Gareth Williams is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He has published extensively on Ovid, Roman philosophy, and classical reception.

Smart close readings abound, and Williams’s punchy analyses make the book fun to read, though they never obscure his mastery of the subject.

• PrefaceIntroduction1. Diversity, Idiosyncrasy, and Self-Discovery in the Metamorphoses2.The Liabilities of Language: Change and Instability in Ovid’s World of Words3. The Path of Deviance: Sexual Morality and the Incestuous Urge in the Metamorphoses4. Rough Justice: Victimization, Revenge, and Divine Punishment in the MetamorphosesEpilogueFurther ReadingIndex

Gareth Williams is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He has published extensively on Ovid, Roman philosophy, and classical reception.

Smart close readings abound, and Williams’s punchy analyses make the book fun to read, though they never obscure his mastery of the subject.

• PrefaceIntroduction1. Diversity, Idiosyncrasy, and Self-Discovery in the Metamorphoses2.The Liabilities of Language: Change and Instability in Ovid’s World of Words3. The Path of Deviance: Sexual Morality and the Incestuous Urge in the Metamorphoses4. Rough Justice: Victimization, Revenge, and Divine Punishment in the MetamorphosesEpilogueFurther ReadingIndex

Gareth Williams is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He has published extensively on Ovid, Roman philosophy, and classical reception.

Smart close readings abound, and Williams’s punchy analyses make the book fun to read, though they never obscure his mastery of the subject.

• PrefaceIntroduction1. Diversity, Idiosyncrasy, and Self-Discovery in the Metamorphoses2.The Liabilities of Language: Change and Instability in Ovid’s World of Words3. The Path of Deviance: Sexual Morality and the Incestuous Urge in the Metamorphoses4. Rough Justice: Victimization, Revenge, and Divine Punishment in the MetamorphosesEpilogueFurther ReadingIndex