The Love Poems

by Ovid, A.S. Kline (Translator)

A translation into English by A. S. Kline. Published with illustrations (various).

The Amores was Ovid’s first book of poetry, consisting of love elegies, involving the possibly-fictitious Corinna. Mildly subversive it was published in 16BC, in five books, but later edited by Ovid into its surviving three-book form. Ovid makes extensive use of humour and parody to celebrate the elegy as a creative mode as deserving of immortality as the Virgilian epic. His gentle humanism is always evident throughout.

The Art of Love, Ars Amatoria, was written in 2AD as a series of elegies purporting to teach young men and women how to succeed in the game of lovemaking. Provocative and light-hearted in tone, it caused offence, and was possibly a factor in, or at least an excuse for, Ovid’s later banishment by Augustus. The whole work gives a lively view of Augustan Rome, while exhibiting the typical charm and beauty of Ovid’s verse.

The Cures for Love, Remedia Amoris, is a companion piece to the Art of Love, suggesting ways of evading the pain of love, and ending relationships. However subtle use of the elegiac form tends to operate counter to this aim, rendering the work as much a celebration of relationship as a series of poems against it. Ovid, the ‘Master of Love’, is here the Doctor, though one in whose cures one suspects he himself placed little faith.

This and other texts available from Poetry in Translation (www.poetryintranslation.com).

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Romance, Roman, Mythology, Ancient, Literature

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 3

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

[Jan-Maat]

Lente currite noctis equi - hurry slowly horses of the night.

This slim volume is your one-stop shop for the private lives of the leisured classes of early Imperial Rome, where adultery is the favourite contact sport with abortion as it's only risk. How to fall in love, how to fall out of love, contraception, go-betweens, how to behave, how to dress to make the right impression on your lover - it's all here in a collection of poems passionate and cynical by turn.

But then also at the beginning of book one of the Art of Love when the men and women are at the theatre - to see and be seen - there is a sudden unexpected contrast between the sophisticated modern Romans and their distant ancestors of Romulus' time also eyeing up the Sabine women just making their choices of which one to seize once the signal was given. Of a sudden Ovid is giving us an alternative picture of Roman history, not the drive to military conquest as the product of strategy, but of sexual conquest powering it to dominate the Mediterranean. Thanks to Ovid's vision, the simplest act of love subverts the stated public aims and ambitions of Imperial authority. Brilliant, a window on to another modern world now two thousand years old.

The Melville translation came recommended, by whom I cannot remember. It worked for me.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting these poems to feel ancient. And I mean REALLY ancient. And yet, there was something almost contemporary about them, as Ovid's language and tone was surprisingly fresh, wry and ironic. Maybe that's what disappointed me a little, is the fact I was hoping Ovid would transport me back to the ancient world, but it didn't feel like that at all. What didn't surprise is that he was a sly old devil when it came to women, and through his poems we see that he was clearly blighted by jealousies and obsessions as he struggled through the pleasures and pains of love.
I guess whether roaming about in ancient sandals or modern sneakers, love and desire is one thing that hasn't changed much over the oceans of time that has passed by.

Great translation all things considering, but I'd query the layout of this version, although maybe that's just how it was supposed to be.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ovid is one of my favourite poets but I do have misgivings about this translation. It's great if you're interested in reading Ovid's love poetry for pleasure, but if you're studying it at any level then it's quite far from the original text.

Green's translations are all a bit too jaunty and try-hard for me. For example, in 1.1.5 where the Latin is 'quis tibi, saeve puer, dedit hoc in carmina iuris?' Green translates this as ' "nasty young brat," I told him, "who made you Inspector of Metres?" '. A more literal translation would be 'who, cruel boy, gave you this right over poetry?', quite different in tone, I think, from Green.

Green has also written a substantial introduction which gives biographical details in some length and outlines his position in reading Ovid. Again, I disagree with his stance which seems to me to be a very literal one, that is he assumes Ovid is writing autobiographically and takes all his evidence from the poetry, a dubious position I think.

That aside, Ovid is a great poet and this is a very accessible volume for the general interested reader. However, for students I think this could be a barrier rather than a help and would stick to Loeb's Heroides and Amores.

[Evan Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains the Amores, The Art of Love, The Cures for Love, and the surviving fragment from the Medicamina Faciei Femineae. Basically this collection contains all of Ovid’s surviving poetry from before his exile outside of the Heroides, the Fasti, and the Metamorphoses. I loved the Heroides so I thought I’d mow through these before tackling the Metamorphoses.

