OVID: METAMORPHOSES IX-XII

First edition. Hardcover. Publisher's original orange cloth with gilt titles to the spine, with Hercules illustration in dark orange to the upper board, in dustwrapper. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout, and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the lightly creased dustwrapper, which is a touch toned to the top edge and folds.

The third in this four-volume series of Donald E. Hill's complete translation of Ovid's masterpiece. Each volume has been purposefully designed to stand alone and offers a side-by-side comparison of the source text with Hill's translation, followed by extensive commentary. Book IX in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' notably includes the life, labours, and death of Hercules, hence the classical hero's appearance as the focus of the cover art. Book X comprises the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, Ganymede, Pygmalion, Venus and Adonis, and Atalanta, among others. Book XI subsequently portrays the death of Orpheus, the myths of Midas, Peleus and Thetis, and the foundation of Troy, with Book XII beginning the extended narrative of the Trojan War, which continues beyond this volume.