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.