The Metamorphoses defies easy classification: it is a Latin narrative poem written in an epic style that sets out to chronicle no less than the entire history of the world from creation through the deification of Julius Caesar in a framework that loosely blends history and mythology. Consisting of 15 books and 11,995 lines in dactylic hexameter, it weaves over 250 myths into a tapestry of varying tones and themes, with a common thread of change and transformation and the recurring theme of love.  The narrative jumps around somewhat, but the whole has been identified to fall into four divisions: The Divine Comedy (Books1-2); The Avenging Gods (Books 3-6); The Pathos of Love (Books 6-11); and Rome and the Deified Ruler (Books 12-15). The Metamorphoses is a virtual encyclopedia of mythology and served as the main source of myth for many writers and artists. Scenes from the poem are the subject of famous paintings by Titian, Brueghel, and Bernini, among others. Some consider it to be the most important influence on western literature; its material features prominently in The Canterbury Tales, the Shakespeare plays, in Milton’s Paradise Lost, and in the works of Boccaccio, Dante, and Cervantes. In spite of its enormous popularity, there is no surviving manuscript from antiquity; nothing complete was found until the 11^th century. Highly popular in the Renaissance, interest declined until a number of new translations in the last half of the 20^th century sparked a renewed interest.

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