Quote by David Malouf

The narrative centers on the historical figure Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid, who was banished from Rome by Emperor Augustus in 8 CE. The novel presents his life among the Getae, a nomadic people on the periphery of the Roman Empire. Through Ovid's perspective, the work explores themes of transformation, language, and the relationship between civilization and wilderness. The protagonist encounters a feral child living among wild animals, and his attempts to educate this wild boy become a central thread in the narrative. The book draws upon Ovid's own Metamorphoses, with its preoccupation with change and becoming, while examining how identity shifts when removed from familiar social and linguistic contexts. The coastal landscape of Tomis, rendered with precise natural detail, serves as both setting and metaphor for the liminal state of exile. The novel considers what it means to be human through the contrast between the cultured Roman and the untamed child, ultimately suggesting that transformation and adaptation are fundamental to existence. more