Representative Rachel Storch serves the 64th House district in Missouri and will be marathon reading on Sunday. Read another post from her, about grassroots advocacy, on the Pulitzer’s 2buildings1blog.

The Metamorphoses–like the Bible, like Shakespeare’s plays (which, of course, rely heavily on Ovid), like Dante or Chaucer–has remained a seminal work across the centuries because it renders something fundamental and elemental in the human experience. The stories capture an essence that makes the universe comprehensible in terms we understand: terms which weave together the intricacies of human relationship–of love, of hubris, of pain–and bring a particular resonance to the old adage: “nothing new under the sun.”

As a participant in the reading, I am grateful for the opportunity that this special event presents to take time from the frenetic pace of daily life to delve into one of the richest pieces of literature ever written–surrounded by the paintings of the Old Masters no less! As an elected official, particularly one who represents a region very engaged with the arts, as well as a member of the Cultural Trust Fund Board for the Missouri Arts Council, I find it incredibly exciting for the St. Louis community to host this innovative and challenging marathon reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Thank you to all those at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts who are both “pushing the envelope” in the arts community and sharing with the community-at-large one of the greatest literary treasures of all time.–Rachel Storch