Ovidius Mūs
Ovidius Mūs (Ovid the Mouse) is a sheltered-vocabulary Latin novella published by Jocelyn Demuth in 2020. It tells the story of three tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: the young lovers Pyramus and Thisbe, the pious elderly couple Baucis and Philemon, and the sculptor Pygmalion. It is notable for its charming photographic illustrations done with mice made of felt, and for using many compound sentences despite having a low average sentence length. It is also one of the shortest novellas.
Available from Amazon.
Reading level
The back cover states that this novella is "for level 1 readers." As of this writing, it has not been rated by Comprehensible Antiquity.
Diverse & Multicultural Identities
For information about how representation of multicultural and diverse identities is analyzed in LNDb, see here.Parallel cultures
No depictions identified.Gender
The frame narrative features one cis male character (Ovidius). The story of Pyramus and Thisbe features one cis male character (Pyramus) and one cis female character (Thisbe). The story of Baucis and Philemon features one cis male character (Philemon) and one cis female character (Baucis). The story of Pygmalion features one cis male character (Pygmalion). Features no transgender main characters.Sexual identity
Features numerous depictions of heterosexual identity. Two of the stories feature heterosexual couples (Pyramus and Thisbe, Baucis and Philemon). Pygmalion, a man, falls in love with a statue of a woman. In the frame narrative, Ovidius is waiting for his lover, Fabia, who is a woman.SES/class
The characters of Baucis and Philemon are described as poor, and though they cannot feed their guests very much food, they are rewarded for giving of what they could.Religion
Features numerous depictions of Roman religion: Baucis and Philemon are offered a reward for their piety, and their request is to be able to live in the temple and pray. Pygmalion makes a sacrifice and prays to Venus to find love.Disability
No depictions identified.Language Statistics
Vocabulary
Word List
A complete word list for Ovidius Mūs can be found here.
Glosses
This novella contains glosses in the form of both footnotes with English translations and pictures.
It also features many illustrations. While they are not glosses of particular words, they are meant to depict the events of the story in a way that supports comprehension on a level broader than individual words.
Of the 203 unique words (not counting proper nouns) used in the text, 43 of them (21.9%) are glossed at their first appearance in the text. Of the 1075 total words in the text, 95 of them (8.8%) are glossed.
It also features many illustrations. While they are not glosses of particular words, they are meant to depict the events of the story in a way that supports comprehension on a level broader than individual words.
Of the 203 unique words (not counting proper nouns) used in the text, 43 of them (21.9%) are glossed at their first appearance in the text. Of the 1075 total words in the text, 95 of them (8.8%) are glossed.
Glossary
This novella contains a Latin-English glossary, with every form of each word listed separately. The glossary is complete; save for a few minor oversights, every word is included.
Syntax
The ratio of complex sentences indicates what proportion of the total sentences are complex sentences, on average. A complex sentence is defined as a sentence with one or more subordinate clauses or verb phrases.
Summary
Genre & Sources
This novella is in the genre of mythological (Classical).
It is an adaption of three stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Pyramus and Thisbe (4.55–166), Baucis and Philemon (8.611–724), and Pygmalion (10.243–297).
It is an adaption of three stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Pyramus and Thisbe (4.55–166), Baucis and Philemon (8.611–724), and Pygmalion (10.243–297).
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Ovidius, a mouse alone at home waiting for his love Fabia, starts thinking about love stories. The first story is of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young mice whose families do not like each other. They whisper words of love through a crack in the wall, and arrange to meet up one night. Thisbe arrives first, but she sees a cat and runs away, leaving her cloak behind. The cat gets blood on the cloak and leaves. Pyramus arrives and sees the bloodied cloak, and assumes Thisbe has been killed. He kills himself in grief. Then, Thisbe returns and sees that Pyramus has died, and then kills herself as well. The second story is of Baucis and Philemon, two old mice who are visited by Jupiter and Mercury in disguise. Though they are poor, they offer the gods hospitality. Soon they learn that their guests are gods, and their house is turned into a magnificent temple. They are offered a reward, and their only wish is to live in the temple and pray. At their death, they are transformed into intertwined trees. The third story is of Pygmalion, a mouse who is lonely and wants love. He creates a statue of a woman and falls in love with the statue, telling it stories and giving it gifts. He is happy, but the other mice make fun of him. He goes to make a sacrifice to Venus and pray for love. When he returns home, he finds that the statue has turned into a living mouse. Back in the frame narrative, Ovidius’s love returns, and they leave together.
First 100 Words
Underlined words are glossed in the text. See also the preview found on Amazon.Ovidius mūs in tablīnō sedet et cōgitat.
Exspectat…exspectat. Expectāre nōn placet.
Cogitat, “Ubi Fabia est?”
Ovidius iānuam diū spectat. Expectare nōn vult.
Ovidius Mūs dē fābulā amōris cōgitat dum expectat.
Amantēs quoque expectare nōn volunt.
Miserum Pȳramum! Miseram Thisbēn!
Vōs nōn expectāvistis…
Ōlim duae familiae mūrium in casīs vīcīnīs habitāvērunt, sed mātrēs nōn erant amīcae.
Patrēs nōn erant amīcī.
Sed līberī…
Nocte, puer nōmine Pȳramus, et puella nōmine Thisbē, per fissum multa verba amōris dīcēbant.
Quadām nocte, Pȳramus inquit, “ Thisbē, amō tē! Volō semper esse tēcum. Ēheu, tū semper ā mē abes.”
Thisbē respondit, “Amō tē quoque, Pȳrame, sed familia mea…” …
Supplementary Materials
The author’s note says that cultural information relating to the novella will eventually be put on her website, but as of this writing, it has not yet been posted.If you have resources for Ovidius Mūs and would like to share them on LNDb, please contact me.
Presentation
| Illustrations? | yes |
| Illustrator | Jocelyn Demuth |
| Macrons? | yes |
| Font | Constantia Bold, various sizes |
| Pages of story | 34 |
| Total pages | 45 |
| Chapters | N/A |
Key Information
| Publication date | March 1, 2020 |
| Publisher | Field & Linwood Publishing |
| ISBN | 1734547405 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1734547405 |
