Metamorphoses

David Horovitch's richly enunciated delivery is a superb vehicle for the classical style, with its elevated diction and its elaborate rhetorical and poetic figures. Ovid poses a special challenge, and only a reader with expert pacing, matched with a sensitivity to nuances of tone and language, could deliver this text to its full impact. This Ovid is a delight. Horovitch expresses both Ovid's elegance and his lightness of touch. A word like ÒnectarÓ drips with honeyed sweetness, and even ÒwaterÓ sounds multisyllabic. Ovid's tales of change and transformationâÓActaeon into a stag, Zeus into a bull, the whole of reality in a constant state of metamorphosisâÓ offer as enduring a vision as any in literature. Horovitch has a great voice for the classics. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine


Things change, people change, and in Ovid's witty, sensuous poem no one ever remains the same. Women are transformed into stones, flowers, birds, or, if fortunate, goddesses--because the vital spirit moves through everything. Narrator Barry Kraft has picked up this energy, sharply and precisely attacking each word of Miller's translation, heavy with its strong consonants. Kraft's pointedly placed emphases mimic Ovid's own. Beginning with the creation of the world out of chaos, he links the familiar stories from Greek and Roman legend and batters us, wave upon wave, with the archetypal power of each tale, until Augustus's memorable apotheosis at the end. This is a refresher course in mythology at its best. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

March 1, 2013

In this 15-book narrative poem, Roman poet Ovid recounts the history of the world through a series of mythological and historical stories linked by the theme of transformation. He begins with the earth's creation from chaos and continues to the reign of Augustus. Recounting well-known myths, Ovid explores the foibles of the gods and whom they touch, often telling of virgins turning into trees and those being chased suddenly sprouting wings and flying off. Ian Johnston's translation captures the color and poetry without sacrificing clarity, while David Horovich's reading adds just the right dramatic tone. VERDICT Newcomers to Ovid will appreciate the accessibility of this audio edition, although a written introduction would be helpful in providing some background. Recommended for tyros interested in exploring this classic as well as for more-experienced readers who want to hear it aloud.--Nancy R. Ives, SUNY Geneseo

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