Exploring Ovid’s big ideas

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.

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This image is a cartoon-style line drawing, with bright colours. It shows Demeter, left, a green figure wearing a long cream coloured dress and holding a purple cloak. Her daughter Persephone is smaller and walks in front of her. She is a pink figure wearing a light pink dress and a crown of flowers. The background is green and suggests an abstract dark forest.

Figure 1 Persephone and her mother Demeter, from Lore Olympus. Ovid tells the story of the abduction of Persephone (who Latin poets ...

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