I said in my last post that Book 3 of the Metamorphoses was my favourite because of its strong focus around the theme of the house of Cadmus and because many of the stories in it are not only outstanding examples of Ovid's writing, but also among the most beloved tales of Classical literature, such as Pentheus and the Bacchae. Although Ovid does return to Cadmus in one of the later books of the Metamorphoses, the theme is relatively well contained in the one flowing tale, which makes it an ideal text to translate. While I don't have the time or ability to do the entirety of the Metamorphoses justice in a translation, I do have a partly finished translation of the Metamorphoses Book 3 which I made at Latin camp over the summer, and this will form the basis of my translation this time around. Of course, this translation was also influenced by some of my fellow Latin campers, as the book was translated as a group exercise, but essentially I'll be reworking and checking it to produce my own version, as well as translating the story of Cadmus' metamorphosis into a snake in the later book, which will nicely round off the story of the house of Cadmus. I'd imagine that this will be a relatively literal translation, as is my style, but I hope that this will be of most use to readers wishing to engage more closely with Ovid's original text. |
Christopher