OVID—Roman Poet in Exile

Ovid, considered the most brilliant poet of his generation, was born one year after the death of Julius Caesar on 20th March 43 BC in Sulmona, Italy, ninety miles from Rome.  Born into a respected equestrian family with means, he and his brother were sent to school. His father expected Ovid to enter civil service studying law, which he did, leaving shortly thereafter to do what he dreamed of—write poetry.

Ovid traveled through Greece, Sicily and Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The Rome he knew and loved was an urban hotbed of curiosity, activity, and socially charged intrigue ruled his entire lifetime by Augustus. His writing was witty, sophisticated and erotic. Conservative Augustus was paranoid about rebellion and hammered down on Ovid chastising him for his unconventional views on adultery and his playful embrace of sexuality.

Ovid, 1504, Luca Signorelli

Ovid hit his zenith after writing Ars Amatoria written in 1 BC for adulterers. At this point, Augustus had reached his boiling point and in AD 8 exiled Ovid to a desolate fishing village along the shores of the Black Sea, in Tomis (modern-day Constanta, Romania).  Otherwise the hinterlands of despair for any hip Roman.

There are three books in ARS, the first two dedicated to the success of men in love. In the revolutionary third, Ovid tells his secrets to women confessing "Venus made me do it." In his 812 lines of mythological allusions, he tells women how to be at their most alluring.

Below, some Ovid inspirations ~

• let your lover know he has satisfied you
• be attentive to personal hygiene
• shave your legs, not all men like them unkept
• disguise imperfections, keep your mouth shut if your teeth are stained or crooked
• keep the lights low to mitigate imperfections
• have a different man to fulfill each need
• make him wait, don't let him know you are anxious...

Ovid in Exile, 1915, Ion Theodoresu-Sion.

 

His writing is of such import it influenced Chaucer, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton etc, etc. 

The 12th century was named the Ovidian Age because of the plethora of writers writing in Ovidian hexameter.

Ovid despaired of life in Tomis. Repeatedly begging to be released to no avail. Augustus ignored him, as did Tiberius, who Ovid lived the last three years of his life under the reign of, dying AD 14 in Tomis.

Ovid wrote METAMORPHOSES considered his #1 work, while in exile, lonely and forgotten.

Interested readers should find the following works:

AMORES - the Loves

HEROIDES - the Heroines

MEDICAMINUS - the Art of Beauty

ARS AMATORIAE - the Art of Love

REMEDIA AMORIS - the Remedy for Love

METAMORPHOSES - Transformations

among others...

OVID ~

"Love and dignity cannot share the same abode."

"Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurt the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all."

"A horse never runs so fast as when he has others to catch up and outpace."

"Fortune and love favor the brave."

"First thing every morning before you arise, say out loud 'I believe' three times."

 

Ovid Banished from Rome, 1838, J. M. W. Turner

Ovid Among the Scythians, 1862, Eugène Delacroix, oil on wood. MET, New York City.

Delacroix was intrigued lifelong by Ovid's story. By the way, read The Journal Of Eugene Delacroix, if you haven't. It has interesting technical notes for artists and is a bird's eye view of his 19th century Paris. When Delacroix exhibited Ovid Among the Scythians, his first work of two, at the 1859 Paris Salon (the last show he participated in) it was met with ambivalent reviews. Baudelaire, an admirer, wrote a long essay on the work praising "the landscape, its solitude, its charm." Among the negative comments were thoughts about the mare in the foreground, which was regarded as strange. To this Delacroix wrote:

 

"Some examine Ovid with interest, others go home and offer wild fruit and mare's milk, etc. Etc. "

 

On Tomis, Ovid was indeed greeted by mare-milk drinking locals... there's a story writ in every canvas.