Ovid’s Heroides: A New Translation and Critical Essays by Paul Murgatroyd, Bridget Reeves, and Sarah Parker is designed as a textbook for students of Ovid and/or classical mythology.
The work consists of translations of Ovid’s fictional letters, in Latin verse, written in the first-person voices of prominent female figures in Greek and Roman mythology. The twenty-one letters are addressed to spouses and lovers. Among the voices we hear is Penelope scolding Odysseus for his delayed homecoming; Briseis writing to a sulking Achilles; Phaedra attempting to seduce Hippolytus; Dido alternating between pleading with and berating Aeneas; Ariadne cursing Theseus; Medea spewing venom at Jason; and Helen coyly responding to Paris’ attempts at seduction. Included in the twenty-one letters are a few in the voice of the male hero addressing his female beloved.
The authors situate each letter/poem by providing background and context. This is essential since the letters refer to characters and events in classical mythology which may not be familiar to all readers. Each letter is succeeded by critical remarks, commentary, highlights of salient features, questions to stimulate critical thinking on the poem and on the characteristics of the letter-writer, and references for further reading. When relevant, the authors include brief mention of later representations in literature, art, film, and music of a myth and its characters.
The letters are variations of the same themes: love, betrayal, and pleas for rescue from abduction or abandonment. The tone varies depending on the situation of the ostensible letter-writer. Ovid exposes the writer’s raw emotions through the first-person voice. Some of the letters are witty and amusing. Some are riddled with anxiety. Some are positively angry. And some reflect the heart-break of abandonment and abject helplessness.
Ovid’s experience with exile and marginalization may have led him to sympathize with others who had been similarly marginalized and rendered voiceless by society. By articulating the perspective of women and giving voice to the voiceless, Ovid undertook a task that is remarkable for a man of his time and place. His Heroides is a rich, lively, and entertaining reading experience that deserves wider circulation than it has so far received.
Recommended.