I would break the four sections down individually but honestly they are all awfully similar. The Amores and the Art of Love, written in about 16 BC and 1 BC respectively, are poetic lessons on how to convince Roman ladies to sleep with you. The Cures for Love, written around 2 AD, helpfully explains how to break things off when you’re done sleeping with said ladies. Medicamina Faciei Femineae is a short fragment from a 2,000 year old cosmetics handbook, basically. If it’s unclear from my tone I wasn’t blown away by this book.

Part of that was the translation. Normally Oxford World Classics can be counted on to do a first rate job but I thought this translation by A.D. Melville was pretty weak. A lot of the verse comes across as sing-song and sort of silly. Given that it is love poetry it’s supposed to be light but this just felt amateurish. Now I don’t know how to read Latin, so I can’t pinpoint how much of this lies on Ovid’s shoulders and how much belongs to Mr. Melville. But I have read other works of Ovid before and he has sounded considerably better. If I revisit these at some future date I will certainly be trying a different translation.

However, I think it will be a long, long time (if ever) before I take another crack at these and I would have a hard time recommending these poems to others. First of all, not only is this not top tier roman literature, I don’t even think this is the best collection of Augustan age elegies (I thought Propertius’ Elegies were better). So…I guess if you wanted to read the 2nd best book of love elegies written between 25 BC and 14 AD, this book is for you? Second, even if your answer to that question was yes, the book’s attitude towards women is…less than enlightened. Even poor Melville squirmed translating some of these lines, feeling the need to write in his introduction “Ovid’s attitude to women…may well be judged offensive by many readers. I share that opinion…these poems are the products of a younger man, brilliant and heartless.” I don’t know about the brilliant part (at least regarding these poems…some of his other stuff is tremendous), but Ovid can be pretty heartless. These are certainly the oldest poems I’ve ever read that attempt to satirize and make light of aborting your bastards, for instance.

Anyway, I’ve written far more than I intended about this book. The most interesting thing about it may be that these poems were scandalous enough to help Ovid get exiled by a livid Augustus. Misgivings aside, even though I don’t think this is his best work Ovid knows what he’s doing and if you enjoy roman literature there are things to admire here. I would only recommend this book to people who really can’t get enough roman lit though, as my experience with this book was probably a 2.5 star read. However, I think many of my misgivings were a result of a poor translation so I will give Ovid the benefit of the doubt and round this up to 3 stars.

[Daniel Chaikin]

28. Ovid : The Love Poems (Oxford World's Classics) translated by A. D. Melville
Introduction: E. J. Kenney
other translations used B. P. Moore's 1935 translation of The Art of Love, & Christopher Marlowe translations for Amores 1.5, 3.7 & 3.14
published: 1990
format: Paperback
acquired: Library
read: June 18 - July 7
rating: ??

Contains four collections of poems:
Amores - 16 bce
Cosmetics for Ladies - date unclear, but before The Art of Love
The Art of Love - 2 ce
Cures for Love - date unknown, probably close to 2 ce

What first struck me about Ovid's Amores was how unromantic they are. I think I was expecting beautiful musings or something like that. While Ovid plays with muses and especially on the idea of Cupid and his arrows, these poems are largely on petty problems with woman who are married or suspicious or whatnot. They are full-out sarcasm and humor on the surface, often quite rude or offensive in a way that leaves one suspecting that was the intention. It seems Ovid was first and foremost being clever, and intent on showing how clever he is. And most of what he accomplishes, he does so through cleverness. Melville tells me Ovid successfully undermined the whole of Roman love poetry, which had a long tradition, even has he wrote it, exposing it while mastering it.

As a reader, I was left with the impression of writer who was never entirely serious, but also, at the same time, very serious. The poems drift from practical issues to mythology and back again, referencing a wide assortment of well known and obscure mythology (obscure even to well educated Romans). He also brings in a wide sense of world knowledge, referencing many writers and many oddities, even Judaism twice.

Amores is the most complex of the works here and hard to summarize other than to say love poetry or humor based on it. The Art of Love is a faux-handbook for young men on how to find love. Full of humor, it crosses lines, mainly by implication. It apparently may have been the cause of Ovid's exile from Rome, announced personally by Augustus. Cures for Love is pure humor on ways to get over a relationship. It reads as if it was intended to be pared with The Art of Love. Cosmetics for Ladies is only partially preserved and is the guide the title suggests it is, but just done in clever poetry, mock seriousness and humor.

