"Ozymandias" has two settings. The first is the place where the narrator meets the traveler (Line 1); the second is the setting in the traveler's tale about a crumbling statue of an Egyptian king (pharaoh). The statue is at the site of the ancient Egyptian capital, Thebes (about 420 miles south of Cairo), which was divided by the Nile River. On the eastern side of the river was the city proper. On the western side was a vast cemetery, or city of the dead, where statues, temples, and tombs memorialized the pharaohs. Living at the site were priests who conducted religious services and artisans and laborers who designed, built, and maintained the monuments. 

Characters

Narrator: The poet, Shelley. He assumes the role of auditor to the tale of the traveler (Line 1) and tells the reader what the traveler said.
Traveler: A person from an ancient land who tells his tale to the narrator. 
Ozymandias: Egyptian Pharaoh who is the subject of the traveler's tale. Ozymandias (also spelled Osymandias) is another name for one of Egypt's most famous rulers, Ramses II (or Ramses the Great). He was born in 1314 B.C. and ruled Egypt for 66 years as the third king of the 19th Dynasty. His exact age at death is uncertain, but it was between 90 and 99. Ramses was a warrior king and a builder of temples, statues and other monuments. He was pharaoh at the time Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, as recounted in the second book of the Bible, Exodus (derived from the Greek word for departure). In Cecil B. de Mille's melodramatic film The Ten Commandments, the late Yul Brynner portrays Ramses, and Charlton Heston plays Moses.
Sculptor: The craftsman who sculpted the statue of Ramses. 

Type of Work and Publication Information

"Ozymandias" is a sonnet, a poem with fourteen lines. (For additional information on the sonnet form, click here.) Shelley completed the poem in 1817 and published it in England's The Examiner in 1818.

Meter and Rhyme Scheme

The poem is in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is as follows: ababacdcedefef. (See the color-coded rhyming words in the text below.)

The Statue

The statue of Ozymandias (Ramses II)–a crumbling relic in Shelley's poem–was originally 57 feet high. An inscription on it told onlookers, "I am Ozymandias, king of kings" and challenged them to perform greater works than he did, according to Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the First Century B.C.

Theme

The might and majesty of a king do not last; only great art endures. The statue, symbolizing the power and glory of the pharaoh, is crumbling. Yet the arrogant sneer on the "shattered visage" remains intact as a testament to the ability of the sculptor to read and capture the passions of his ruler. Thus, it is the pharaoh's lowly servant, the sculptor, who delivers the more powerful message here. The king's message–"look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair"–is an ironic indictment of his pride. Oddly, though, Shelley's theme–valid as a general statement–does not ultimately apply to Ozymandias, or Ramses II. For Ramses remains today perhaps the most famous of Egyptian pharaohs. In addition, many of the monuments erected during his rule still stand. 

Secondary Message

Shelley's condemnation of tyranny applied as much to the English government of his time as it did to the government of ancient Egypt. It was well known that he was not a supporter of monarchical government.