Ovid: Amores I

by Ovid, John Barsby (Editor)

This edition of the first book of Ovid's "Amores" was first published in 1973 by OUP. It has been kept in print by BCP because it remains an outstandlingly useful volume. It was one of two editions (the other being Gordon Williams' "Horace 'Odes' III", 1969) in which OUP pioneered a new kind of continuous running commentary particularly suited to short poems, one 'likely to be more illuminating than a series of disconnected notes on isolated problems, which may contribute little to the total understanding of the poem as the poet conceived it'. This approach was intended to promote in sixth-formers and undergraduates not just an understanding of the Latin but a critical appreciation of literary quality. In this aim, the edition has been a continued success.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

192 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2013

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

[svea mellor · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of my favorite poets

[Faith B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Ovid, how silly you are! I thoroughly enjoyed translating Amores I (Amores I includes the first diptych in Latin poetry, if you're interested). The only thing I did not like about this book was the editory, Barsby. He was quite insufferable. But, if you will just ignore the commentary on the right-hand pages, then you'll be able to enjoy this without any problems. That is, if you know Latin. Although I suppose you could just read the English translation at the bottom of the page. :)

[Daniel Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une oeuvre de jeunesse d'Ovide que j'ai eu du plaisir à traduire. Il était empreint de fluidité, et d'une certaine modernité par moments. En voici d'ailleurs un vers marquant : Saepe nega noctes, capitis modo finge dolorem (1.8.73).

En français? "Refuse-lui toujours tes nuits, par moments, invente un mal de tête."

[Matt Vigneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixture of playful/violent, light/dark, serious/airy; less pastoral and more realism in the poetry.

[maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for class. not peak but ovid is kinda really funny. still can’t translate tho

[Juliet · Rating 3 out of 5]

who knew men, even in antiquity, hated the women they loved?