The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with a Commentary

Legends concerning the transformation of men and women, heroes and nymphs, into animals, stars, plant, inanimate objects, and even persons of the opposite sex, were widespread and popular in the classical world. This collection of forty-one Greek myths and legends by Antonius Liberalis, here translated into English for the first time is a unique source of such tales. Many of the tales are found nowhere else, and the manner of the narrative, laconic as well as picaresque, adds relish to their oddity. The variant of the story of Cephalus and Procris where the heroine practices sex therapy on King Minos; the transformation of the arrogant musician Cerambus into a whining beetle; the change of Hylas into an echo; the numerous punishments for, or results of, rape, mockery, incest, and scorn: all these offer food for psychological speculation as well as narrative pleasure. Many of these tales would have startled Freud or puzzled Jung. The commentary, which is more in depth than that usuallysupplied with most translations, furnishes parallels and explanatory materials to help those who wish to follow a tale through its numerous contexts and ramifications. The Metamorphoses of Antonius Liberaliswill be of interest to classicists, anthropologists, and archaeologists.