94 pages 3 hours read

Ovid

Metamorphoses

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 8

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Book 9

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 9 Summary: “Achelous and Hercules”

Achelous and Hercules fight for the same girl, Deianira. At first Achelous evades Hercules by transforming into a slippery snake, but Hercules eventually tears off his horn and defeats him.

Book 9 Summary: “Hercules, Nessus, and Deianira”

The centaur Nessus also loved Deianira. Nessus offers to help Hercules and Deianira cross a stream, but when Hercules thinks Nessus is kidnapping Deianira, he kills Nessus. In return, Nessus “gave / his shirt soaked in warm gore to Deianira, / a talisman, he said, to kindle love” (203). Later, when Deianira is insecure about Hercules’ loving another woman named Iole, she gives him the shirt, poisoning him with the centaur’s blood.

Book 9 Summary: “The Death and Apotheosis of Hercules”

Hercules, suffering greatly from the poison, travels to Mt. Oeta where he begs Juno to end his torture. He builds himself a pyre and jumps in. This burns away his mortal essence, and he emerges as a god.