Overall the tone lets the reader relax and just enjoy what Ovid's doing. I was entertained, and pretty content reading through these, casually. Sometimes I would get lost, but mostly he's fairly straightforward and Melville's translations are clear and his notes are good. Melville rhymes everything, which brings out some of the sense of play. But he's a little bland, and he can't replicate the Latin complexity. Moore read practically the same as Melville. Marlowe's additions were kind of special, but also, as I have just discovered, heavily altered by Melville.

from Amores book 3, elegia vii - "Marlowe's version slightly modernized"

Yes, she was beautiful and well turned out,
The girl that I'd so often dream about,
Yet I lay with her limp as if I loved not,
A shameful burden on the bed that moved not.
Thought both of us were sure of our intent,
Yet could I not cast anchor where I meant.
She round my neck her ivory arms did throw,
Her arms far whiter than Scythian snow,
And eagerly she kissed me with her tongue,
And under mine her wanton thigh she flung.
Yes, and she soothed me up, and called me sire,
And used all speech that might provoke and stir.
Yet like as if cold hemlock I had drunk,
It humbled me, hung down the head, and sunk.

(Marlowe's actual version can be found here (it helps to search for "Scythian"): https://www.gutenberg.org/files/21262... )

[Evin Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ovid is a scoundrel and a creep; I'm glad Augustus banished him to the Black Sea. These poems have nothing to do with erotica, and I only give it one star for rhyming consistently and being relatively brief. I pity Ovid, having not the courage to pursue integrity.

Check out these gems:

"I may lack weight but not virility; And fun's the food that fortifies performance - No girl has ever been let down by me." (p.42) LOL

On being attentive to a potential (female) lover: "Small things please little minds: it profits much." (p.91) Nothing sexier than the challenge of wooing a bird-brain.

"First tell yourself all women can be won: Just spread your nets; the thing's good as done." (p.94) The "thing" being sleeping with married women. He actually said he prefers sleeping with wives and hiding from their husbands in the bushes.

"Though she deny them (kisses), take what she denies. Perhaps she'll first resist and call you rude, Yet, while resisting, longs to be subdued. But careful, lest her tender lips be scarred / By snatching, and she cry: 'You kiss too hard.'...'Brute force!' you'll say: it's force that women want, They love refusing what they long to grant." (p.105) Yes boy o boy do we love it. I think Ovid gave necessity to the phrase, "No means no"! A**hole.

"Brute that I was, I mauled her forehead, I used my nails to scratch her delicate face. She stood distraught, her features pale and bloodless, Like marble quarried from the hills of Greece. I saw her numb and faint, her body quivering...Her tears, long-hanging, down her cheeks came flowing...so my crime's sad signs may last no longer - Set your hair straight and put it back in place." (p.14) OMFG.

Ovid the pervert also recommends a great way for women to woo men is to literally steal from them. But then he goes on a tirade about how he cannot afford to buy presents for the many mistresses in his life, and how it frustrates him to no end. He also only describes women as "girls", and only in relation to how they make him feel (generally frustrated), never pausing to imagine their feelings, not once. God forbid one ever actually become vexed at him though, or cry; here's his genius remedy for assuaging the matter:

"Nor give her anger time to force...Into your bosom take the weeping thing; Kiss her, caress her, though she weep and weep: This way comes peace, and anger's put to sleep. When in full cry, on war she's plainly bent, Propose adjourning bedward; she'll relent." (p.120) When the "thing" is in "full cry", y'all!

Speaking of watery substances, his wisdom keeps flowing: "When man by cautious woman is refused, She just wastes water which she might have used. No, don't be whores; just banish from your thought / Vain fears of cost: your giving costs you nought." (p.130) Ovid is on full-charm mode here.

This vessel of vulgarity ends with, "Cured now, both man and woman, by my song." (p.173) OMG, only "cured" because this is done.

The only benefit of reading this book was it bringing me one book closer to my yearly Goodreads goal.

[kate]

JAIL . PRISON . MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON!!!!!!!!
was interesting to read for the gender and sexuality stuff but jesus christ sex pest ovid really comes out with some heinous shit lmfao

[The Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dnf... I was excited to read this, but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the future.

