At the introduction of the Metamorphoses, Ovid achieves several things. Primarily, he outlines the world of the poem. He is going to articulate to the reader, how bodies are altered into different bodies, in the loosest sense. In this poem, he is addressing all kinds of transformation, from the transformation of Chaos into the Universe to literal bodily transformations, to the formation and demolition of cities, the evolution of mankind, and even what could be described as emotional transformations. In other words, this poem observes transformation as an ever-present dynamism in the universe, affecting mythic and ordinary forces alike.
The first transformation -- Chaos into the Universe -- illuminates a few general characteristics