Abduction
The Sidonian shoreline of Phoenicia
To win Europa's trust and carry her across the sea to Crete, Jupiter assumed the form of the gentlest bull.
The Sown Men of Thebes
The future citadel of Thebes
Athena instructed Cadmus to raise allies from the earth after he slew Mars' serpent guardian.
Actaeon's Doom
A hidden vale on Mount Cithaeron
Diana avenged his accidental glimpse of her bathing by making him the prey of his own hounds.
Tiresias' First Change
The slopes of Cyllene
He struck a pair of mating snakes and the gods repaid the blow by reversing his sex.
Tiresias Restored
The same glade seven years later
When he spared the snakes on his second encounter, the spell broke and his manhood returned.
Echo Fades Away
The Boeotian forests
Hera's curse and unreturned love for Narcissus wasted her body until only sound endured.
Narcissus' Reflection
A clear forest spring in Boeotia
Nemesis answered the youth's pride by letting him fall in love with himself until he dissolved into the bloom that bears his name.
Bacchus' Captive Crew
The Aegean Sea near Naxos
They tried to kidnap Bacchus for ransom, so the god plunged them overboard and gave them dolphin forms.
The Daughters of Minyas
Orchomenus in Boeotia
They scorned Bacchus' festival, so the god tangled their looms with ivy and drove them into fluttering shapes.
Pyramus and Thisbe's Memorial
The tomb of Ninus outside Babylon
The lovers' mingled blood stained the tree, fixing its color for all time.
Leucothoe's Fate
The royal gardens of Persia
Buried alive on her father's orders, she was softened by the Sun into a plant that still breathes perfume.
Clytie's Devotion
A barren plain in Persia
She wasted watching Apollo's chariot until her limbs rooted and her face forever followed the light.
Salmacis and Hermaphroditus
Salmacis' enchanted pool in Caria
The nymph's clinging prayer made the gods fuse them so the spring weakens any man who bathes there.
Ino and Melicertes Saved
The Ionian Sea
Neptune, begged by Venus, lifted them from madness and drowning into the company of the marine gods.
Theban Handmaids
Cliffs above the Isthmian waters
Juno froze one in mid-leap and feathered the others as punishment for lamenting Ino.
Cadmus and Harmonia
The coast of Illyria
Weary of divine vengeance, they prayed to share the dragon's fate and slowly lengthened into peaceful snakes.
Medusa's Curse
Minerva's temple
After Neptune violated Medusa there, Minerva punished her by arming her scalp with serpents.
Coral Born of the Gorgon
The shoals off the Ethiopian coast
Gorgonian power stiffened the weeds, leaving coral to harden whenever it meets the air.
Cyane's Grief
The spring of Cyane near Syracuse
Unable to bear Proserpina's abduction, she melted into her own waters.
Ascalaphus the Informer
The gardens of Dis
He tattled that Proserpina had eaten pomegranate seeds, so Ceres sprinkled him with Styx water and winged him into an omen of mourning.
The Sirens Winged
The Tyrrhenian Sea
The gods granted them wings so they could search the waves for their lost friend without losing their voices.
Stellio's Spots
A humble cottage in Sicily
He mocked thirsty Ceres, so she splashed him with barley-water and shrank him into a lizard.
Arethusa's Flight
From the river Alpheus in Elis to the island of Ortygia
Fleeing the river-god Alpheus, she was dissolved by Diana into water that still carries her across the sea.
Triptolemus Attacked
The palace of Lyncus
When he tried to murder sleeping Triptolemus to steal Demeter's gift, the goddess clawed him into a catlike predator.
The Pierides
The slopes of Mount Helicon
They contested the Muses and, defeated, were feathered into noisy birds as punishment for their hubris.
Phineus' Wedding Ambush
Cepheus' hall in Ethiopia
Perseus raised Medusa's head and petrified the men who tried to steal Andromeda back.
The Lycian Peasants
A pond under Mount Lycia
They mocked Latona and churned the water to stop her from drinking, so she banished them to the mire.
