I have apparently lost my beloved, much written-in copy of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It was only a paperback, with the cheesiest cover (pre-Raphaelites FTW), but it had three semesters worth of notes that I used to teach with at FSU, as well as personal commentary on some of my favorite sections. I used that copy to research for my previous project as well as my current one, and I am pretty unhappy. I have another translation for quick reference, but I don’t like it as much. Humphries is such a vivid, gentle translator. He gives back Ovid’s humor without sounding brash or cheeky or overly modern, and is poet enough to capture Ovid’s pathos without sounding maudlin or overly melodramatic. Here’s hoping it turns up.

Read Humphries here, as I am doing (until the old copy shows up or I break down and buy a new one).