Antoninus Liberalis: The Lesser-Known Metamorphoses Preserving Lost Greek Myths

Antoninus Liberalis, a Roman author from the Greek-speaking provinces of the Roman Empire, composed a collection of 41 transformation myths titled Metamorphoses around the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD, during the Second Sophistic. Unlike Ovid's poetic epic, Antoninus' work is a prose catalogue with a flat, matter-of-fact style, likely serving as a mythological textbook for orators. His text preserves local Greek variants and stories omitted by Ovid, including the myths of Aegypius, Meropis, and The Thieves, citing Hellenistic sources like Boeus' Origin of Birds. The surviving manuscript dates to a 9th-century Byzantine compilation, indicating ongoing scholarly interest. Antoninus' version of Cephalus and Procris includes details absent in Ovid, such as Procris' journey to Crete and a test of Cephalus' fidelity. His work is valued for preserving otherwise lost mythological variants and providing insight into Hellenistic sources.