Lines 5–20 describe the state of Chaos before creation — a formless mass where cold fought with hot, wet with dry. Ovid's cosmogony draws on Hesiod and Lucretius while maintaining his characteristic wit and clarity.
Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, quem dixere chaos…
Citation: Ov. Met. 1.5–20.
Before the sea and lands and the sky that covers all, nature had one face throughout the whole world, which they called Chaos…
Key vocabulary: chaos (chaos, formless void); rudis (rough, unformed, raw); moles (mass, bulk, structure); tego (to cover, conceal).
Grammar focus for this passage: Abstract nouns and philosophical vocabulary; Antithesis and rhetorical balance; Negative descriptions ('non … non … nec'); Key vocabulary: chaos, rudis, moles, pondus, semina; Imperfect tense for continuous past states.
Is Ovid's Chaos the same as Hesiod's? — Similar but not identical. Ovid emphasises the mixture of opposing elements, while Hesiod's Chaos is a yawning void.
What tense dominates this section? — The imperfect — Ovid describes continuous states before the act of creation.
Can I use this for my Metamorphoses coursework? — Yes — this is a core passage on many syllabi. The assessment and quiz features are designed for exam preparation.