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Metamorphoses

 Ovid
 

Key Facts

 
full title · Metamorphoses
 
author · Ovid
 
type of work · Poetry
 
genre · Epic poetry of various genres: love, didactic, tragic, and comic
 
language · Latin
 
time and place written · Rome, a.d. 8
 
date of first publication · a.d. 8
 
narrator · “Ovid,” a fictionalized version of Ovid, is the overarching narrator. However, the books are narrated in various voices.
 
point of view · Varied
 
tense · Past
 
setting (time) · Imperial Rome
 
setting (place) · Rome
 
protagonist · Varied
 
major conflict · Mortals and the gods struggle.
 
rising action · Rome rises.
 
climax · Rome is founded.
 
falling action · Ovid predicts a great future for Rome.
 
themes · The pervasiveness of metamorphoses; the power of art; the sadness of love
 
motifs · Storytelling; punishment; reward
 
symbols · Lost speech
 
foreshadowing · Pygmalion's successful creation foreshadows Orpheus's reunion with Eurydice; Ovid foreshadows the permanence of his own work.
 
 
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