The Metamorphoses of Ovid (8 AD) is an epic poem by Ovid. Published the same year, the poet was, sent into exile for the rest of his life, the Metamorphoses are the crowning achievement of the first major poet of the Roman empire. Written in dactylic hexameter, the meter of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and of Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's work is an epic poem of transformations, of shape-shifting matter and beings bound to the power of love. Taking as its...

Recreated from Ovid's "Metamorphoses," these stories, ballads, and headline news articles let the Minotaur, King Midas, Arachne, Bacchus, Persephone, and many more haunting figures walk the Earth once more.

"With accuracy, wit, and intelligence, this remarkable new translation of The Golden Ass breathes new life into Apuleius's classic work. Sarah Ruden, a lyric poet as well as a highly respected translator, skillfully duplicates the verbal high jinks of Apuleius's ever-popular novel. It tells the story of Lucius, a curious and silly young man, who is turned into a donkey when he meddles with witchcraft. Doomed to wander from region to region and mistreated...

A key figure in the Latin American literary renaissance, Octavio Paz focuses here on literature and art, drugs, the murder of God, and ethical and political problems.

"A mysterious, tiny being upsets the balance of the Burnt Spruce Forest. A lone, defenseless pupa drifts down from the sky. An assembly of talking birds and trees agree to protect "Bitsy" as she begins to metamorphose--but into what? As the humanoid creature starts showing a predilection for flight and music, magical clues start unveiling themselves. Nymph gets to the heart of both human and Mother Nature to prove that, to raise a childlike larva,...

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this wotk the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back...

APULEIUS, Lucius, religious philosopher and rhetorician, was born c. A.D. 125 at Madaura in N. Africa. Educated at Carthage and Athens, he travelled in Greece and Asia Minor, became an advocate in Rome, and later returned to Africa. When he married Pudentilla he vindicated himself against her parents' accusation that he practiced magic. The rest of his life he spent at Carthage writing and lecturing and performing priestly duties. Of his extant genuine...