The Art of Love and Other Poems

by Ovid, J.H. Mozley (Translator), G.P. Goold (Revised by)

Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE-17 CE), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his Ars Amatoria, and was banished because of this work and some other reason unknown to us, and dwelt in the cold and primitive town of Tomis on the Black Sea. He continued writing poetry, a kindly man, leading a temperate life. He died in exile.

Ovid's main surviving works are the Metamorphoses, a source of inspiration to artists and poets including Chaucer and Shakespeare; the Fasti, a poetic treatment of the Roman year of which Ovid finished only half; the Amores, love poems; the Ars Amatoria, not moral but clever and in parts beautiful; Heroides, fictitious love letters by legendary women to absent husbands; and the dismal works written in exile: the Tristia, appeals to persons including his wife and also the emperor; and similar Epistulae ex Ponto. Poetry came naturally to Ovid, who at his best is lively, graphic and lucid.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Ovid is in six volumes.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Love, Greek Mythology, History, Ancient, Philosophy

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horatius, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. Although Ovid enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime, the emperor Augustus exiled him to Tomis, the capital of the newly-organised province of Moesia, on the Black Sea, where he remained for the last nine or ten years of his life. Ovid himself attributed his banishment to a "poem and a mistake", but his reluctance to disclose specifics has resulted in much speculation among scholars.
Ovid is most famous for the Metamorphoses, a continuous mythological narrative in fifteen books written in dactylic hexameters. He is also known for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology today.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t really know what to say about this book or how on earth to rate it.... SO MAJORLY SCANDALOUS that I almost didn’t put anything online about this, but here we are. Ovid was born around 40BC so all this explicit talk about sexual relationships, adultery, abuse, and marriage really sparked a lot of questions for me about cultural, family, and sexual norms in the early church days when the apostles were ministering (& writing the New Testament). I actually think stuff like this is a really important read for Christians because *this* is the culture Jesus disrupted with his tender friendship to women, the culture Peter & Paul were ministering to in their teachings about gender and marriage. They were not primarily speaking prophetically against the second and third wave feminism of the western world in the 20th century like you imagine if you’re only reading pop theology on gender and marriage. Better knowledge of the culture of the Biblical days offers a path to better Biblical understanding! But really here, I’ve been married almost 11 years and.... let’s just say I learned some stuff. This is definitely going in the restricted section of our family home library. 😬😂

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ovid would be proud to know that we are still reading his work. I've read the "Art of Love" before - but only the advice for the men. This had his advice for men, women, makeup, "Remedies for Love," and other small poems. The one for the women was not as good a read as the one intended for the male audience. However, in between the large amounts of Greek references, his advice for women had some juicy bits on positions and how to ensnare a man by emphasizing a girl's good qualities. In his "Remedies for Love," though, he tells one how to avoid the trap of falling in love in the first place. Surprisingly, he offers that if you are already in a relationship, you are lucky and that you should keep a good thing. But if you are infatuated with someone or need to get out of a relationship, he can help (or so he says). He is down and dirty but he wants to appeal to anyone and be the one that everyone goes to for love - problems and all.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah c'mon it's Ovidus, dare i review such words?

[Einzige · Rating 3 out of 5]

Itching to find out how to catch a glimpse of ankle, or which animal dung will make your skin irresistible to that dashing legionnaire - then Ovid has just the poem for you... kind of

It talks of love, but really its more to do with just lust and affairs which even if it might not be as profound as you might like it but it does show how closely people's approach to these matters 2000 years ago mirror those of modern times. However the real meat of this work is Ovid's knowledge of mythology (mythological allusions are a majority of the poem) it is no surprise he would go on to write a work like the Metamorphoses which drops the pretense and just focuses on writing mythology. Though that said even if you don't care of much for mythology it is still a fun work.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated treatise with advice for women and men about how to play the love game.

For example ~ Women: use cosmetics. Men: have 2 lovers to play off.

[Ophilia Adler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly love Ovid and his way of writing.

[Andrew Corsini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ovid was a guy of many stripes, who clearly felt passionately, and everyone talks about "The Art of Love" but, my god, "Ibis" and its hateful, mic-drop diss-track. You can also appreciate his great metaphorical work in "The Walnut Tree". My guy.

[nkp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last time Ovid got criticized, he was exiled coram non judice. What else can I say?

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immoral twerp.