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emma's Reviews > Metamorphoses
Metamorphoses
by
by
emma's review
bookshelves: classics, owned, non-ya, project-long-classics, 4-and-a-half-stars, recommend, reviewed
Jan 09, 2024
bookshelves: classics, owned, non-ya, project-long-classics, 4-and-a-half-stars, recommend, reviewed
welcome to...METAMARCHOSES.
this is another installment of project long classics, in which i read intimidating books in small chunks over the course of a month in order to achieve three goals: a) seem smart, b) make puns, and c) have an excuse to buy penguin clothbound classics.
this one is slightly different because i already own it. brag alert: my boyfriend bought me my copy of this book when we were on a date in a closed bookstore.
anyway. i have no idea what this is about. it's divided into 15 books, so let's read half of one a day, shall we?
BOOK I, PART I
the GODS just MADE the WORLD and then FLOODED the HELL out of it. and the WRITING is BEAUTIFUL. i'm having so much fun already.
BOOK I, PART II
this part is mostly about really pretty girls catching the eye of gods and then being turned into trees and cows and stuff because of that bad luck.
BOOK II, PART I
since the dawn of time, when cars were chariots and dads were gods, teenage boys in media have been driving their fathers' rides without permission only to f*ck everything up immediately.
BOOK II, PART II
this section focuses on a variety of tattletale birds.
BOOK III, PART I
i did NOT know the tiresias tragic backstory (one time he was turned into a woman because he saw some snakes screwing and therefore was called on by jove and saturnia to settle who has more fun in bed and when he sided with jove and said women saturnia blinded him but then jove felt bad so he gave him the eternal gift of prophecy).
BOOK III, PART II
now we're getting to echo and narcissus. this is like the greco-roman greatest hits.
BOOK IV, PART I
taken aback to find the words "he clings to his misshapen ass" here.
BOOK IV, PART II
there's a girl walking around in a robe dripping blood wearing a live serpent as a belt throwing crazy-making snakes at people. and perseus is carrying medusa's head like a tote bag while he turns guys into mountains and saves fair maidens from sea monsters. this is in half of one chapter.
BOOK V, PART I
by and large a play by play of who hit who with a spear.
BOOK V, PART II
one of the most unforgivable crimes you could commit in the ancient world was being a tattletale. the phrase snitches get stitches has held true throughout time and space.
BOOK VI, PART I
we are never too busy for an exhaustive rundown of which people the gods have turned into which animals throughout time.
BOOK VI, PART II
i am a sister girl for life, but i am not sure i would kill my son and then cut him up and cook him and feed him to my traitor husband in order to avenge mine. revenge would definitely be had but i'm not convinced i would choose that specifically.
BOOK VII, PART I
oh how i love a witchy girl.
BOOK VII, PART II
this book is actually so interesting that i have to choose between 3+ jokes with every section. i hope you all appreciate my sacrifice.
BOOK VIII, PART I
i guess i don't know what i expected from the minotaur origin story, but it wasn't either "deeply disturbing" or "a straight line from the icarus sun incident."
BOOK VIII, PART II
this is so rich with detail that it's like, "a bunch of guys died in a boar incident. a woman sets a fire in vengeance. the fire kills a father. all the daughters of the father are super mournful and upset. diana turns all those girls into birds, except two. these two are hercules' wife and the future mother of one of the guys who pops out of the trojan horse."
and on top of all that i'm learning about stuff like "watch-geese." this is a perfect book.
BOOK IX, PART I
everybody has a name, a name from childhood, a name that's a reference to their dad, a name that's a reference to some kind of infidelity knowingly or unknowingly committed by their mom, and a nickname. this is fun and impossible!
BOOK IX, PART II
in most cases i think fleeing your homeland and literally starting a new city from scratch in order to escape someone who has an unrequited crush on you is a bit much. however, if that person is your sister...fair enough!
BOOK X, PART I
i know the whole orpheus and eurydice thing is supposed to be a great romance, as in he loved her too much to be able to turn his eye from her, but i think it's more of an illustration of the fact that men literally cannot listen.
BOOK X, PART II
tons of incest in this book. what is this, hbo?
BOOK XI, PART I
the fact that midas ASKED that everything he touched would turn to gold?? it's like if ella enchanted begged to be obedient before chasing lucinda all over kingdom come.
BOOK XI, PART II
at this point i'm ready to believe the gods are just looking for reasons to turn women into birds. call a goddess ugly: you're a bird now. sleep with a god: you're a bird now. don't sleep with a god: you're a bird now. have a talent: you're a bird now. witness morpheus dressed up like your husband's very wet ghost in order to tell you that he drowned via dream: you're a bird now. enough already!
BOOK XII, PART I
these guys are getting really creative with their choice of battle weapons.