[Crito · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing to learn about Ovid is while he's a poet to be read seriously, he isn't to be taken seriously. He wraps himself in blankets of irony to where if there were any less he would be taken as an ill tempered cynic rather than the really fun and considered character he can be. Take III.8 in the Amores for example which at one point turns into a seemingly embittered social critique:

"Not food but gold we dig for;
For money soldiers shed their blood and fight.
The Senate's shut to poor men; wealth gives honors,
Wealth makes a solemn judge, a haughty knight."

But then a few verses later he reminds you of what the poem is about, which is a poet who is upset that women won't fuck him because poets don't pay the bills. This is a pattern, he commits far greater political blasphemies in other poems of which he is perfectly content with undermining by making them ridiculous and ironic.

The poems in here work pretty coherently together and the general gag running through everything is this rendering ridiculous of poetry, mythology, and general relatable human experience. If a myth is invoked, and myths are always invoked, it is a punchline which goes both ways, such as comparing Scylla and Charybdis to places you used to hang out with your ex, or invoking the delphic mandate "know thyself" to advise the ladies to figure out which positions make them look best while getting railed. It trivializes the myths and grand tragedies, and creates a sarcastic reverence for the genuinely trivial stuff, since "The tragic style is grand; rage suits its buskins;/And daily life's the stuff of comedy." Nobody escapes except Ovid himself, who still wrings out great poetry in spite of his best efforts. You can be sure the Art of Love isn't a genuine instruction manual for love, nor is its "professor of love" anything but a wry Ovidian character. It's a sarcastic joke to be sure, but in it is a genuine poetic expression of the human efforts to attempt to rule themselves systematically by reason, which always spectacularly crumbles when the passions take over. The tips are cynical and calculated, but the implication is that if you genuinely fall in love then all that is impossible to keep up. To be sure, the goofs and gags have a purpose.

Some of this prefigures the Metamorphoses as there are some truly rich and vivid recreations of myths, such as the rich Daedalus and Icarus retelling (which is told in the context of advice to keep your lover from leaving you.) And a lot of this prefigures the middle ages' ribald tales and poetry; yes there is cucking. There is a poem in the Amores where a man rejects his cheating wife, but then takes her back because her beauty convinces him, which is funny in the context of an earlier poem which claims beauty makes a woman licentious. On that note Ovid has some pretty positive views of women compared to his contemporaries; he sure doesn't like to show it, but that's part of the joke. Painting men as predatory as he does and writing a book for the women's side of things is pretty progressive for 2 AD. He just won't shy from really ostentatious shock humor; if he's going to retell the rape of the Sabine women as a way to mock both the Emperor and pick up artists he's going to do it. You take what you can get.

I read this edition alongside the Penguin edition of The Erotic Poems, and this edition has the better poetry, the other is far more loose and colloquial than it really should be. It was still useful as a means of triangulating where the original might be coming from. Also some jokes are Latin exclusive, if you can read it that way you shouldn't even be here. It also helps to have wikipedia or a mythology handbook nearby because his references are so wide and consistent that even I had to look up quite a few names despite being very familiar with Greek texts. While Ovid pleads you not to take him seriously, this is a collection of works which I'd really advise anyone not to overlook in favor of jumping straight into Metamorphoses as his singular contribution. It's a fun read and there's more depth here than you might expect. Strong Recommendation.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful collection of poems. The selection assembled in this little book is proportioned nicely so that a set of poems can, if the reader fancies, be perused at one sitting--not the whole book in its entire, but its natural divisions.

The style of writing itself is not difficult to read, as some poetry can be. But Ovid is a very deliberate writer, and he inserts references to mythology and politics, now remote in time, that can be foreign to the uninitiated, and thereby let the meaning Ovid's finer commentary escape. The translator's notes then are a needed aid for a feel of all the texture that Ovid has arranged in to his poetry.

The necessary consequence of the elaborate writing is a set of poems that are densely packed. If the reader does by chance move through Ovid in quick order, a rereading will almost certainly reveal as much as was encountered in their first traversal. Ovid does not restrict himself to communicating by the bare text alone, and, without a doubt, his use of pretext and context--as with the odd juxtaposition of some poems as well as the discrete affinity of others--projects meaning that otherwise aren't found within his metre.

The Erotic Poems are certainly involved in a discussion about love. But don't be fooled by appearances; Ovid is as much ridiculing the Roman style of love, sex, and romance, as he is celebrating it. There are definite undertones of a political nature in the poetry. Though whether it involves a general critique of Augustan Rome, or instead takes aim at the war-like virtues that were all the rage--this author cannot decide.

