Ovid

Metamorphoses is a long Latin poem that retells myths of transformation, from the creation of the world to the deification of Julius Caesar. It became a major source for later European painters, poets, and dramatists.

Ovid was exiled by Augustus to Tomis on the Black Sea in 8 CE. He famously blamed the punishment on a poem and an error, though the exact political reason remains uncertain.

Ars Amatoria is a witty didactic poem about love and seduction in Roman society. Metamorphoses is mythological and epic in scale, even though both show Ovid's playful control of voice and narrative.

Ovid supplied vivid stories such as Daphne turning into a laurel, Narcissus at the pool, and Pygmalion's statue coming to life. Those episodes gave artists from the Renaissance onward a rich source of dramatic bodies, desire, and transformation.