Had Ovid \u2013 or, to give him his full name, Publius Ovidius Naso \u2013 lived in our social media age, he would have doubtless leapt straight onto Twitter; as it was, he poured out his feelings of woe in two sets of verse, the Tristia<\/i> and Epistulae ex Ponto<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n In his own words, it was \u2018carmen et error\u2019 \u2013 a poem and a mistake \u2013 that had got him banished. The \u2018carmen\u2019 was probably his Ars Amatoria<\/i>, his instructional guide to making love, written at the very time that Augustus was promoting wholesome living and family values. The \u2018error\u2019 may well have been something he had unwittingly seen or heard in imperial circles \u2013 serious enough to make Augustus want him as far out of the way as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n This sorry state was a far cry from the self-confidence with which Ovid rounded off his Metamorphoses<\/i>, his magnum opus completed earlier that same year. <\/span><\/p>\n \u2018My name shall never be forgotten,\u2019 he proclaimed in the work\u2019s epilogue. \u2018Throughout all ages\u2026 I shall live in my fame.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n He was not wrong. Around 1,500 years after his death, those held in thrall by his craftsmanship would include Titian, whose Ovid-inspired paintings include the deeply disturbing Diana and Callisto <\/i>and The Rape of Europa, <\/i>and <\/i>Shakespeare<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the Bard even mentions Ovid by name in Love\u2019s Labour\u2019s Lost<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n At around the same time, composer Jacopo Peri was introducing his Dafne <\/i>and Euridice<\/i> to the Florentine stage. Generally regarded today as the first operas ever written, both works drew on figures from the Metamorphoses<\/i> for their title characters (and Monteverdi<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Orfeo<\/i> would follow soon after). From the art form\u2019s outset, Peri had set a trend.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> The Metamorphoses <\/i>is as exceptional in its construction as it is masterful in its elaborate scene-painting (\u2018ekphrasis\u2019, to use the technical term) and punchy story-telling. <\/span><\/p>\n Over the course of 15 books and 12,000 lines of hexameter verse, Ovid takes us from the creation of the Earth to the deification of Julius Caesar, relating around 250 myths along the way. The metamorphoses of the title refer to the various transformations that many of the characters undergo, sometimes into animals and birds, sometimes into inanimate objects. Love, lust, heroism and horror \u2013 plus all manner of devious deific interferences \u2013 are all part of the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n Most composers inspired by the Metamorphoses<\/i> have tended to focus their attentions on just one or two tales, but a couple have had grander visions. In 1783, the Austrian Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf set about writing a set of 15 symphonies, one for each book of the Metamorphoses<\/i>. Sadly, he only got as far as Book 12, and of those only six survive today.<\/span><\/p>\n Those six, however, are packed full of character, not least Sinfonia No. 2, which depicts the sorry end of Phaeton \u2013 having asked his dad, the Sun, if he can take his chariot out for a spin, he is sent headlong into the River Eridanus by a thunderbolt from Jupiter. The horn fanfares that introduce Sinfonia No. 3, meanwhile, tell us that we\u2019re about to share the misadventures of Actaeon, who, while out hunting, chances upon the goddess Diana while she is having a bath. In the second movement, Dittersdorf charms us with a delightful woodland idyll before the goddess\u2019s mood turns ugly.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat is Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses <\/i>about?<\/span><\/h2>\n
How did Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses<\/i> inspire composers<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2022\/11\/How-Ovids-Metamorphoses-inspired-composers-1-f66d014-1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C1012"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>