In which Romulus, as the founder of the city of Rome, successfully defends the city against the Sabines, before his apotheosis, and that of his Sabine wife, Hersilia.
Metamorphoses
How Vertumnus tried to trick Pomona into loving him, then told her a threatening story. Neither worked: it was being himself that won her in the end.
Aeneas reaches Latium, where he founds the precursor to Rome, Alba. Only after war with Turnus, and a series of transformations.
What happens to men who Circe desires, but refuse her? This one was turning into a woodpecker, his men into wild beasts, and his wife simply vanished into thin air.
Ulysses sojourn with Circe, from the Odyssey, as an inset to Virgil’s Aeneid, as retold by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. A first-hand account of transformation.
The story of Ulysses’ encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus is told by a survivor from the Odyssey. Superb paintings by Turner, Böcklin, Reni, and others.
Two interlinked stories about the Sibyl, who will live for a thousand years but age until she is just a voice. Painted by Turner (three magnificent works shown), and Claude.
The story of Dido and Aeneas summarised in seven lines, and a strange account of the origin of the apes. Paintings by Guérin, Cézanne, Tiepolo, and Fuseli.
Glaucus’ attempt to get Circe to put a spell on Scylla, to make her love him, backfires. Wonderful paintings by Waterhouse, van der Neer, Henry Fuseli, and others.
Was he a monster or a god? When Glaucus rises from the surface of the sea, Scylla runs away in terror. With a superb painting by JMW Turner.
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