Ovid is a poet to enjoy, declares William S. Anderson in his introduction to this textbook. And Anderson's skillful introduction and enlightening textual commentary will indeed make it a joy to use.In these books Ovid begins to leave the conflict between men and the gods to concentrate on the relations among human beings.

Subjects of the stories include Arachne and Niobe; Tereus, Procne, and Philomela; Medea and Jason; Orpheus and Eurydice; and many others, familiar and unfamiliar. For studen...