Carter explores early modern culture's reception of Ovid through the manipulation of Ovidian myth by Shakespeare, Middleton, Heywood, Marlowe and Marston. With a focus on sexual violence, homosexuality, incest and idolatry, Carter analyses how depictions of mythology represent radical ideas concerning gender and sexuality.

Introduction Rape, Revenge and Verse: Philomela 'Chastity's first martyr': Lucrece 'That female wanton boy': Ganymede, Iphis, and Myths of Same Sex Desire 'Not perfect boy nor perfect wench': Hermaphroditus Objects of Desire: Pygmalion, Myrrha, Adonis  Conclusion Notes Index