Arachne's Loom
Her workshop in Hypaepa
After she challenged Minerva and hanged herself in shame, the goddess spared her life only to condemn her to weaving forever.
Niobe of Thebes
Mount Sipylus in Phrygia
Grief for her slain children fixed her tears and body into the rock that still sheds water.
Philomela's Song
The forests of Thrace
After Tereus mutilated her, the gods gave her wings and a lamenting voice.
Procne's Escape
The palace of Tereus
When their bloody revenge was revealed, the sisters were changed into birds to elude Tereus' sword.
Tereus Unmasked
The same palace in Thrace
The gods answered his savagery by giving him a bird's beak and a warrior's plume.
The Ram in Medea's Cauldron
Jason's courtyard in Iolcus
Medea proved her sorcery to Pelias' daughters by boiling the ram and drawing out a rejuvenated lamb.
Aeson Rejuvenated
Iolcus in Thessaly
At Jason's request Medea drained his old blood and refilled him with enchanted life.
The Bronze-Bodied Talos
The rocky shore of Crete
Medea expelled the ichor from his single vein, letting the giant collapse like molten lead.
The Ant-Born Myrmidons
The island of Aegina
In answer to Aeacus' prayers after a plague, Jupiter turned diligent ants into hardy citizens.
Scylla Betrays Nisus
The harbor of Megara
For betraying her father to Minos, the gods condemned her to a bird that forever flees the hawk.
Nisus' Purple Lock
The cliffs of Megara
Robbed of his magic hair, he pursued his treacherous daughter with hooked talons.
Perdix Spared
Athena's temple on the Acropolis
Minerva saved him from his uncle's jealousy by cushioning his fall with new-grown wings.
Meleager's Sisters
The fields of Calydon
Diana pitied their endless mourning and gave them wings speckled with their tears.
Baucis and Philemon
A hill above the drowned Phrygian village
Jupiter and Mercury rewarded their hospitality with a shared priesthood and rooted union in death.
Mestra's Escape
The shores of Thessaly
Poseidon granted her shapeshifting so she could evade masters and feed her father's hunger.
Dryope's Guilt
A lakeside near Oeta
She wounded a nymph hidden in bark, so the tree's sap crept up and rooted her beside it.
Lotis Remembered
The same pool near Oeta
Long before, she had fled Priapus' assault by taking refuge in bark that still bears her name.
Achelous' Horn
The banks of the river Achelous
After Hercules snapped it off, the Naiads filled it with fruit and made it a symbol of abundance.
Galanthis the Helper
The threshold of Alcmena's chamber in Thebes
She tricked Ilithyia to free Hercules at birth, so the goddess forced her to bear young through her mouth.
Byblis Dissolved
The valleys of Caria
Hopeless love for her brother exhausted her into a fountain that still bears her name.
Iphis Transformed
The temple of Isis in Crete
The goddess answered Telethusa's prayers so Iphis could wed Ianthe as a husband.
Hercules Apotheosized
On burning Mount Oeta and then Olympus
Jupiter welcomed his son's divine essence once the hero's human portion was consumed by fire.
Cyparissus' Grief
The island of Ceos
He mourned a stag he killed by mistake, so Apollo let him become the tree that stands for eternal sorrow.
Hyacinthus' Blossom
The plains of Amyclae
Zephyrus' jealous gust killed him, and Apollo inscribed his laments on the petals.
The Propoetides
The island of Cyprus
Venus punished their refusal to honor her by freezing their blushless faces into stone.
Pygmalion's Wish
Cyprus, at Venus' festival
The goddess granted the sculptor a bride fashioned from his own artwork.
Myrrha's Flight
Arabia
After conceiving Adonis with her father, she prayed to vanish and her body bled aromatic resin.
Adonis' Flower
The forests of Lebanon
Venus sprinkled nectar on his blood so his fleeting life would return each spring.
Atalanta and Hippomenes
A shrine of Cybele in Phrygia
They profaned the goddess' temple with passion, so she yoked them to her sacred car.
