Ovid
Roman poet whose Metamorphoses became the most influential retelling of Greek myth in Western culture
The Meaning of Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BCE - 17 CE) was a Roman poet whose Metamorphoses — an epic poem in fifteen books tracing the history of the world through stories of transformation — became the single most influential transmission of Greek mythology to the Western world. From Daphne becoming a laurel tree to Narcissus gazing at his reflection, from Arachne's weaving contest with Minerva to Pygmalion's living statue, Ovid's versions are the ones that artists, writers, and composers have drawn upon for two millennia. He also wrote the Heroides (letters from mythological heroines) and the Fasti (a calendar of Roman festivals). Augustus exiled him to Tomis on the Black Sea in 8 CE for reasons that remain debated.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Ovid was exiled by Augustus for mysterious reasons he described only as "a poem and a mistake"
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Virgil
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Rome, fate
Roman poet who composed the Aeneid linking Rome's founding to the Trojan War through Aeneas's journey
Nonnus
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Dionysus
Late antique poet who composed the Dionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from Greco-Roman antiquity
Metamorphosis
💭 conceptDivine Transformation
The transformation of shape or form, a central motif in Greek mythology where gods and mortals change bodies.
Hesiod
💭 conceptDidactic poetry, cosmogony
Boeotian poet who composed the Theogony and Works and Days in the archaic period
Plato
💭 conceptPhilosophy, myth, forms
Athenian philosopher who both critiqued traditional myths and created powerful new ones in his dialogues
Apollonius of Rhodes
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Argonauts
Hellenistic poet who composed the Argonautica, the epic of Jason and the Golden Fleece
Eros
💭 conceptPrimordial god of love and desire
In the oldest myths, Eros was a primordial force — one of the first beings to emerge from Chaos, the power that draws all things together. Later reimagined as Aphrodite's mischievous son.
Theogony
💭 conceptLiterature
Hesiod's epic poem describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods
Dionysiaca
💭 conceptLiterature
Nonnus's sprawling epic poem narrating the life and conquests of the god Dionysus in forty-eight books
Homer
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Troy, Odyssey
Legendary blind poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey
Aeneid
💭 conceptLiterature
Virgil's epic poem following the Trojan hero Aeneas from the fall of Troy to the founding of Rome
Apollo and Daphne
💭 conceptNarrative
The god's relentless pursuit of a nymph who chose transformation into a laurel tree over submission