Tragic themes are ever-present in the world of ancient epic. Ancient tragedians often focused on ideas such as mythology, love, passion and violence in their works and these are clearly reflected in epic, especially in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Tragic themes do not simply refer to subject matter however and can also be used in reference to the format of the writing, such as utilizing dramatic monologues, or soliloquies, metatheatre, and emphasizing time and place.