There also appears a recurring them of elegy, especially its place in the company of epic and tragedy. Whether Ovid thinks it deserves equal rank? Or rather should revel in its junior status?--this much cannot be answered here. Connected with Ovid's guilty pleasure for elegy is his self-absorption for his own worth, and the haughty awareness he possesses for his own standing as a poet and literati in Roman life. Whether he is simply championing himself? Reproving his critics? Or has a more subtle message to send? Again, my mind is not decided.

Let me say two more things. One quick about Ovid's style. And another about the translation.

Ovid's poetry exudes creativity. And he does a masterful job drawing his observations to the truly dramatic moments that punctuates the course of Love. His poems however do reveal a steady structure. Not only is his rhyme fixed to a set metre, but he frequently develops individual poems along the same arc. They often feature an elaborate introduction, which sets the problems and creates the mood. Then, as Love's chauffeur, he deigns to advise or opine on the subject. After which he descants for some length either by recollecting mythological characters from epic or tragedy or by sophisticated analogies to life and nature. Though always able, and incredibly beautiful in his writing, this same pattern of expansion is tiring; and Ovid would have done well to experiment with other devices more often.

As for the translation: the adherence to the verse itself is ignored and instead keeps the translation as literal, and colorful as possible. That leaves many wonderful moments. We have still magical combination of words such as "chuckling water-channels"; or attention to the focus of sentences "In bed as in war, old men are out of place./ A commander looks to his troops for gallant conduct,/ A mistress expects no less." But this is not accomplished everywhere. And one of my favorite lines, for example, has been remade. What the translator put down "none but you shall be sung/ In my verses, you and you only shall give my creative/ Impulse its shape and theme." Compare that with my formulation "And I shall always be your poet/ And you shall always be my theme."

[Andrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, my, some parts of this have really not aged well! And knowing only a bit about Augustus, it’s very easy to guess why the Ars Amatoria got Ovid exiled. Its first book alone would have been enough. Not only did Ovid blatantly proclaim the debauchery of his time at a point when Augustus was big on morality and virtue, he also named places built and dedicated by the imperial family as popular locations for beginning illicit affairs. The same section of the Art of Love also contains a romanticised account of the rape of the Sabines which as a woman filled me with dread as well as a short encouragement to force as something women want. In Ovid’s defence, the subject doesn’t really come up again and all of his advice seems to be for a cunning pursuit, mutual love game and consummation thereof which makes him sound a bit more like Casanova than one of those lovely founders of Rome.

The Ars Amatoria gets a bit repetitive as when the perspective changes to women a lot of the advice and situations are simply reversed to fit the other side. All the ills he was trying to teach men how to overcome he advises women to make for their lovers. A third repetition appears in the Remedia as a deconstruction, the situations and examples are the same, the advice diametrically opposed.

The Amores are probably the best thing about this collection. They trace love in the elegiac fashion while gently(and at times not too gently) mocking it. They occasionally drop the guise of idealized love to discuss the reality of love affairs as in the poem discussing abortion or strike a more serious tone as in the eulogy to Tibullus. They are Ovid at his most playful, teasing, jeering, but still very humane. Perhaps in the Ars Amatoria, he is too full of himself, too riled up by his popularity and his tone – that friendly wit – becomes too biting or condescending at times as if inviting reprimand. I am quite curious now to read some of his works in exile and see what tone he adopted in them. Wit was Ovid’s greatest weapon, did he still have the courage to use it when it banished him from the centre of his world?

I did not care much for the translator of this edition’s introduction and notes. The introduction was far too didactic and instead of offering more information about Ovid and his work, he strayed far too much into technical discussions of poetry and its composition. The notes as well were at times filled with irrelevant anecdotes that added absolutely nothing to the understanding of the text.

[AB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ive got a soft spot for Roman love poetry and Ovid hit the spot. Why the Metamorphoses is more popular is beyond me. His Amores are far better. My only gripe was with the first 2 books of The Art of Love for the great crime of being ever so slightly less playful and witty than the rest.

I need to talk about Peter Greens translation and notes. They are unbelievably good. They took in depth foot notes to a whole other level. Extremely detailed but full of gusto. None of that drab vapid style you see in today's classics academics. He's the type of scholar I strive to imitate.

