Monday Metamorphoses
An Introduction
Next week, we start a new adventure. We’re digging into one of the West’s most regularly referenced but rarely read works, Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Week by week, bit by bit, we’ll tackle the whole epic, from Italy’s creation myth to the rise of the Caesars.
Why add a book club to Ponytail Press?
Tagging a group reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses to an arts & culture newsletter like Ponytail Press might seem a little ADD. Maybe it’s a tough sell. But I’m willing to wager that it’ll be worth it.
From Ponytail Press’ beginning,
and I wanted bring a new approach to the regular format of arts & culture writing, one that allowed us to point to work from all eras and focus on the themes being explored across all genres, forms, and media. We started with Ponytail Picks, where we share things to listen to, watch, and read, all centred around a particular topic or metaphor. Then, we added PonyTunes, which offers readers short essays related to albums or Fresh Tracks to discover.Monday Metamorphoses dives deeper into the ethos behind this newsletter—exploring all the layers at play in the art we know and love.
Why Metamorphoses?
I don’t know about you, but it feels like Greek and Roman mythology has been haunting me my whole life. Since middle school, I’ve heard references to these tales and characters in everything from sitcoms to psychology. Without fail, every time, these stories are name-dropped without any context, as if we were all supposedly born with them pre-programmed into our brains. And yet, I don’t know anyone who has actually read the most popular source-text for these stories, myself included.
With Monday Metamorphoses, I hope to change that and, in-so-doing, investigate a meaning-making device that’s all the rage right now—intertextuality.
Even if you don’t know the term, you’re definitely aware of intertextuality. From the MCU to the latest release by Kendrick Lamar, all the books, films, shows, and songs we enjoy are constantly referencing each other. Sometimes, it’s a nod to a source of inspiration. At other times, it’s an easy way to suggest an intended meaning to a knowing audience. Sometimes, it’s just an inside joke. But it happens. A lot. (In pop culture, we call them Easter eggs (which is itself an example of intertextuality)).
Historically speaking, the stories in Metamorphoses might be the most referenced of all time1. So then, why do so few of us actually read the thing? Well, like it is with a lot of "classic" literature, Metamorphoses is considered a slog.
Separated into 15 books, each one containing multiple “fables,” Ovid’s poem is long and originally written in verse, a style few modern readers choose for light reading. With Monday Metamorphoses, I hope to do what I can to change that reputation and at the same time, give us a chance to catch the references that continue to make their way into the stories we write and consume.
Why A.S. Kline’s translation?
I’ll be honest here: I first chose A.S. Kline’s English translation of Metamorphoses because it was free. But after looking at a few other options, I’m inclined to stick with this one.
For one thing, Kline adapts the poem into prose, clumping lines into paragraphs rather than keeping it in the original style. I think this will help us modern readers get through the thing and feel less intimidated by it.
Also, compared to other prose translations, this one sounds the most straightforward. No “ye” or “thou” to make it seem as old as it is, but no awkward modernizations either—no one’s “blowing the lid off” of anything, you know?
One lucky thing we get by choosing Kline’s translation: a living translator. Based on my limited research, the 75-year-old is still kicking in the UK, translating poetry into English. Maybe we’ll reach out at some point and ask him a question or two, who knows!
How it will to work
Each Monday, you’ll find the next installment of Metamorphoses in your inbox. Excerpts will be kept short to keep it accessible, hovering around the 900-word marker. The hope is that you’ll read it that day, let it digest over the work week, and come back to talk about it with the rest of us in a discussion thread the following Saturday.
Sound fun? I thought so. So I’ll see you next Monday, then!
with the possible exception of the Bible.