Ovid's Metamorphoses - (World Literature in Translation) by C Luke Soucy & Ovid (Paperback)

About the Book

"Ovid's Metamorphoses is the original source for classical mythology. Combining the best-known versions of tales from Icarus to Medusa, Ovid's epic compendium of Greco-Roman legend has exerted an influence on European art and culture rivaled only by the Bible. Yet despite it being the magnum opus of Rome's cleverest and most creative poet, centuries of conservative translators have robbed the poem of its subversive force as a book-length exploration of power, where heroes are drained of their heroism, victims are given their say, and the earth is always holier than heaven. Coming at a political moment singularly resonant with Ovid's sympathy toward the oppressed, this boldly poetic translation matches Ovid's style while incorporating the latest scholarship on a work equal parts canonical and revisionist. Complete with annotations, glossary, and illustrations, this edition will bring fresh insights to both returning readers and those encountering the poem for the first time"--

Book Synopsis

This fresh translation revives the politics and power at play in classical mythology's foremost source

Centuries of conservative translators have robbed the Metamorphoses of its subversive force. In this boldly lyrical translation, C. Luke Soucy revives the magnum opus of Rome's most clever and creative poet, faithfully matching the epic's wit and style while confronting the sexuality, violence, and politics so many previous translations have glossed over.

Soucy's powerful version breathes new life into Ovid's mythic world, where canonical power dynamics are challenged from below to drain heroes of their heroism, give victims their say, and reveal an earth holier than heaven. Incorporating the latest scholarship alongside annotations, illustrations, and glossary, this edition brings fresh insights to both returning and new readers.

From the Back Cover

"An astonishing translation. Soucy's sophisticated rhythms carry the force, violence, and beauty of Ovid's immortal poem. Reading it, reading it out loud, I felt so palpably the vitality thrumming beneath the refinement of form."--Richie Hofmann, author of A Hundred Lovers

"What a pleasure to read! For anyone who knows the original, Luke Soucy's swift translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses is full of ingenuity and resourcefulness; for newcomers, it is a superb introduction to the poem's pace and spirit."--Jeff Dolven, author of Senses of Style: Poetry before Interpretation

Review Quotes

"Soucy's version of the Metamorphoses which is dynamic, attractive, and up to date in every way--in its laudable close engagement with the latest critical Latin text, its focus on the politics of sex, race, and gender, and its lively presentation of Ovid to the latest generation of younger readers."
-- "Translation and Literature"

"Soucy's Commentary gives lavishly helpful guidance to the piecemeal reader, noticing links and making comparisons between different tales. . . . He's refreshingly sensitive to the way contemporary concerns with sexual and identity politics can feel urgently addressed by the Metamorphoses. Equally refreshing, from the other side, is the fact that as a scholar he feels the value and importance of seeing past attitudes clearly, neither discreetly veiling elements in them that might affront a contemporary sensibility - as many translators have done with divine rapes - nor reading them as if Ovid were our contemporary and saw life as we do."-- "The High Window"

"S[oucy]'s translation has great merit. It is more poetic than any current version."-- "Classics for All"

About the Author

C. Luke Soucy is a translator, poet, and vocal Minnesota native. In addition to literary translation, he has worked in regional theatre, in a chromatography lab, and as a university bureaucrat. Soucy is a 2019 graduate of Princeton University, where he received the E. E. Cummings Society Prize of the Academy of American Poets.