Epic mythology

This performance of Ovid's Metamorphosis is very good. The book contains most of the Greek and Roman myths, and Ovid is an excellent poet. This. however, is not something you can listen to while doing something else. If your mind wanders for a second, you may miss important details of the story. It also helps to have some familiarity with the myths so if someone is referred to as the son of so and so you know who Ovid is referring to. for that reason, I would not reccomend this as your first book on Greek mythology. You do have to stay focused while listening to this book, but it is rewarding. I was able to pick up on some of the humor that I missed when reading the print book. It must be said that many of these tales are violent, and sexual violence is a common theme in this book. Hearing these tales spoken aloud by a skilled narrator makes them feel more tragic than if I was just reading them silently in my mind. all in all, I reccomend the Audible version.

6 people found this helpful

not as dense as I expected, surprisingly fun

Loved getting to know the original myths. Very interesting read for me. It helps to use sparknotes to follow along

1 person found this helpful

A wonderful listen to some great myths.

Great pace and easy to listen to and follow.

A warning to newcomers to Greco-Roman mythology. Ovid assumes you have heard the tales told by other authors (such as Heracles, Jason & the Argonauts, Theseus & the Minotaur, Troy, and the wanderings of Odysseus and Aeneas to name a few). I mention this because Ovid jumps around a lot and takes snippets from the previously mentioned myths plus others to explain how things change (hence the title Metamorphoses) into various animals, plants, or natural landmarks. This book is in somewhat chronological order at times but more often with characters flashing back to earlier myths or even myths within myths. This can cause some confusion. However, with this is mind it adds a wonderful interpretation and at times a new perspective on well known myths. Bona fortuna!

1 person found this helpful

Superb and powerful!!!

Fantastically awesome!!! Captivating and thrilling all the way through... Encapsulates Greek/Roman mythology with the beautiful force of a masterful storyteller. Excellent narration!!! Poetic and mystical in a way sure to keep you on the edge of your seat in wonder...

1 person found this helpful

Plagued by flaw in audio-book format

This is a potentially wonderful work that doesn't succeed because of problems inherent in the audio format which hit this work particularly hard. If I were to go into the audio-book publishing business, I would be much more attentive to chapter/section breaks, even if it means departing from the precise way it's done in the written work.

I can tell that the translation and narration here are fine based on the way I'm captivated by the first episode in each of Ovid's "Books." Really. . . this material is absolutely riveting, a wonderful listen. I also notice that by the end of the Book, I'm barely awake and pretty sure I did doze off at points in the interim.

One-hour-plus of un-broken narration does not work, not for Metamorphosis, and probably not for any audio book.

We need meaningful breaks (silence, audio-book music, place markers that would show in an iPod, etc.) after every episode, not after every book. I don't care whether Ovid demarcated it that way. I don't care if ancient audiences heard all-the-way-through oral recitations. These audio-books are geared for modern audiences and if the format is to flourish, publishers need to get out of auto-pilot mode (where they passively mimic written text) and really think about user experience.

It's probably harsh to pin all this on a review of Metamorphosis. I've seen it throughout audio. If I’d have figured out how to articulate it earlier, I'd have wrote this for Iliad, Odyssey or Aneid. But this is the piece where I realized why I wasn't enjoying the work as much as I could have.

47 people found this helpful

Awesome classic. I love reading the classics.

inspires my own writing, paintings. I enjoy the classics very much. helping to expand vocabulary.