BOOK XII, PART II
did not know they had crowbars in ancient times. (see above.)
BOOK XIII, PART I
i kind of love that ovid was like, oh, the legendary stories that would be the basis of the iliad and the odyssey? yeah. those are just chapters in my book.
BOOK XIII, PART II
three pages of the cyclops spitting straight game. telling your girl "i got you two bear cubs and it's actually good that i'm hairy, due to the ugliness" and then very quickly killing her boyfriend with a big rock could work on someone.
BOOK XIV, PART I
we just covered the events of the aeneid in a few paragraphs. ovid is showing off at this point!
BOOK XIV, PART II
i'm ready to adjust my earlier declaration re: gods turning women into birds. i'd like to clarify that they also turn them into trees.
BOOK XV, PART I
here i am all sad that this is the penultimate day of this project and now i'm getting lectured for pages because i'm not a vegetarian. they're saying i'm no better than the cyclops and telling me i should be fine since grapes exist.
BOOK XV, PART II
we conclude with caesar, marc antony, cleopatra, and augustus, and ovid promising us he will always be famous. we've covered it all.
OVERALL
clearly i had a blast reading this book. it's likely the most fun i've had in any installment of project long classics, and also really lends itself to this format. i enjoyed every crazy second of this action-packed book.
rating: 4.5
this is another installment of project long classics, in which i read intimidating books in small chunks over the course of a month in order to achieve three goals: a) seem smart, b) make puns, and c) have an excuse to buy penguin clothbound classics.
this one is slightly different because i already own it. brag alert: my boyfriend bought me my copy of this book when we were on a date in a closed bookstore.
anyway. i have no idea what this is about. it's divided into 15 books, so let's read half of one a day, shall we?
BOOK I, PART I
the GODS just MADE the WORLD and then FLOODED the HELL out of it. and the WRITING is BEAUTIFUL. i'm having so much fun already.
BOOK I, PART II
this part is mostly about really pretty girls catching the eye of gods and then being turned into trees and cows and stuff because of that bad luck.
BOOK II, PART I
since the dawn of time, when cars were chariots and dads were gods, teenage boys in media have been driving their fathers' rides without permission only to f*ck everything up immediately.
BOOK II, PART II
this section focuses on a variety of tattletale birds.
BOOK III, PART I
i did NOT know the tiresias tragic backstory (one time he was turned into a woman because he saw some snakes screwing and therefore was called on by jove and saturnia to settle who has more fun in bed and when he sided with jove and said women saturnia blinded him but then jove felt bad so he gave him the eternal gift of prophecy).
BOOK III, PART II
now we're getting to echo and narcissus. this is like the greco-roman greatest hits.
BOOK IV, PART I
taken aback to find the words "he clings to his misshapen ass" here.
BOOK IV, PART II
there's a girl walking around in a robe dripping blood wearing a live serpent as a belt throwing crazy-making snakes at people. and perseus is carrying medusa's head like a tote bag while he turns guys into mountains and saves fair maidens from sea monsters. this is in half of one chapter.
BOOK V, PART I
by and large a play by play of who hit who with a spear.
BOOK V, PART II
one of the most unforgivable crimes you could commit in the ancient world was being a tattletale. the phrase snitches get stitches has held true throughout time and space.
BOOK VI, PART I
we are never too busy for an exhaustive rundown of which people the gods have turned into which animals throughout time.
BOOK VI, PART II
i am a sister girl for life, but i am not sure i would kill my son and then cut him up and cook him and feed him to my traitor husband in order to avenge mine. revenge would definitely be had but i'm not convinced i would choose that specifically.
BOOK VII, PART I
oh how i love a witchy girl.
BOOK VII, PART II
this book is actually so interesting that i have to choose between 3+ jokes with every section. i hope you all appreciate my sacrifice.
BOOK VIII, PART I
i guess i don't know what i expected from the minotaur origin story, but it wasn't either "deeply disturbing" or "a straight line from the icarus sun incident."
BOOK VIII, PART II
this is so rich with detail that it's like, "a bunch of guys died in a boar incident. a woman sets a fire in vengeance. the fire kills a father. all the daughters of the father are super mournful and upset. diana turns all those girls into birds, except two. these two are hercules' wife and the future mother of one of the guys who pops out of the trojan horse."
and on top of all that i'm learning about stuff like "watch-geese." this is a perfect book.
BOOK IX, PART I
everybody has a name, a name from childhood, a name that's a reference to their dad, a name that's a reference to some kind of infidelity knowingly or unknowingly committed by their mom, and a nickname. this is fun and impossible!
BOOK IX, PART II
in most cases i think fleeing your homeland and literally starting a new city from scratch in order to escape someone who has an unrequited crush on you is a bit much. however, if that person is your sister...fair enough!
