About the Latin
The Metamorphoses is a long poem in fifteen books, running from creation to Ovid's own day by way of one transformation myth after another. Because the stories are famous, a reader can always tell where a passage is heading, which helps a great deal with the Latin.
Ovid's hexameter is more fluent than Virgil's, but it still reorders words freely and expects you to keep several clauses in mind at once.
How hard is it?
Difficulty 9.4, advanced.
Every reading in the library has a difficulty score, on a scale that runs from about 1 to 11. Beginner texts sit below 3.5 and Advanced texts above 6.8.
Most demanding here: Sentence length, Vocabulary variety, Rare vocabulary, Very rare vocabulary, Unseen vocabulary, Subordination.
What you can read
The reading, each with help on every word.
Librorum Capsula currently offers Book I, from the creation of the world to the story of Io.
Metamorphoses: Liber I
Ovid's great epic of transformation begins with creation and carries the reader through divine desire, catastrophe, and the first myths of a changing world.
Where to start
Metamorphoses: Liber I
It is the only Ovid in the catalog so far, and it opens the poem. Open it and the reader gives you the Latin with a definition for every word, so you can read at the pace that suits you and look up only what you need.
Start reading