--- title: Columbia Undergrads Say Greek Mythology Needs a 'Trigger Warning' description: In an op-ed, students write that Ovid's "Metamorphoses" bring back memories of rape canonical: https://time.com/3860187/columbia-trigger-warning-greek-mythology-metamorphoses/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-15T16:49:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:02.054Z og:title: Columbia Undergrads Say Greek Mythology Needs a 'Trigger Warning' og:description: In an op-ed, students write that Ovid's "Metamorphoses" bring back memories of rape og:url: https://time.com/3860187/columbia-trigger-warning-greek-mythology-metamorphoses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64a0404926de7f63/6987efe0a988ca00746b0a98/463980863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3918 og:image:height: 2204 og:image:alt: 'Lucretia and Tarquinius', c1560s, (1937). Artist: Titian og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Columbia Undergrads Say Greek Mythology Needs a 'Trigger Warning' twitter:description: In an op-ed, students write that Ovid's "Metamorphoses" bring back memories of rape twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64a0404926de7f63/6987efe0a988ca00746b0a98/463980863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Columbia Undergrads Say Greek Mythology Needs a 'Trigger Warning' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=9924191c-9d91-44b7-ba9b-50a800dc3333&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1)  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 15, 2015 4:49 PM UTC  'Lucretia and Tarquinius', c1560s, (1937). A print from Titian Paintings and Drawings, introduction by Hans Tietze, Phaidon Press, Vienna, 1937\. Found in the collection of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, Austria. 'Lucretia and Tarquinius', c1560s, (1937). A print from Titian Paintings and Drawings, introduction by Hans Tietze, Phaidon Press, Vienna, 1937\. Found in the collection of the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, Austria. Print Collector/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 15, 2015 4:49 PM UTC Students have been reading Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_ for centuries, but some Columbia undergrads are demanding that a warning be issued before studying the classic. Many popular texts need a “trigger warning,” or caution about material that could be distressing to readers, argue four students writing an [op-ed](http://columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2015/04/30/our-identities-matter-core-classrooms) for the Columbia _Spectator_. _The Metamorphoses_, like most of Greek and Roman literature, details certain rapes that were central to the ancient mythology. In one story, a woman named Philomela is raped by her sister’s husband, who after the act cuts out her tongue to keep her silent. Another woman named Lucretia kills herself after being raped so as to preserve her family’s reputation, an event that acts as the catalyst for overthrowing the monarchy in favor of a Roman republic. “Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ is a fixture of \[the class\] Lit Hum, but like so many texts in the Western canon, it contains triggering and offensive material that marginalizes student identities in the classroom,” wrote the students, who are members of Columbia’s Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board. “These texts, wrought with histories and narratives of exclusion and oppression, can be difficult to read and discuss as a survivor, a person of color, or a student from a low-income background.” The students go on to tell the story of one of their classmates, a victim of sexual assault, who did not “feel safe” during a class discussion of Ovid. Trigger warning have been central to campus debates for almost 20 years. Some students argue that these stories can force readers to relive past trauma. But many say the phrase is overused and can cause even greater distress by drawing the reader’s attention to these events. And both conservative and liberal advocates say that trigger warnings can impinge on free speech. Earlier this week in TIME, Karin Agness, the president of the Network of Enlightened Women [argued](http://time.com/3848947/dear-universities-there-should-be-no-safe-spaces-from-intellectual-thought/) that students should not be “intellectually bubble-wrapped” with these warnings. But many schools, like the University of California at Santa Barbara and Oberlin College have asked their professors to use these trigger warnings on their syllabi and in the classroom. The debate at Columbia comes as students are protesting the way in which the school handles cases of sexual assault. Columbia, along with dozens of other schools, is [under investigation](http://time.com/76762/students-file-title-ix-sexual-assault-complaint-against-columbia-university/) by the federal government for allegedly failing to properly protect students and punish perpetrators in cases of rape on campus. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3860187/columbia-trigger-warning-greek-mythology-metamorphoses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3860187/columbia-trigger-warning-greek-mythology-metamorphoses/"},"headline":"Columbia Undergrads Say Greek Mythology Needs a 'Trigger Warning'","datePublished":"2015-05-15T16:49:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:02.054Z","description":"In an op-ed, students write that Ovid's Metamorphoses bring back memories of rape","url":"https://time.com/3860187/columbia-trigger-warning-greek-mythology-metamorphoses/","keywords":["Living","Education"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64a0404926de7f63/6987efe0a988ca00746b0a98/463980863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64a0404926de7f63/6987efe0a988ca00746b0a98/463980863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"'Lucretia and Tarquinius', c1560s, (1937). 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