A Christian Humanistic Reading of Ovid or Why Dante Is Our Virgil for The Metamorphoses

     For no other reason than Ovid's influence on Dante and Shakespeare, the Christian should read Ovid.  How are we then to read this author?  Beyond his well known and more often read Metamorphoses, there is his erotic poetry Amores, Ars Amatoria, and Remedia Amoris.  Ovid's poems, letters, and remedies, most recently translated by David Slavitt are certainly not for the novice.  These poems are often polite, humorous, and could be seen as a "How To Manual" for wooing a would-be lover and even a manual on how to "fall out of love." These works of "lighthearted amatori advice" had most severe consequences in a time of Augustus's moral reforms and ultimately led to Ovid being exiled.
     One possible way to get more out of these works, in addition to a few laughs and a few moments of enjoying the beautiful use of language, is to do a kind of reading in reverse.  For example, Ovid suggests that one can "fall out of love" by highlighting negative qualities and dwelling on those features.  A reverse practice might be, that in order to stay in love, one ought to highlight wonderful qualities of one's beloved.
     Metamorphoses deals with transformation and eroticism.  This work should be thought of as a grand foundation writing in the Western world that provides the reader with humorous moments and insights into the nature of transformation.  Ovid wrote in a tone and style reflecting detachment.  These writings span the spectrum from heartrending romantic love to some examples of sexual perversion.  
     Even Ovid, in his own defense claimed (while in exile) that his poems were not read as he intended.  Regardless, Ovid died in exile and the powers of that day did not think they had misread his love poems.  Many today read Ovid in the spirit of base sensuality.  Is it possible to read Ovid and gain some edifying insights into the human condition and enjoy the beauty of his poetic imagination and poetic expression?  
     One route might be a Christian allegorical reading of Ovid.  A modern Christian could easily follow the example of Dante.  As Christian readers, we are an interpretive community and, as with all camps, have our biases and presumptions.  We should admit that up front and then jump in with care.
     What might this way of reading look like?  Here is a brief example below:
     In Canto twenty-four through twenty-six of the Inferno, Dante, following the form and content of Ovid, vividly demonstrates that the most horrific metamorphoses are those from peace, grace, and eternal joy toward evil and eternal damnation.  The serpent of the garden is the most profound example of the transformation from angelic being to lowly serpent.  Even more profound is the transformation from being human, the image bearing pinnacle of the creation of God, into anything less than human.   


Some fine recent translations of Ovid's key works:
Love Poems, Letters, and Remedies by David Slavitt
The Metamorphoses translated by Stanley Lombardo
The Metamorphoses translated by Charles Martin
Tales From Ovid by Ted Hughes