LAT 311 - Roman Epic: Ovid Metamorphoses

Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a fifteen-book poem that weaves together stories from classical mythology into a continuous narrative proceeding, in the poet’s words, “from the origin of the world down to [his] own times.” While crafting this ambitious account of mythical figures such as Daphne, Phaethon, Narcissus, Pyramis and Thisbe, Arachne, Daedalus, Iphis, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Pygmalion, Ovid both engages deeply with his literary predecessors and reflects upon his contemporary world of Augustan Rome. The poet’s multifaceted magnum opus has something for everyone, and it has profoundly influenced subsequent literature, art, and music by artists like Shakespeare, Bernini, and Mozart.

In this course, we will read the entire poem in English but spend most of our time focusing on excerpts in Latin, including the students’ own selections. As we enjoy Ovid’s witty, playful, and inventive poetic style, we will also meditate on serious themes in the poem that have continued relevance today: the challenges in distinguishing fact from fiction, the relationship between power and justice, and the fundamental role of change in the human experience.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.
Counts towards the Classical Languages and Literature major and as an elective for the Classical Studies major.
Counts towards the interdisciplinary minor in Global Literary Theory.

Prerequisites & Notes
Latin 201 or placement test.

Not offered in 2025-2026.