Read The Classics: The Metamorphoses April 5, 2009

The Multnomah County Library invites you to take part in a new book series, where you can read some of the best all-time classics and discuss them under the leadership of Dr. Walter Englert, the Hoskins Professor of Classical Studies at Reed College. Participation is free, but registration is required. You can register online at http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/greece.html
A limited number of books will be available free of charge for those who pre-register.

Ovid creates an epic world entirely different from that of his predecessors. The Metamorphoses or "Transformations" (8 A.D.) is an epic that is truly epic in scope, beginning with the creation of the universe and ending with the world of contemporary Rome. As the title announces, the central theme is one of constant change, and we see gods and humans amazingly transformed from one shape to another. The poem recasts and preserves most of the major Greek and Roman myths that are familiar to us, often in surprising ways. Ovid was known for his wit and cleverness, and in the poem he explores the nature of love, power, change, deception, the nature of art, and personal identity. He, like Virgil, also explores what it means to be Roman, but in a much more subversive way. Ovid's poetry was seen as so subversive, in fact, that the emperor Augustus exiled him to the town of Tomis on the Black Sea, where he continued to write, never to return to his beloved Rome.

Official Website: http://www.multcolib.org/events/classics/greece.html