Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Erfurt, language: English, abstract: [By Reading Ovids Metamorphoses, the Elizabethans could]() dig beneath its layers of fiction in an effort to recover the most precious secrets of the ancient world, whether moral, philosophical, historical, or scientific. It is beyond all doubt, that the great poetry of Ovid (43 BC - 17 AD) had a strong influence on William Shakespeares work. Understandably enough, as Ovids work is a classical masterpiece of Latin literature. It fascinates with its formal perfection, urban humour and Ovids creative fantasy. His outstanding opus is of course the Metamorphoses, the magnificent epic poem containing about 250 transformation legends of Greek and Roman mythology. Ovids interests in myths show also the heroides, which include fictitious love letters. Love - this is undoubtedly a central theme in Ovids literature. His writings Amores, Ars amatoria and Remedia amoris display that. Although Ovids literature was banished from public libraries by emperor Augustus after the poets death, his posthumous fame could not be prevented - fortunately. Ovids work had a great influence on medieval literature and during renaissance his mythological stories had been example for many novellas. The role of Ovids greatest opus, the Metamorphoses in Shakespeares work, especially in his comedy A Midsummer Nights Dream, is going to be discussed in this paper. At first the focus lies on Ovidian literature in Elizabethan times. Then, the parody of Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Nights Dream will be analysed. A special kind of metamorphosis - the one of Bottom brings up the third main emphasis. By the way what is a metamorphosis? It is said to be a process in which somebody or something changes completely into something different for example a caterpillar that becomes a beautiful butterfly