Tales from Ovid. Read by Ted Hughes (audio)

Author: Hughes, Ted; Ovid

Published by Faber/Penguin Audiobooks
2 Cassette Tapes (1998), 3CDs (2000)

Ted Hughes reads 16 stories from the book, i. e. this is not the entire Tales from Ovid as published in book form. The tape does not contain an index so I've compiled one which you can download here (PDF). The track listing for the CD set is here (PDF).

Jason Clapham of lesmurray.org thinks that the tracks seem to run too slowly, and indeed, Hughes's voice on the recording sounds rather rumbly on the lower frequencies which may make it hard to listen to on some audio systems. (I've compared tape and CD, and the speed is the same on both.)

Contents Cassette Tapes:

SIDE A

1. Callisto and Arcas
2. Arethusa
3. Tiresias
4. Echo and Narcissus

 

SIDE B

1. Erisychthon
2. Semele
3. Peleus and Thetis
4. Actaeon

 

SIDE C

1. Pygmalion
2. The Birth of Hercules
3. The Death of Cygnus
4. Arachne
5. Midas

 

SIDE D

1. Midas (continued)
2. Niobe
3. Salmacis and Hermaphroditus
4. Pyramus and Thisbe

 

Contents CD Set:

Note: The listing in the CD set can be misleading as it is hard to determine which track is which on the CD. I've therefore included the track numbers in […]. You can download a PDF which you can cut out to lay into your CD set here.

CD 1

• Callisto and Arcas [tracks 1-2]
• Arethusa [tracks 3-4]
• Tiresias [track 5]
• Echo and Narcissus [tracks 6-9]
• Erisychthon [tracks 10-12]
• Semele [tracks 13-14]

 

CD 2

• Peleus and Thetis [track 1]
• Actaeon [tracks 2-3]
• Pygmalion [tracks 4-5]
• The Birth of Hercules [track 6]
• The Death of Cygnus [tracks 7-8]
• Arachne [tracks 9-11]

 

CD 3

• Midas [tracks 1-4]
• Niobe [tracks 4-7]
• Salmacis and Hermaphroditus [track 8]
• Pyramus and Thisbe [tracks 9-10]