[Library Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked more lovemaking and less bickering. But not bad.

[Alyssa Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this collection a long, long time ago back in the days of college, but other things came up and since I wasn’t assigned to read the whole thing for college, I didn’t end up finishing it. Finally, it came up on my reading list, so finally, I got around to reading the whole thing.

A few things struck me while reading this. I admit, I was biased to look for it, because the whole point as to why excerpts from it were assigned in college is that a lot of what Ovid talks about is still so relevant to today’s world. Even while the same laws aren’t in place, similar concepts remain constant. For example, a lot of his writing tries to assure the reader that he is not giving them advice for committing adultery or having a liaison with a highborn woman — while we are a bit more free with our views, or are at least jaded enough to accept that adultery happens, if someone were to publish a book with advice for how to successfully commit adultery, they would be heavily criticized in our society (especially America). So, while we don’t really have laws against it here, it’s still taboo, which is an interesting thing to talk about.

Another thing I loved about this particular version is the translation. Green is a hero. He is so good at translating not only just the words but the flavor of them in English that we can understand. Pop culture phrasing and literary devices are used with skill what he feels is Ovid’s attitude, which I found to be wonderful. This version is one of the most readable translations I’ve read of this particular collection because of that, and I immensely appreciated it.

I understand that some might find this collection a tough read, with the formal language and numerous mythological allusions, but even with my rudimentary understanding of mythology, I was able to grasp the basic allusions and still enjoy his language and storytelling. If you’re into classics, for sure read this one. It’s an interesting look at Roman culture during Ovid’s time, and Green does a fantastic job in giving an easily readable translation and enough background history for the reader to understand the context in which it was written. I admit that it won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.

[Cdrueallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think poetry - especially old Roman poetry - is full of men recounting overly ornate tales of battle and nursing their centuries old grievances in antique prose, then you’ll be in for a delightful surprise when you read Peter Green’s translation of Ovid’s Erotic Poems. These witty, frivolous, and cynical stories about the love affairs of an upper-class Casanova in the age of Augustus are more amusing and less pretentious than ninety percent of poetry written since. Ovid takes nothing except poetry seriously, especially himself. He gives women advice on how to wheedle money out of men, and men advice on how to keep from being wheedled. He tells his girlfriend it’s her fault if her hair has fallen out because she dyed and curled it too often. He waxes sweet and sentimental about the death of his Corinna’s parrot. He pleads with the Goddess of Childbirth to spare Corinna’s life when she has an abortion. He writes about the intimate details of women’s lives as if they were as important and interesting as the wars and rivalries of men. If you want an antidote for your exhaustion after trying once again to get through the Iliad, this is it.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really "erotic poetry" as we would think of it in these times.

More like "A Playa's Guide On How To Be A Playa". Still, it can be amusing at times, and I can easily imagine how this amused and/or outraged Ovid's readers and contemporaries. Definitely quite a bit here that would be offensive/problematic by the standards of the 2020's.

I would normally give 4 stars for the text itself, as it is well-written in the original Latin and an interesting look into sexual mores (or lack thereof) and behaviors at the time. This translation, though, is more of a 2-star effort. I realize translation always involves give-and-take, but I didn't like some of the decisions made by the translator, and I think there are better English language versions out there.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ovid really comes across as a smug, fatuous prick in these poems. I can't think of anything good to say about it, except that it does provide some background for social relations in Rome at the time.

[Lydia]

This was beautiful to read. Funny, satirical, and wondefully written. Melville's translation was thoroughly enjoyable.

[saša · Rating 3 out of 5]

the erotic poems: 3/5

great, but horribly boring.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to give a rating to. Ovid's poems have a number of themes that are difficult to digest as a modern reader (e.g. domestic violence, sexual assault) and for the most part women are reduced to simply objects for men's pleasure. Furthermore, Ovid consistently portrays women as being vain, jealous and promiscuous.

However, that being said, Melville's translations are excellent and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book (much more so than when I was dissecting every line in a Roman Lit module). I found the Ars Amatoria to be a bit dull in comparison to the Amores and the Cures for Love but all were interesting in their own way.

[Maan Kawas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Ovid's poems!!

[grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

terrible translation - hovers at "overzealous" with occasional gems/horrors such as "skyey" and references to clearly anachronistic bras

[Jacob Stelling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a university module. Enjoyed less than similar poetry which I've read, such as Horace. Some disturbing undertones in Ovid's work.

