* AudienceColoringAdaptation: Of Classical Mythology as a whole; Greek was a lost language in Western Europe for most of the Middle Ages, so most people from that region's only expose to Classical Myth only came through what the Roman's had translated into Latin (which ''was'' widely spoken thanks to being the Lingua Franca of the Roman Empire and later the Catholic Church). As a result, the versions of the stories presented by Ovid are more widely known and influential than the earlier Greek versions (see Medusa's backstory for an excellent example). Much of the modern interpretation of the Olympians as JerkassGods is a result of our primary understanding of them having been written by a satirist with an anti-traditionalist bias.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The metamorphoses are the inspiration material for some of the western world's greatest and most iconic {{paintings}} and {{sculptures}}, inspiring artists like [[Art/TheRapeOfProserpinaBernini Bernini]], Creator/{{Caravaggio}}, Titian, and [[Creator/JohnWilliamWaterhouse Waterhouse]] to make some of their best work.
* CompleteMonster: Lycaon the king turned werewolf. See [[Monster/MythologyAndReligion here]] for more details.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: "Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?"
* HilariousInHindsight: At the beginning of the poem, when recounting the Ages of the World and saying how much his time period sucks, Ovid wishes that he were born either earlier (and been around when gods and heroes were) or later (as presumably things would have to start improving later on, right?) Now fast forward to the modern age... the standard of living is most definitely higher now than it was then.
* JerkassWoobie: Myrrha. Yes, tricking her [[ParentalIncest father into have sex with her]] was a fucked-up thing to do, but it's not entirely her fault, as it's implied the Furies put some curse on her to make her lust after him in the first place.
** Medusa. Yes, she was dangerous and had to be stopped, but think about her predicament for a second. If you were [[ForcedTransformation turned into a grotesque, snake-haired monster]] by Minerva all because Neptune couldn't keep things in his toga, and then banished to a barren island at the edge of the Aegean Sea for the rest of your life, you definitely need a hug.
* DracoInLeatherPants[=/=]RonTheDeathEater: It's a common scholarly conclusion that Ovid's own personal history and bias against authority figures (he was exiled for sleeping with Emperor Augustus's daughter) deeply colored his versions of the myths in question, painting gods as capricious tyrants unjustly smiting innocent mortals, and mortals who were in myths justly punished (even if with some ValuesDissonance) become tragic heroes murdered for daring to speak truth to power.
** The best-known example is how he changed to story of Medusa. Pre-Ovid, she, along with Euryale and Stheno, were just more of Phorcys and Ceto's monstrous offspring; their siblings included the Graeae, Ladon, and possibly Echidna. Perseus was sent to kill her because she'd been doing general monster things like killing people. Ovid makes her a tragic victim of ''two'' unjust gods: Neptune for raping her, and Minerva for victim-blaming her.
* TearJerker:
** The story of the nymph Io. First she is raped by Jove. Then she is punished by a jealous Juno by being turned into a heifer, mute and terrified. She eventually managed to communicate to her father Inachus who she is and they weep over her fate together. After Jove has Argus- a many eyed giant employed by Juno to keep guard over her and not let Jove anywhere near- killed to free her, Io is again the one who is punished by being driven mad by Juno. She is eventually tuned back into a nymph by Jove and bears him a son, but she never sees her father again, who spends his time in a cavern crying over her disappearance.
*** The whole work in general is full of parents mourning over the tragic fates that befalls their children.
** Echo's unrequited love for Narcissus. Due to a curse, she is only about to speak the last words another person has spoken. One day she spots Narcissus in the woods and falls in love, but is rejected, and flees in shame and grief to a cavern where she wastes away. Yet her love for him only grows. When Narcissus dies, wasting away before his own reflection and looks one last time into the pool utters "Oh marvelous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell", Echo can only helplessly echo "Farewell." Eventually Echo begins to fade away to nothing, till only her eternally repeating voice is left.
** The fate of Cadmus and his family.
* TransAudienceInterpretation: Despite Ovid's HideYourLesbians intentions with it, the Iphis and Ianthe story can easily be read by modern readers as a story about a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} man--Iphis lives their life as a man despite being assigned female at birth, but doesn't appear to mind at all and only starts to lament when they are set to marry Ianthe, whom they fell in love with but was worried that they couldn't be with her if she discovers their birth sex. Iphis ultimately finds their happy ending by being [[GenderBender truly and permanently transformed into a man]], at which point, he marries his wife and the two live the rest of their lives happily together.
* ValuesDissonance: A frightening number of the stories are about the divine punishments given to various rape victims for the crime of having been raped. On the other hand, some scholars have posited that this was an IntendedAudienceReaction, and that the anti-authoritarian Ovid never intended for the gods to come off looking good, possibly turning this into a case of ValuesResonance.



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