- 01Title pages and publication details
- 02Contents and introductory material
- 03Translator's introduction and earlier English versions
Metamorphoses
by Ovid · 8 · 21 chapters · 24/7 tutor
Mythic transformations shaping later art and literature.
21Chapters
109Lessons
275Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Summarize the major episodes in Ovid's Metamorphoses
- Identify the principal mythic transformations described in the text
- Explain how these myths influenced later art and literature
- Trace key characters and gods across the early books of the poem
- Interpret the structure and narrative purpose of selected fables
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 21
- Lessons
- 109
- Topics
- 275
- 01Synopsis of Book I transformations
- 01Phaëton, Calisto, and Mercury's transformations
- 02Cadmus, Actæon, Semele, and Narcissus
- 01Alcithoë, Ino, Cadmus, and Perseus
- 02Phineus and the Muses' tales
- 03Arachne, Niobe, and Tereus
- 04Jason and Medea
- 01Ovid’s life and exile
- 02Interlinear translations and Metamorphoses contents
- 01Chaos reduced into order
- 01Ordering the separated universe
- 02The making of the world’s regions and climates
- 03Winds, firmament, and living creatures
- 01The Golden Age
- 02The Silver, Brazen, and Iron Ages
- 01The Giants' assault on heaven
- 02Jupiter's council of the gods
- 01Jupiter's council and resolve to punish mankind
- 02Explanation: Genesis and the flood tradition
- 03Lycaon tests Jupiter with a murderous feast
- 01Jupiter's resolve to destroy mankind
- 02The universal deluge
- 01Neptune calms the floodwaters
- 02Deucalion and Pyrrha after the deluge
- 01Neptune and the division of the world
- 02Deucalion and Pyrrha consult Themis
- 03The oracle of the stones
- 04Stones transformed into a new race
- 01Python and the Pythian Games
- 01Apollo and Cupid's contest of bows
- 02Daphne's flight and transformation into laurel
- 01Jupiter's pursuit of Io
- 01Io’s Egyptian origin and Greek versions
- 02Jupiter, Juno, and Argus guarding Io
- 01Io’s transformation and Inachus’s lament
- 02Mercury’s mission to slay Argus
- 03Mercury lulls Argus with the reed pipe
- 04Explanation of the Io myth
- 01Mercury and Syrinx
- 02Argus’s death and Juno’s peacock
- 01Io's wanderings and restoration in Egypt
- 02Phaëton's challenge to his divine parentage
- 03Clymene's oath and Phaëton's journey to the Sun
- 01Mythological note on Hierax and Argus
- 02Commentary on the creation of the world
- 03The winds and the division of the earth
- 04Human dominion and the age of metal
- 05Mythological notes on Jupiter's court and the flood
- 01The hollow-wreathed trumpet and Neptune's retreat
- 02Deucalion and Pyrrha's ancestry and rites
- 03The seven-streamed Nile and the Pythian games
- 01Apollo, marriage, and the pursuit of Daphne
- 01Commentary on the greyhound passage
- 01Mythological and geographical notes on Io
- 01Clymene, Merops, and Phaëton notes
- 01Apollo's palace and celestial decorations
- 02Phaëton's request for the chariot
- 01Apollo's warning against the chariot
- 02Phaëton's insistence and the chariot's splendor
- 01Phaëton's father's warning and the chariot's launch
- 02Phaëton loses control of the sun's horses
- 03The heavens and constellations in turmoil
- 01The world set ablaze
- 01Earth's plea to Jupiter
- 02Explanation of Phaëton's fable
- 01Jupiter destroys Phaëton's chariot
- 02Phaëton's burial and Clymene's grief
- 03The sisters transformed into poplars
- 01Cycnus transformed into a swan
- 02Phaëton’s mourning and the Sun’s complaint
- 03Explanation of the legend
- 01Jupiter's restoration of the world after the fire
- 02Jupiter's seduction of Calisto
- 03Calisto's shame among Diana's nymphs
- 01Juno transforms Calisto into a bear
- 02Arcas and the Great and Little Bear
- 03Juno’s complaint to Tethys and Ocean
- 01Coronis and the crow's warning
- 01Nyctimene's incest and transformation into an owl