[Bailey Tolentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVEEE!! it’s so fascinating how little mindsets on love have changed from the time this was written up until present day. this was so fun to read and it is BEAUTIFULLY written (even the annoying misogynistic parts🙄). 5 stars asf, it was so ahead of its time and doesn’t feel ‘old’ at all. I dog eared sooo many pages and found myself talking back at Ovid while reading. This man is crazy (but real and funny). Read it even if you’re not into classics!!

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ars amatoria, a manual of seduction and intrigue for the man about town. The lover’s quarry, in that work, is ostensibly to be sought in the demimonde (i.e., among women on the fringes of respectable society who are supported by wealthy lovers), and Ovid explicitly disclaims the intention of teaching adultery; but all of his teaching could in fact be applied to the seduction of married women. Such a work constituted a challenge, no less effective for being flippant, to Augustus’s cherished moral reforms, and it included a number of references, in that context tactless if not indeed provocative, to symbols of the emperor’s personal prestige. The first two books, addressed to men, were the original extent of the work; a third, in response to popular demand, was added for women. For many modern readers the Ars amatoria is Ovid’s masterpiece, a brilliant medley of social and personal satire, vignettes of Roman life and manners, and charming mythological digressions. It was followed by a mock recantation, the Remedia amoris, also a burlesque of an established genre, which can have done little to make amends for the Ars. The possibilities for exploiting love-elegy were now effectively exhausted, and Ovid turned to new types of poetry in which he could use his supreme narrative and descriptive gifts.

[cvtherin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not really a poetry girly but I did once take a class called Latin Literature in English Translation. Which turned out to be Roman Love Elegies. Which introduced me to Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, and finally Ovid. It was a surprisingly fun class and I especially appreciate being able to go into depth about some of the current events going on at that time, along with breaking down various lines of poetry.

Revisiting this book and getting to see past notes made for a good time and I don’t think I would have fully appreciated this otherwise. Green’s translations are very modern and that can be rather off-putting if that’s not what you’re expecting. I’m not sure if it’s the best translation but it does make for entertaining reading (though anyone who reads this as anything other than Ovid taking the piss is missing the point).

My favorite of the poems are Ovid complaining about being a broke bitch, pouting that his honey bunny can’t drop by one particular day, and the standard paraklausithyron - cause who doesn’t love a good this-motherfucking-DOOR-is-keeping-me-from-my-beloved!! poem?

Also love the line, “but only a crusty misogynist, surely, would stand for girls getting up at dawn?” It’s so real and valid. Let the girlies sleep in!!

...

popsugar 2024 challenge: (48) a collection of at least 24 poems

[Orianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'm starting to develop a fancy for roman poets. Ovid had always caught my attention thanks to the metamorphosis (which I haven't read yet) so, when I got to see this whole phase of him I got surprised, and delighted. He pours out of his verses and it's almost as getting to listen him verse. About the edition: the introduction made by Mr. Green gives enough background so you can develop the whole persona Ovid was. One comment, though: I'm spaniard and somehow bought this edition attracted towards the edition and the poet, but the translation let me down completely. I'd recommend, if you're able, to read the poems in a romance language. That was my mistake which ended ruining the whole episthemology. I'd give 5 stars to a better translated edition.

[Whitney Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class. I'm giving this two stars purely because Ovid is a complete misogynist, and it shows in these poems. I can't bring myself to give this a higher rating. As fuel for an intellectual discussion... these poems are interesting, I won't lie. And I know misogyny was very much the norm for Roman civilization. However, I still can't get past his constant treatment of women as objects, as prizes to be won, as things to be conquered. (I will say, though, that Amores 1.1 is one of the funniest poems I've ever read.)

[Casey Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please read the translation by Peter Green. His introduction was very long-winded, but interesting and informative. I enjoyed the Amores the most of all. This is a classic and the poetry itself is lovely, but it is necessary to keep in mind while reading that this is ancient, and you must read it from a historical perspective. It provides great insight into social relations and romantic behavior in Ancient Rome, but doesn't hold up so well against modern morality and feminism.

[Katarina Zitnjak]

"It's all right to use force - force of that sort goes down well with the girls: what in fact they love to yield they'd often rather have stolen. Rough seduction delights them, the audacity of near-rape is a compliment - so the girl who could have been forced, yet somehow got away unscathed, may feign delight, but in fact feels sadly let down."

Really, Ovid?