Ovid (43 B.C - 17/18 A.D)A man whose love advice still is relevant today and his love elegies being featured as lovely myth stories, he left the mark as the poet of love. Publius Ovidius Naso was born to an equestrian family and was educated in Rome. His father wanted him to study law, however, Ovid preferred poetry. He was an emotional speaker, a quality that he uses in his writings and driving away the haters. He was part of a group of poets that were around Messala and placed some distance away from the Augustan circle that was centered around Maecenas. Ovid, however, was a contemporary of Vergil and Horace, regardless of the group he was in. He was banished in 8 AD by Augustus to Tomi for his carmen et error in his Ars Amatoria, which went against the values that Augustus was trying to promote during his reign. Ovid constantly tried to plead for his banishment to be repealed, but he unfortunately died 10 years later still in exile.
Basic InfoFull Name:
Publius Ovidius Naso Born: 20 March 43 B.C | Sulmo, Italia, Roman Republic Died: 17-18 A.D (aged 58-60)| Tomi |
Works
Ovid's works are very well preserved and as such, endured the test of time (at least most of his works). He also had works he didn't finish and were published posthumously. His works include:
- Amores- 5 books, Ovid’s first work, consisting of 49 elegies in elegiac couplets. Corinna was his love addressed in here. This work also got the haters to be hating.
- Heroides - Work on mythological (love) elegy (bragged about inventing this new genre). Myth couples in his work: Penelope to Ulysses; Phyllis to Demophon; Briseis to Achilles; Phaedra to Hippolytus; Oenone to Paris; Dido to Aeneas; Hypsipyle to Jason; Hermione to Orestes; Deianira to Hercules; Ariadne to Theseus; Canace to Macareus; Medea to Jason; Laodamia to Protesilaus; Hypermestra to Lynceus; Sappho to Phaon. Second series in his writings: Paris and Helen; Hero and Leander; Acontius and Cydippe.
- Medea - Ovid’s lost tragedy, very successful back then.
- Ars Amatoria - 3 books about love advice. First two books are for guys, third one for chicks.
- Remedia Amoris - Opposite of the Ars Amatoria.
- Medicamina Faciei Femineae - The Cosmetics of Women.
- Metamorphoseon Libri - 15 books on the myths we all know from Ovid.
- Fasti - 6 books, a poetic calendar in elegiac couplets on Roman traditions. Not finished. Each book represents a month. Fasti is based on Ovid’s direct predecessor, Propertius. It was first dedicated to Augustus, then to Germanicus.
- Tristia - 5 books composed during his exile. It is basically about his journey and his complaints. Ovid’s first work in exile.
- Epistulae ex Ponto - 4 books. 46 elegies in elegiac couplets. Epistulae ex Ponto recorded Augustan age poets. Written completely as a bunch of letters.
- Halieuticon – Unfinished treatise on fish and fishing.
- Ibis - Another complaint poem against his enemies in Rome.
- Gigantomachy - Unfinished mythological work.