- 02Apollo's wrath and Coronis's death
- 01Coronis, the raven, and Apollo's grief
- 02Ocyrrhoë's prophecy and transformation
- 01Mercury and Battus
- 01Mercury's pursuit of Herse
- 01Envy sent to Aglauros
- 02Aglauros blocks Mercury and is transformed
- 01Aglauros turned to stone
- 02Jupiter carries off Europa
- 03Mythological and geographical notes on Europa
- 01Notes on the rivers and places named in the fable
- 01Phaëton and the Hesperian Naiads
- 02Diana, Calisto, and the transformation into a bear
- 03Cecrops as the two-shaped founder
- 01Mythological and geographical notes
- 01Notes on Tritonia, Tritonian, and Sidonis
- 01Cadmus sent to recover Europa
- 02Oracle of Delphi and the founding sign
- 03The dragon sacred to Mars
- 04Explanation of Europa's genealogy and name
- 01Cadmus and the Dragon of Mars
- 02The sowing of the dragon's teeth
- 03Thebes and the explanation of the fable
- 01Cadmus, the dragon’s teeth, and the founding of Thebes
- 02Actaeon surprises Diana at Gargaphie
- 03Actaeon transformed and torn apart by his hounds
- 01Actaeon and Diana
- 02Juno's jealousy of Semele
- 01Semele's fatal request and Jupiter's thunderbolt
- 01Echo's punishment by Juno
- 02Narcissus and Echo
- 01Echo's fading into a voice
- 02Natural and historical explanations of Echo
- 03Narcissus at the fountain
- 04Narcissus's self-love and death
- 01Narcissus and Tiresias explanations
- 02Pentheus defies Bacchus
- 03Acœtes recounts his seafaring background
- 01Discovery of the sleeping boy on shore
- 02Bacchus revealed and the crew's deceit
- 03The ship halted by Bacchus's power
- 01Acœtes’ tale of the transformed sailors
- 02Pentheus’ punishment and the worship of Bacchus
- 03Mythological explanation of Bacchus and Pentheus
- 04Notes on Cadmus, Thebes, and the opening myths
- 05Actaeon’s hounds and their names
- 06Bacchic rites and Pentheus’s opposition
- 07Thyrsus and Bacchic weapons
- 08Ancient siege engines
- 09Mythological and geographical notes
- 01Book IV fable list
- 02Book V fable list
- 03Book VI fable list
- 04Book VII fable list
- 01The daughters of Minyas and the festival of Bacchus
- 02Pyramus and Thisbe
- 03Explanation of the fable
- 01Pyramus and Thisbe as a moral tale
- 02The Sun exposes Venus and Mars
- 03The Sun falls in love with Leucothoë
- 01Leucothoë and the Sun's disguise
- 02Clytie's betrayal and transformation into the sunflower
- 01EXPLANATION. IV. 284-
- 01Minyas sisters transformed into bats and weaving into ivy
- 02Juno's descent to the underworld and appeal to the Furies
- 03Tisiphone maddens Athamas and Ino
- 01Athamas’s madness and Ino’s leap into the sea
- 02Neptune transforms Ino and Melicerta
- 03Juno’s punishment of the Sidonian attendants
- 04Historical explanation of the myth
- 01Cadmus and Hermione transformed into serpents
- 01Perseus in Africa and Atlas's transformation
- 01Perseus and the Gorgons' eye and statue
- 02Perseus rescues Andromeda
- 03Perseus at the wedding feast
- 01Origins and meanings of the Bacchic names
- 02Bacchus, Lycurgus, and the punishment of resistance
- 03The tale of Dercetis and the Babylonian lovers
- 04Pyramus and Thisbe, Venus, and the later mythic explanations
- 05Geographical and mythological notes on the opening verses
- 06Underworld punishments and the river Styx
- 07Ino, Melicerta, and the transformation into sea divinities
- 08Perseus, Andromeda, and Medusa in the later narrative
- 01Supplementary notes on Ovid references and Greek text
- 01Phineus attacks Perseus at the wedding feast
- 02Perseus and Phineus clash amid the banquet
- 03The Gorgon’s head turns the attackers to stone
- 04Perseus petrifies Phineus and his followers
- 05Perseus returns to his native city and attacks Prœtus
- 06Explanation of the Andromeda legend
- 01Perseus turns Polydectes to stone
- 02Minerva visits the Muses at Helicon
- 03Pyreneus and the Muses' escape
- 04The magpies and the Pierides
- 01The Pierides’ challenge and Calliope’s song
