7. Ovid now produced a work of greater compass, the Metamorphoses, in fifteen Books of heroic verse. When it was composed is not known, but he had the idea of it in his mind when he wrote Am. iii. 12, 21-40. At the time of his banishment the poem had been written, but not revised. He committed his MS. to the flames, but copies were in the hands of friends; Tr. i. 7, 13-16,
‘Carmina mutatas hominum dicentia formas,
infelix domini quod fuga rupit opus.
Haec ego discedens, sicut bene multa meorum,
ipse mea posui maestus in igne manu.Quae quoniam non sunt penitus sublata, sed extant, (l. 23)
pluribus exemplis scripta fuisse reor.Ablatum mediis opus est incudibus illud, (l. 29)
defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis.’
The poem consists of a collection of stories of the transformation of human beings into animals. Cf. i. 1,
‘In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora.’
The idea, title, and much of the subject-matter was borrowed from the Alexandrians, e.g. the Μεταμορφώσεις of Parthenius, the Ἑτεροιούμενα of Nicander.
8. In the Fasti, in six Books, Ovid furnishes a poetical calendar of the Roman year. Each month has a Book allotted to it, and he speaks of having written twelve Books; Tr. ii. 549,
‘Sex ego Fastorum scripsi totidemque libellos,
cumque suo finem mense volumen habet.
Idque tuo nuper scriptum sub nomine, Caesar,
et tibi sacratum sors mea rupit opus.’
Probably the second six Books were never completed; but there are references to portions of them, e.g. iii. 57,
‘Vester honos veniet, cum Larentalia dicam;
acceptus Geniis illa December habet.’
The Fasti had been written side by side with the Metam. and interrupted at the sixth Book by Ovid’s banishment. During his exile he added some passages, but found that his Muse was fit only for melancholy themes; iv. 81,