Metamorphoses by Ovid

Metamorphoses by Ovid'Still remarkably vivid. It is easier to read this for pure pleasure than just about any other ancient text' Nicholas Lezard, GuardianOvid's sensuous and witty poem begins with the creation of the world and brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation often as a result of love or lust where men and women find themselves magically changed into extraordinary new beings. Including the well known

Stuck inside in pyjamas on a rainy night and in the mood to cause a big family argument

dining with generals or vividly chronicling market life - shortly before war and revolution swept that world away

As famous for their occasionally life-threateningly decadent lifestyles as for their musical brilliance

After a few whirlwind months

When mysterious spirits infiltrate the house

and most deftly imaginative

the descriptions are so vivid you feel you are in each scene

now he understands it as a farmer might

' – Michael Bhaskar

Parliamentarian troops stormed the magnificent cathedral

dark secrets) … really entertaining’ Aly Monroe 'This reminded me somewhat of the more recent

And why it’s time Britain was finally honest with itself about empire