Publius Ovidius Naso Early Life Born on March

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

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

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”

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

Poetry Ars Amatoria 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 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

Poetry Ibis 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