10.9.23
Ovid
1. P. Ovidius Naso (FYI)
a. Born in 43 BCE, Sulmo (mountain town east of Rome), equestrian
b. Quit Roman administrative politics to write poetry, much of which is extant
i. Heroides – letters from women of mythology
ii. Amores – Elegiac love poetry
iii. Medicamina Faciei Femineae – short parodic didactic poem on facial
cosmetics
iv. Ars Amatoria – 3 book mock-didactic poem teaching Romans how to
commit adultery
v. Remedia Amoris – mock-didactic “cure” for love
vi. Metamorphoses – epic in 15 books dealing with changes in shape in
mythology
vii. Fasti – 6 books of poetry following on themes of Roman calendar and
festivals
1. He was exiled around this time, losing alot of library access
c. Banished to Tomis in 8 CE (banished for a “carmen et error” – a poem and a
mistake)
i. We don’t know exactly what poem was the cause in Ovid’s mind, or what
the error was
ii. In exile he wrote the Ibis, Tristia, and Epistulae ex Ponto – books of poetry
dealing with Ovid’s exile, and pleas to be recalled to Rome
d. Died in exile c. 18 CE, four years after Augustus dies
2. Metamorphoses
a. Jupiter and the Deluge
i. Metamorphoses
1. Changes of shape. Change more broadly
ii. Jupiter calls meeting of the gods
iii. Milky way is a “street” the gods walk on to the road the house of Jupiter
“the thunderer” (jupiter tonans – on the capitaline)
iv. “Plebeian gods” live in another neighborhood
1. This idea portrays that even the gods have their patricians and their
plebeians
a. This is sortof a jokey take on the gods, meant to be a funny
fractured fairy tale
b. Take a commonly known story, and do it in a funny way,
with a twist
v. “I would not hesitate to call this enclave the Palatine of heaven’s ruling
class.”
1. Connection being made between Jupiter and Augustus, Jupiter
could be a symbol of Augustus
