History Literature / TheMetamorphoses

* {{Transflormation}}: Baucis and Philemon are the only ones in their town to welcome the disguised Zeus and Hermes into their home. Part of their reward for upholding SacredHospitality is that when one of them dies, the other will die also; when death comes for them, they are changed into a pair of intertwining trees to symbolize their EternalLove.

* 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).

These stories range from the origin of the world from Chaos to the deification of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and the celebration of Augustus's rule over Rome. Countless tales from mythology are told in between, including the stories of "Apollo and Daphne," "Orpheus and Eurydice," "Baucis and Philemon," "Daedalus and Icarus," et cetera.

These stories range from the origin of the world from Chaos to the deification of Caesar and the celebration of Augustus's rule over Rome. Countless tales from mythology are told in between, including the stories of "Apollo and Daphne," "Orpheus and Eurydice," "Baucis and Philemon," "Daedalus and Icarus," et cetera.

* ActionGirl: The huntress Atalanta is the first to strike the Caldyonian boar in an expedition of dozens of experienced male warriors. More impressive, she later proves to be so fast that even demigods need her to go easy on them and stop racing three separate times to beat her in a footrace.

* {{Bishonen}}: Half the male cast really, the most well known being: Narcissus, Hermaphroditus, Hyacinth, Ganymede and Adonis, and among the Olympians: Apollo, Mercury and Bacchus.

** Diana. She reacts poorly when Actaeon accidentally stumbles across the pool where she's bathing.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Oh so many. There is a [[NightmareFuel graphic]] [[{{Squick}} depiction]] of a satyr being [[DisproportionateRetribution flayed alive]] [[{{Hubris}} for losing to Apollo in a music contest.]] Additionally, Actaeon is [[{{Metamorphosis}} transformed]] into a [[{{Animorphism}} stag]] and torn apart by his own dogs (See DoesNotLikeMen, below).

** Athena in the story of Medusa. Your priestess gets [[RapeAsBackstory raped in your temple by a fellow Olympian?]] Simple, [[ForcedTransformation turn her into a hideous, serpent-haired monster]] and exile her to a barren island with nothing but statues for company.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Juno, especially. For example, she sends a horrific plague upon the island of Aegina, killing hundreds. Why? Because the island is named after a woman who slept with Jupiter, king of the gods. See also the above example of the flaying.

The poem is not to be confused by Antoninus Liberalis' ''The Metamorphosis''[[labelnote:*]]A Greek collection of brief prose stories written a few hundred years later, which shares a similar theme and many of the same tales.[[/labelnote]], or Apuleius' novel ''Metamorphoses'' (AKA''Literature/TheGoldenAss'').

** Neptune saw the daughter of Coroneus and immediately fell in lover with her, although she would rather be turned into a crow than give into the sea-god.

%%* FoodChains: Proserpina in the Underworld. %% Zero Context

%%* LoveImbuesLife: Galatea. %% Zero Context

%%* ToHellAndBack: Orpheus and Eurydice. %% Zero Context
%%* {{Transflormation}}: Happens in several of the stories. %% Zero Context

* BalefulPolymorph: ''Many'' examples, inflicted upon mere mortals by the gods.

* GenderBender: Mostly female-to-male transformations, though Tiresias went male-to-female and back again.

Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' is available online [[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid.html here]]... (What, can't read the Latin? [[GrumpyOldMan Kids these days]]... A.S.Kline's English translation is available [[http://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Ovhome.htm here.]])

Not to be confused with Creator/FranzKafka's ''Literature/TheMetamorphosis''.

* TooDumbToLive: Where to start?
** Phaethon, a mortal son of Sol the sun god who asks his father to lend him his chariot to drive. He scorches the earth.
** Lycaon, wanting to test the gods' immortality, tried to kill Jupiter.
** Niobe boasting she was better than Latona for having more children.
** Arachne claimed to be a better weaver than Minerva, the ''goddess'' of weaving.

* {{Metamorphosis}}: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Every single story has one]], albeit sometimes one that's only tangential to the main point. Many of them are into birds and trees, often as escape or punishment (which is sometimes both).

* PurpleProse: Well, poetry, but still.

* BittersweetEnding: More often than not.
** The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is a good example. They finally meet again, but only in Hades after Orpheus too has been killed.

* BlindSeer: Tiresias.

* BrotherSisterIncest: A one-sided case with Byblis and her brother Caunus. While Byblis likes him, and admits her feelings, he is completely disgusted by her affection.

