The 'Metamorphoses' are Ovid's magnum opus and, alongside Virgil's 'Aeneid', are considered the most significant literary work of ancient Rome. The approximately 250 transformation tales that Ovid weaves into his epic poem are characterized by a dazzling variety of content and trace back to the myths of primordial times. The extraordinarily vivid imagery with which the transformations of gods and humans, animals and plants are depicted makes the 'Metamorphoses' one of the most beautiful books in world literature.