Still remarkably vibrant. It's easier to read this for pure pleasure than almost any other ancient text, says Nicholas Lezard of the Guardian. Ovid's playful and witty poem begins with the creation of the world and weaves together a stunning collection of mythological stories, ingeniously bound together by the idea of transformation—often resulting from love or lust—in which men and women magically transform into extraordinary new beings. It includes familiar tales such as Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy. The Metamorphoses has influenced writers and artists from Shakespeare and Chaucer to Picasso and Ted Hughes. This translation by David Raeburn is in hexameter verse, brilliantly capturing the energy and spontaneity of the original. Translated by DAVID RAEBURN with an introduction by DENIS FEENEY.