Midas' Ears
The Phrygian groves of Pan
Apollo punished his dull judgment in the musical contest by lengthening his ears like the listening beast's.
The Golden Touch
The palace of Midas
Bacchus granted the greedy king a wish whose burden taught him to seek the river Pactolus instead.
Thetis' Shape-shifting
The Magnesian shore
She changed form repeatedly until Peleus held fast and won her as wife.
Aeacus' Son Aesacus
The coast of the Hellespont
Mourning his love Hesperia, he leapt into the sea, and Tethys gave him a bird's form to live in the waves.
Ceyx and Alcyone
The shores near Trachis
Pitying their love, the gods let them nest together on calm winter seas.
Cycnus of Troy
The Trojan shoreline
After Achilles strangled him, Neptune lifted his son from the pyre into swan-feathered safety.
Caenis Empowered
The seashore of Thessaly
Poseidon granted her wish for manhood after raping her, making her proof against every wound.
Caeneus' End
The battlefield at the Centaurs' wedding
Crushed beneath piled trees, his spirit escaped as a bird that still keeps his name.
Periclymenus' Trick
The same Centaur battle
His shapeshifting gift let him change forms until Hercules' arrow pinned him in mid-flight.
Acis the River
The base of Mount Etna
Crushed by Polyphemus' rock, his blood seeped through and burst forth as a stream.
Glaucus the Fisherman
The coast of Anthedon in Euboea
Eating magical herbs drove him to the sea, where Oceanus and Tethys remade him for the deep.
Hecuba's Fury
The Thracian shore at Polymestor's camp
Mad with grief over her son, she tore out the king's eyes, and the gods fixed her rage in canine form.
Memnonides
The Trojan plain around Memnon's funeral barrow
Aurora's tears brought forth birds that each year fight over their fallen leader's tomb.
Scylla Cursed by Circe
The straits opposite Charybdis
Jealous Circe poisoned her bathing pool after Glaucus spurned the witch's love.
Picus Enchanted
The Laurentian groves
Circe retaliated when he rejected her for his wife Canens.
Canens Fades
The banks of the river Tiber
Grief for her husband wore her body away until only her voice travelled the reeds.
Diomedes' Companions
The coast of Apulia
Venus avenged her wounded temples by feathering the men who had profaned them in Troy.
Egeria's Tears
The vale of Aricia
Diana softened her endless mourning into a fountain that still feeds the forest.
Hippolytus Renewed
The grove of Aricia
After Diana begged Asclepius to restore him, he lived again under a new name.
Anaxarete's Cruelty
A balcony in Salamis
Venus hardened her for watching Iphis hang himself on her doorstep.
The Sibyl's Fate
The cave at Cumae
She obtained endless years but not perpetual youth, so only her prophetic voice endures.
Aeneas' Fleet
The shores of Lavinium
Jupiter answered Cybele by freeing the sacred pines from fire and giving them living forms.
Myscelus' Sign
Argos
Hercules reversed the verdict so Myscelus could found Crotona as commanded.
The Etruscan Tages
A field near Tarquinii in Etruria
While a farmer plowed, the soil itself rose, took human form, and taught mankind divination.
Romulus' Spear
The Palatine in Rome
The planted spear sprouted leaves and grew a trunk, a prodigy recalling the city's destiny.
Cipus the Horned
The gates of Rome
The omen warned that if he entered the city he would become its king, so he chose exile.
Aesculapius in Rome
Rome
He followed the Roman envoys as a great snake and resumed divine shape to end the plague.
Romulus' Apotheosis
The Campus Martius and the heavens
Mars swept his son up in a storm and the Romans worshipped him as a god.
Hersilia's Ascension
The hill of Quirinus
She was led by Iris to her husband and given a place among the immortals.
Julius Caesar Star-born
The Roman forum and the heavens
Venus rescued his soul from his funeral pyre and fixed it among the stars for Augustus to behold.
"Nothing retains its form; new shapes from old.
Nature, the great inventor, ceaselessly
Contrives to change one shape to another."