- 01Pluto’s fear of the earth’s upheaval
- 02Venus persuades Cupid to strike Pluto
- 03Pluto seizes Proserpina in Henna
- 01Interpretations of the rape of Proserpine
- 02Pluto's western kingdom and Spanish mines
- 01Allegorical origins of Pluto and Proserpine
- 02Le Clerc's Epirus explanation
- 03Banier's Isis and famine theory
- 04Stellio transformation as poetic fancy
- 01Ceres’ wandering search and discovery of Proserpine
- 02Ceres’ complaint to Jupiter and the pomegranate condition
- 03Ascalaphus, the owl, and the Sirens
- 01Arethusa’s pursuit by Alpheus
- 02Explanation of the Alpheus and Arethusa legend
- 01Triptolemus receives Ceres's agricultural mission
- 02The daughters of Pierus are transformed into magpies
- 03Mythological and textual explanations
- 01Pelorus and the Sicilian capes
- 02Henna and the abduction of Proserpine
- 03The Palici and the Bacchiadæ
- 01Syracuse, Cyane, and Anapis
- 02Ceres and Proserpine: the girdle, the abduction, and the pomegranate
- 01Avernus and the infernal rivers
- 01Arachne's challenge to Minerva
- 02The weaving contest and Minerva's tapestry
- 03Origins of the Arachne and Minerva fable
- 01Niobe's pride and insult to Latona
- 02Apollo and Diana destroy Niobe's sons
- 01Niobe's transformation into stone
- 02Historical and mythological explanation of Niobe
- 01Latona denied water by the countrymen
- 01Marsyas punished by Apollo
- 01Marsyas and the flute contest
- 02Tereus, Philomela, and Progne
- 01Philomela's grief and revenge
- 02Progne rescues Philomela and plots vengeance
- 03Itys's murder and the banquet
- 04Tereus's pursuit and transformations
- 05Symbolic explanation of the birds
- 01Boreas carries off Orithyïa
- 01Mythological and geographical notes
- 01Mythological notes on Jupiter and Neptune
- 02Notes on Saturn, Hecate, and Niobe
- 01Explanatory notes on Niobe, Latona, and Marsyas
- 01Mythological and geographical notes on verses 393-446
- 02Thracian and Bacchic notes on verses 490-603
- 03Philomela and Progne notes on verses 601-646
- 01Explanatory notes on verses 662-721
- 01Jason's arrival in Colchis and the Golden Fleece challenge
- 02Medea's inner struggle and decision to help Jason
- 01Medea’s struggle between love and duty
- 02Jason receives the enchanted herbs
- 03The brazen bulls and the ploughing trial
- 01Jason subdues the earth-born warriors and dragon
- 02Arrival at Iolcos with the Golden Fleece
- 03Mythic explanation of the Argonaut expedition
- 01Jason asks Medea to renew Æson's youth
- 02Medea's midnight invocation and magical powers
- 03Gathering herbs for the rejuvenation spell
- 04The ritual and transformation of Æson
- 01Medea wins the daughters of Pelias
- 02The ram turned into a lamb
- 03Medea persuades the daughters to kill Pelias
- 04Pelias is slain in the cauldron
- 05Explanation of the myth of Æson's restoration
- 01Medea's revenge on Pelias and Creon
- 02Medea's flight over Greece
- 03The murder of Jason's children and escape to Athens
- 01Medea’s revenge and flight to Athens
- 02Cerberus, aconite, and Theseus at Athens
- 03Athenian festival and Minos’s preparations for war
- 04Explanation of Cerberus’s origin
- 01Minos seeks alliance at Ægina
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01How many chapters are in the Metamorphoses course?
The Metamorphoses course has 21 chapters, each with its own lessons and topics.
02How many lessons are in the Metamorphoses course?
There are 109 lessons across the course, and you can ask your 24/7 tutor about any of them.
03Can I see what the Metamorphoses course covers before I start?
Yes. The full curriculum is listed on this page, beginning with "METAMORPHOSES · METAMORPHOSES OF OVID V O L . I—B O O K S I-VII · HENRY T. RILEY, M.A. W I T H A N I N T R O D U C T I O N B Y".
04Do I get a certificate for the Metamorphoses course?
Yes. Finishing the course earns a personal Cavua certificate of completion.
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