* DeathOfAChild: Niobe has to witness all seven of her daughters being slain by Diana before her eyes.

* DoesNotLikeMen: Diana. She reacts poorly when Actaeon accidentally stumbles across the pool where she's bathing.

%%* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* {{Flight}}
* FoodChains: Proserpina in the Underworld.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Orpheus.

* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In later books, the text goes out of its way to show how affected the gods were by an event by mentioning that Juno herself is moved by it.

* TheGreatFlood
* GroinAttack: How Adonis is killed.

* {{Hubris}}: There's a lot of [[BlasphemousBoast that going on]]. TemptingFate is not a good idea. See BreakTheHaughty above.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Medea. Unlike in other versions of the story where she is a tragic figure, Ovid's version has her using her magic to kill random people for no reason, even before Jason ever wrongs her. No explanation is ever given for her actions.
** Although we know that Ovid wrote a [[MissingEpisode lost play named Medea]], so he doesn't need to cover her twice.
* JumpingTheGenderBarrier: Iphis for Ianthe.

* LoveAtFirstSight: Not that it's [[AllLoveIsUnrequited requited]], mind you.
* LoveImbuesLife: Galatea.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Particularly when it's caused by a vengeful Cupid.

* MayflyDecemberRomance: Venus and Adonis.

* OffingTheOffspring

* ThePowerOfLove

* PygmalionPlot: One of the stories told in the poem, and one of the few with a truly happy ending.

* SacredHospitality: Hospitality is extremely important, particularly in the Baucis and Philemon story. They get turned into trees for their trouble (it's actually rather sweet).

* ScyllaAndCharybdis: Faced by Aeneas at one point.
* SecondHandStorytelling: The whole thing is a collection of earlier myths and folktales, which are occasionally told by characters in-story. If you're not paying close attention, [[RecursiveReality it can get confusing]]...
** The worst (best?) example of that is Alpheus. In order: A visiting Minerva is told by an unnamed Muse how Calliope in a competition was singing how [[KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy Arethusa was telling Ceres what Alpheus said]].

* StarCrossedLovers: Pyramus and Thisbe.

* ToHellAndBack: Orpheus and Eurydice.

* {{Transflormation}}: Happens in several of the stories.

* UnprovokedPervertPayback: You can't really blame Actaeon for seeing Diana naked, he just walked into her bathing in a spring. But because Diana DoesNotLikeMen, he gets turned into a stag and ends up being [[{{CruelAndUnusualDeath}} killed by his own hunting dogs]].

* WomanScorned: Juno and Medea are the most egregious examples.

* YouCantFightFate: With the Greek myths, which take up a good three-quarters of the poem. The Roman myths? Not so much.

* {{Bishonen}}: Half the male cast really, the most well known being: Narcissus, Hermaphroditus, Hyacinth, Ganymede and Adonis, and among the Olympians: Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus

* DoubleStandard: Cross with ValuesDissonance: Iphis goes on a long monologue about how wrong and unnatural is love between two women but the poem has also many relationships between men (Zeus and Ganymede, Apollo and Hyacinthus...) that are not treated the same way.

* HeavenAbove: The gods live in the Milky Way far above the Earth, with their palaces neighboring the constellations that they created. This becomes a problem once Phaeton sets the sky on fire with his father's chariot, since the gods' living spaces start going ablaze with the stars.

** The worst (best?) example of that is Alpheus. In order: A visiting Athena is told by an unnamed Muse how Calliope in a competition was singing how [[KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy Arethusa was telling Ceres what Alpheus said]].

* WerewolfThemeNaming: The name of King Lycaon, who is turned into a wolf by Zeus, already contains "lycos", the Greek word for 'wolf'.

* KillItWithFire: Though not much is made of it, Jupiter seems to be uncomfortable with fire, apparently remembering a vague prophecy about how fire would one day be the end of him. He remembers this while Phaethon nearly burns Heaven and Earth while driving Apollo's chariot.

* AdultFear: Where to start... the work is chock full of horrified and traumatized parents, both mortals and gods, bewailing the horrifying fates of their sons and daughters

* WretchedHive: Thrace, having [[WarGod Mars]] as a patron deity, tends to be filled with rather [[{{Understatement}} unkind]] men, Orpheus being the exception.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Midas. Bacchus grants him the wish of turning everything he touches into gold. He soon learns this includes food and drink, which causes him to go hungry.

* MidasTouch: Contains an account of the TropeNamer. Midas asks Bacchus for the ability to turn what he touches into gold, and this wish is granted. Turns out this applies to ''everything''.