Publius Ovidius Naso

Early Life Born on March 20, 43 BCE in Sulmo (modern day Sulmona) Equestrian family Educated in rhetoric in Rome with his brother Father wanted him to be a lawyer Ovid actually wrote about himself! Tristitia 4.10 Also, Seneca and Quintilian

Early Life His brother died at 20 years old Ovid left law and began to travel and write poetry First recitation c. 25 BCE, 18 years old Had seen Vergil recite Well-acquainted with Horace Close friends with Propertius and Tibullus Vergil was 27 years older than him

Personal Life Married 3 times before he was 30 Divorced the first, the second one died One daughter, eventually grandchildren

Poetry Successful poetic career writing elegiac poetry with erotic themes Exiled to Tomis in 8 CE by Augustus For “carmen et error” Carmen is probably the Ars Amatoria

Poetry Amores 3 books of love poetry in elegiac couplets Written to a lover, Corinna Modeled after the poetry of Catullus (Lesbia), Propertius (Cynthia), and Tibullus (Delia) Heroides 21 poems in elegiac couplets Letters from mythological figures to their lovers Penelope, Dido, Medea, also Paris and Helen Admired for psychological insight Corinna was probably not a real person, just Ovid putting on a character

Poetry Ars Amatoria Remedia Amoris 3 book didactic elegiac poem Teaches the art of seduction and love First two books to men, third book to women Remedia Amoris Elegiac poem proposing a cure to love Addressed to men

Poetry Metamorphoses Fasti Ovid’s most ambitious and famous work 15 books written in dactylic hexameter About transformations in mythology Close to 250 myths Fasti Elegiacs about the holidays and festivals in the different months of the year Only six books survive Started before exile, finished during

Poetry Ibis Tristia Epistulae ex Ponto 644 elegiac lines Uses mythological stories to curse an enemy harming him in exile Tristia Five books of elegiac couplets About the sadness of life in exile Epistulae ex Ponto Four books of poems addressed to friends Trying to get recalled from exile Written in exile

Metamophoses Beautiful, visual descriptions Insight into human psychology Clever links between stories Imbedded narratives Fun sound play

Legacy Metamorphoses is one of the most popular Latin works Influenced such people as: Geoffrey Chaucer Mozart William Shakespeare Bob Dylan Since the Middle Ages