History YMMV / TheMetamorphoses

** Medusa. Yes, she was dangerous and had to be stopped, but think about her predicament for a second. If you were [[ForcedTransformation turned into a grotesque, snake-haired monster]] by Athena all because Poseidon couldn't keep things in his toga, and then banished to a barren island at the edge of the Aegean Sea for the rest of your life, you definitely need a hug.

** The best-known example is how he changed to story of Medusa. Pre-Ovid, she, along with Euryale and Stheno, were just more of Phorcys and Ceto's monstrous offspring; their siblings included the Graeae, Ladon, and possibly Echidna. Perseus was sent to kill her because she'd been doing general monster things like killing people. Ovid makes her a tragic victim of ''two'' unjust gods: Poseidon for raping her, and Athena for victim-blaming her.

** The story of the nymph Io. First she is raped by Zeus. Then she is punished by a jealous Hera by being turned into a heifer, mute and terrified. She eventually managed to communicate to her father Inachus who she is and they weep over her fate together. After Zeus has Argus- a many eyed giant employed by Hera to keep guard over her and not let Zeus anywhere near- killed to free her, Io is again the one who is punished by being driven mad by Hera. She is eventually tuned back into a nymph by Zeus and bears him a son, but she never sees her father again, who spends his time in a cavern crying over her disappearance.

* JerkassWoobie: Myrrha. Yes, tricking her [[ParentalIncest father into have sex with her]] was a fucked up thing to do, but it's not entirely her fault, as it's implied the Furies put some curse on her to make her lust after him in the first place.

* ValuesDissonance: A frightening number of the stories are about the divine punishments given to various rape victims for the crime of having been raped. On the other hand, some scholars have posited that this was an IntendedAudienceReaction, and that the anti-authoritarian Ovid never intended for the gods to come off looking good, possibly turning this into a case of ValuesRessonance.

* ValuesDissonance: A frightening number of the stories are about the divine punishments given to various rape victims for the crime of having been raped.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The metamorphoses is the inspiration material for some of the western world's greatest and most iconic paintings and sculptures, inspire[[Art/TheRapeOfProserpinaBernini ing artists like Bernini]], Creator/{{Caravaggio}}, Titian, and Waterhouse to make some of their best work

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The metamorphoses is the inspiration material for some of the western world's greatest and most iconic paintings and sculptures, inspiring artists like Bernini, Caravaggio, Titian and Waterhouse to make some of their best work

* WhatAnIdiot: A lot of things could have been avoided if people stopped to think that insulting beings who are immortal and super-powered wasn't a very good idea.

* HeartwarmingMoments: "Eurydice, dying now a second time, uttered no complaint against her husband. What was there to complain of, but that she had been loved?"

* TransAudienceInterpretation: Despite Ovid's HideYourLesbians intentions with it, the Iphis and Ianthe story can easily be read by modern readers as a story about a {{Transgender}} man--Iphis lives their life as a man despite being assigned female at birth, but doesn't appear to mind at all and only starts to lament when they are set to marry Ianthe, whom they fell in love with but was worried that they couldn't be with her if she discovers their birth sex. Iphis ultimately finds their happy ending by being [[GenderBender truly and permanently transformed into a man]], at which point, he marries his wife and the two live the rest of their lives happily together.

** The story of the nymph Io. First she is raped by Zeus. Then she is punished by a jealous Hera by being turned into a heifer, mute and terrified. She eventually managed to communicate to her father Inachus who she is and they weep over her fate together. After Zeus has Argus- a many eyed giant employed by Hera to keep guard over her and not let Zeus anywhere near- killed to free her, Io is again the one who is punished by being driven mad by Hera. She is eventually tuned back into a nymph by Zeus and bears him a son, but she never sees her father again, who spends his time in a cavern crying over her dissapearance
*** The whole work in general is full of parents mourning over the tragic fates that befalls their children
** Echo's unrequired love for Narcissus. Due to a curse, she is only about to speak the last words another person has spoken. One day she spots Narcissus in the woods and falls in love, but is rejected, and flees in shame and grief to a cavern where she wastes away. Yet her love for him only grows. When Narcissus dies, wasting away before his own reflection and looks one last time into the pool utters "Oh marvellous boy, I loved you in vain, farewell", Echo can only helplessly echo "Farewell." Eventually Echo begins to fade away to nothing, till only her eternally repeating voice is left
** The fate of Cadmus and his family

* AwesomeArt: The metamorphoses is the inspiration material for some of the western world's greatest and most iconic paintings and sculptures, inspiring artists like Bernini, Caravaggio, Titian and Waterhouse to make some of their best work

* AwesomeArt: The metamorphoses is the inspiration material for some of the western world's greatest and most iconic paintings and sculptures