BOOK X, PART I
i know the whole orpheus and eurydice thing is supposed to be a great romance, as in he loved her too much to be able to turn his eye from her, but i think it's more of an illustration of the fact that men literally cannot listen.
BOOK X, PART II
tons of incest in this book. what is this, hbo?
BOOK XI, PART I
the fact that midas ASKED that everything he touched would turn to gold?? it's like if ella enchanted begged to be obedient before chasing lucinda all over kingdom come.
BOOK XI, PART II
at this point i'm ready to believe the gods are just looking for reasons to turn women into birds. call a goddess ugly: you're a bird now. sleep with a god: you're a bird now. don't sleep with a god: you're a bird now. have a talent: you're a bird now. witness morpheus dressed up like your husband's very wet ghost in order to tell you that he drowned via dream: you're a bird now. enough already!
BOOK XII, PART I
these guys are getting really creative with their choice of battle weapons.
BOOK XII, PART II
did not know they had crowbars in ancient times. (see above.)
BOOK XIII, PART I
i kind of love that ovid was like, oh, the legendary stories that would be the basis of the iliad and the odyssey? yeah. those are just chapters in my book.
BOOK XIII, PART II
three pages of the cyclops spitting straight game. telling your girl "i got you two bear cubs and it's actually good that i'm hairy, due to the ugliness" and then very quickly killing her boyfriend with a big rock could work on someone.
BOOK XIV, PART I
we just covered the events of the aeneid in a few paragraphs. ovid is showing off at this point!
BOOK XIV, PART II
i'm ready to adjust my earlier declaration re: gods turning women into birds. i'd like to clarify that they also turn them into trees.
BOOK XV, PART I
here i am all sad that this is the penultimate day of this project and now i'm getting lectured for pages because i'm not a vegetarian. they're saying i'm no better than the cyclops and telling me i should be fine since grapes exist.
BOOK XV, PART II
we conclude with caesar, marc antony, cleopatra, and augustus, and ovid promising us he will always be famous. we've covered it all.
OVERALL
clearly i had a blast reading this book. it's likely the most fun i've had in any installment of project long classics, and also really lends itself to this format. i enjoyed every crazy second of this action-packed book.
rating: 4.5
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Reading Progress
December 12, 2023
– Shelved
March 1, 2025
–
Started Reading
March 31, 2025
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)
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by
Raggi
(new)
Jan 09, 2024 06:53AM
So sweet ❤️
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you’re living the dream life, this is too cute🤍
I'd love to hear how/where you met this dream boy, because that's very much the opposite of what I'm finding out here
this is one of my favorites
Hum it’s one the “few� that I want to read. Maybe it’s the time to do it !!!
Honestly I might try to follow along with you. As if Paradise Lost on its own isn’t enough commitment for March, but�. Alas
I read this in college and have read it twice since then, such a beautiful book, enjoy!!
I read this in high school and all I remember was that there was this guy who liked this girl, but he was in disguise and he was telling her a story, and I was kinda into it but there wasn’t closure that I recall?? That’s very specific I know lol but let me know if you get there
i did not read Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes as a kid to not be able to look at that description and think "phaethon!!!" 🫠
I love this book! I just did the play
Bruh. These section recaps are encouraging me to read this even more than I already wanted to. You are the queen of influential reviews. Hope you know that. <3
truly the greco-roman greatest hits
Wow! Excellent review! Sounds interesting!
Girl, I read an adaptation and this shit is good!
I had resigned myself to a life of never reading another classic ever but your review makes this read sound so fun! Might have to give it a try�
watching this review update has actual become the highlight of my day
these review updates are so fun i cant wait for more
I'm this close to buying this book (the clothbound classic edition) because of this review- I'm from Brazil and it will cost me about 4x the price of a regular book. I've loved greek mythology since forever, but I need to know how readable this book actually is. Beyond the content, is it a good read?
@wal don’t buy the cloth bound version, they fall apart easily
@Sophie R, really? But they are just so pretty! I also have a few of them that are in pretty good shape. None are as thick as he Metamorphoses edition, but I haven´t had problems. Have you read this one in a different edition? Do you know how the language/translation/resources (footnotes, intro, etc) are?
i have never had a penguin clothbound fall apart and i collect them! the ink of the designs will fade depending on how you hold them, but i like how they look that way too
This ever-updating review is SENDING ME.
I’m not sure I’ll read this but your review is wonderful! 😂
@Wal No matter which edition you get, you’re going to love it! It’s a fantastic book. 🤓🤩
This cracked me up. Now you've gotta read it in the Latin. It's even better.
These comments are popcorn entertainment worthy!
I recommend the Stephanie McCarter translation!!
This is my favourite summary of this book.
