Benim Adım İbrahimoviç itibaren Beyaz Balina Yayınları içinde LIT biçim

Elysa Munster dearadrianne — Ovid made a bold stab at the end of this book when he declares "wherever Rome's power extends over the conquered world, I shall have mention on men's lips, and, if the prophecies of bards have any truth, through all the ages shall I live in fame." I couldn't help but laugh at the audacity. But from an objective standpoint, he was entirely right. And after reading his book, I loved his writing so much that I agree that he should have that "undying name." I'm glad he knew something of his greatness before he died. I suppose it's hard for me to give a review of an ancient text. What am I supposed to criticize? He uses too many Greek names I can't pronounce that sometimes differ in one letter or none? He sucks up to Augustus quite obviously? All fair enough for the times. Ovid's writing, of course, is poetic. He was a poet. His characters are never dull - even the ones that would go down in mythology as some of the least deserving of sympathy he turns into humans we can relate to. Scylla (not the one turned into the monster) has a passionate monologue revealing her struggle over helping her love, Minos, or saving her father's kingdom. Eventually she cuts her father's purple lock of hair, thus destroying his kingdom and ending his life. How could someone sympathize with that? But Ovid gives her a voice that shows her inner conflict. And he does this for many other characters. He doesn't always portray the gods in a sympathetic light. He knew they could be jerks, and he went through no pains to hide this view. But sometimes he sounds pious enough so that you can understand the reverence with which the Greeks and Romans looked upon their gods. He covers pretty much all extremes of religious devotion - his stories show the most impious and pious, describe rituals, etc. Those, along with other phrases or sentences when you read carefully, reveal so much about the times and the culture, even beyond the religious field. Considering this is a book of transformations, it provides stories to explain how many things came to be - the Sahara desert, different seasons, amber, the hyacinth, the woodpecker, etc. I always found that interesting about myths. If myths were often used as a teaching tool, explaining the existence of something would be one key function. And that element is always fun to read about. Anyway, just read the book. It's worth it. He's one of the authoritative authors for occidental myths. No modern source could beat the value of an ancient author. If you don't have the patience to read the whole thing - I'll admit, it seemed to take forever to finish, but I was determined - get a book with an index. You should do this anyway. I bought the Barnes & Noble Classics edition. It didn't have an index, and it drove me crazy. It was so hard to refer back to an interesting myth, because Ovid has no particular order to his stories, and the chapters are just labeled "Book I, Book II, etc". Also, consider whether the text is written out in lines or in paragraphs. Ovid's a poet, and should probably be read as such. The lines also help to break up how dense some of the text can be. But if reading by lines sometimes causes a hang up, go ahead and use one with paragraphs. Mine happened to be like that. I think this book should be a basic part of education, certainly if you have any interest in myths or the classics.