Prologue:

"My soul would sing of metamorphoses.
But since, o gods, you were the source of these
bodies becoming other bodies, breathe
your breath into my book of changes: may
the song I sing be seamless as its way
weaves from the world's beginning to our day."
-Ovid, page 3

(I really liked the way that sounded and knew that paraphrasing it just wouldn't do it justice.)

Io & Jove:

Jove concealed himself in fog and raped Io. Juno became suspicious of Jove when she saw the clouds and went to investigate, but Jove turned Io into a beautiful, white heifer before Juno could arrive. Juno asked to have the heifer, and Jove had no choice but to agree in order to keep his secret. Juno still thought that Jove was up to something so she made Argus, who had one hundred eyes, watch the heifer. All the while, Io's father mourned for her. Jove could not endure Io's suffering as a cow so he instructed Mercury to kill Argus. Mercury tried to put Argus to sleep with a song, but he cannot make all of Argus's eyes shut at the same time. Then, Argus asked how the pipe instrument had come to be invented. Thus, Mercury began the story of Syrinx.

Syrinx:

Syrinx was a nymph that was a follower of Diana. Pan pursed Syrinx but she would not give in to his advances. While fleeing from Pan, Syrinx asked the water nymphs for help and they obliged by turning her into marsh reeds just as Pan was about to grab her. As Pan sighed at the sight of only reeds in his grasp, he noticed that it caused the reeds to make a delicate sound. He cut the reeds into unequal lengths, joined them together, and gave the instrument the nymph's name.

Io & Jove:

Before Mercury finished telling the story of Syrinx to Argus, Argus fell asleep (with all one hundred eyes closed). Then, Mercury beheaded Argus. This angered Juno, and after she set Argus's eyes in her peacocks feathers, she sent one of the Furies to harass Io. Io was driven across the world to seek refuge on the banks of the Nile. Jove assured Juno that Io would never cause her pain again, and Juno let go of her anger. Io was then able to regain her form, but she had become the goddess, Isis.

Tiresias:

Tiresias was a man that was transformed into a woman after hitting two mating snakes with his staff. After experiencing love as a woman for seven years, he once again hit two mating snakes with his staff and was changed back to a man. Jove and Juno were arguing about whether men or women experienced more pleasure during sex and called upon Tiresias to answer because he was the only one that had experienced it both ways. Tiresias sided with Jove and said that women experienced more pleasure. This made Juno angry so she made Tiresias blind, but to help make up for it, Jove gave Tiresias the power of prophecy.

Arachne:

Arachne was a girl that was a very skilled weaver; in fact, she was so talented that she even said that she was a better weaver than Minerva. This made Minerva very angry and after hearing the way that the Muses got revenge, she decided to do the same. Minerva did give Arachne a chance to revoke her statement and ask for forgiveness, but the girl refused. Thus, a raucous weaving duel began! Minerva depicted in her grand things that the gods had done, but Arachne showed in her work crimes that the gods had committed. Arachne's work was undeniably flawless, and this angered Minerva. So, Minerva tore up Arachne's cloth and started beating Arachne. The girl then tried to hang herself, but Minerva stopped her and instead turned Arachne into a spider.

Niobe:

Niobe was a woman that refused to honor Latona (Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis). Niobe did not believe that Latona was worth of praise because she only had two children (which was much closer to childlessness than Niobe who had 14). The baby factory also reminded everyone that the earth had refused to give Latona a place to give birth until the island of Delos took pity on her, and Niobe went on and on with reasons that she should be honored and not Latona. Now, this was not a very smart thing to do because Niobe had just successfully irked the mother of not one but two members of the inner circle of gods. So, Apollo and Diana began their terrorizing. First, they killed Niobe's seven sons. Then, they killed six of her daughters. Niobe pleaded with them to leave her just the one daughter, her youngest, and they decided to be merciful and spared her. Yeah right! No, they killed her, too. And seeing this, Niobe turned to stone, but not just any stone, a stone that sheds tears.

Latona & the Lycian Peasants:

After Latona gave birth to her twins, she embarked on a long, hot journey. She had no water so she was very thirsty when she came upon a lake. However, the peasants there would not let her drink instead they insult and mock her by splashing in the water. This proved to be too much for Latona so she turned them into frogs so that they could always splash in the pool.

Marsyas:

Marsyas was a Satyr that had a flute contest with Apollo. Apollo punished Marsyas for his insolence by doing the only logical thing: flaying him alive. (Not a pretty sight to be sure, but remember what Dr. Sexson said about words being more graphic than visuals-well, if you were a skeptic, be sure to read this story-it's short, pg 192-193.) Anyway, back to the story: so many people mourned for Marsyas that their tears formed a river called, you guessed it, Marsyas.

Tereus, Procne, Philomela:

Tereus was the saviour of Athens so he was allowed to marry the king's daughter, Procne. However, the marriage started off wrong because none of the people that should have blessed the union were there (Juno, the Graces, etc) and the people that shouldn't have been there were there (the Furies, the screech owl). Eventually, Procne began to miss her sister and requested that she be allowed to visit. Tereus then went off to ask her father's permission; no big deal, right? Well, actually this was where the trouble started because when he saw the sister, Philomela, he turned into a lustful louse. Unfortunately, the king agreed to let her go with Tereus. Then, when they reached their destination, Tereus could not wait any longer; he had to have Philomela. He took her to a hut, raped her, cut out her tongue so she could not tell, and raped her again. Tereus then went home and told Procne that Philomela had died. Then, Philomela wove the story of what happened into a piece of cloth and sent it to her sister. After reading the cloth, Procne rescued her sister and together they sought revenge. To make Tereus pay, the sisters murdered Tereus's and Procne's son and feed him to Tereus. As Tereus was eating, Philomela ran in with the boy's head. The grieving father tried to slaughter the women, but before he could catch them, they turned into hoopoe birds. So, I guess the take home message is when you get married, don't forget the importance of the right guest list.

Epilogue:

"And now my work is done: no wrath of Jove
nor fire nor sword nor time, which would erode
all things, has power to blot out this poem.
Now when it wills, the fatal day (which has
only the body in its grasp) can end
my years, however long or short their span.
But, with the better part of me, I'll gain
a place that's higher than the stars: my name,
indelible, eternal, will remain.
And everywhere that Roman power has sway,
in all domains the Latins gain, my lines
will be on people's lips; and through all time--
if poets' prophecies are ever right--
my name and fame are sure: I shall have life."
-Ovid, page 549