A depiction of the story of Pygmalion by Jean Raoux (1717).

At our January meeting, we will discuss the Metamorpheses by Ovid. The Metamophoses is a collection of 15 books, which chronicle the history of the world from the creation to the age of Julius Caesar. It ties together more than 250 myths and legends in an epic format, which samples from many different poetic genres. Many of the stories covered in earlier Great Books Odyesseus readings are woven into this work, including the expedition against Troy, the death of Achilles and the ensuing dispute between Ajax and Ulysses over Achilles’ arms, the fate of Hecuba and Polyxena and the voyage and ultimate triumph of Aeneas.

Ovid lived and wrote during the Augustan period of ancient Rome and is ranked, along with his older contemporaries Virgil and Horace, as one of the greatest Roman poets.

For an overview of the proposed long-term schedule for our study of Odysseus, please see our Google Doc.

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