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# Introduction

The Roman poet Ovid has always been a bit of a mystery. Hugely controversial in his own time, he was banished from Rome – if we are to take him at his own word – for his poetry. But this did not stop him from being extraordinarily influential on everyone from William Shakespeare to Rachel Smythe, whose 2018 webcomic based on mythological figures, Lore Olympus, had, as of 2024, over a billion views. What was it that made Ovid so influential? Why do writers, artists and creatives of all kinds return to his stories year after year, and century after century, reshaping his myths for their modern audience? One answer is that Ovid’s poems ask big questions, especially in his most famous poem, The Metamorphoses. Ovid’s myths ask questions that even today many people are still unable to answer – like whether there is such a thing as god(s), how the world came to be, and what it is that makes humans human.

Figure 1 Persephone and her mother Demeter, from Lore Olympus. Ovid tells the story of the abduction of Persephone (who Latin poets called Proserpina) in Book 5 of his Metamorphoses.

## Study note: glossary and pronunciation guide

As you study this course you may come across some key words or terms with which you are unfamiliar. We have therefore produced a pronunciation guide and glossary to help you. Clicking on terms which feature in bold text will take you to the pronunciation guide, where you can listen to audio recordings of the words featured. Clicking on terms which feature in bold text and are underlined will take you to the glossary where you will find definitions of those terms. Alternatively, hovering the cursor over the glossary entries within the text will show you the definition.

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OpenLearn - Exploring Ovid’s big ideas
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