Drawing on many years of teaching Ovid's 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. He shows how the Metamorphoses is not just a colorful collection of stories about change but an exploration of change itself.

Gareth Williams is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He has published extensively on Ovid, Roman philosophy, and classical reception.

Preface
Introduction
1. Diversity, Idiosyncrasy, and Self-Discovery in the Metamorphoses
2.The Liabilities of Language: Change and Instability in Ovid's World of Words
3. The Path of Deviance: Sexual Morality and the Incestuous Urge in the Metamorphoses
4. Rough Justice: Victimization, Revenge, and Divine Punishment in the Metamorphoses
Epilogue
Further Reading
Index