Synopses & Reviews
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE17 CE), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his
Ars Amatoria, and was banished because of this work and some other reason unknown to us, and dwelt in the cold and primitive town of Tomis on the Black Sea. He continued writing poetry, a kindly man, leading a temperate life. He died in exile.
Ovid's main surviving works are the Metamorphoses, a source of inspiration to artists and poets including Chaucer and Shakespeare; the Fasti, a poetic treatment of the Roman year of which Ovid finished only half; the Amores, love poems; the Ars Amatoria, not moral but clever and in parts beautiful; Heroides, fictitious love letters by legendary women to absent husbands; and the dismal works written in exile: the Tristia, appeals to persons including his wife and also the emperor; and similar Epistulae ex Ponto. Poetry came naturally to Ovid, who at his best is lively, graphic and lucid.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Ovid is in six volumes.
Synopsis
In his most influential work, the Metamorphoses, Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) weaves a hexametric whole from a huge range of myths, which are connected by the theme of change and ingeniously linked as the narrative proceeds from earliest creation to transformation in Ovid's own time.
About the Author
At the time of his death G. P. Goold was William Lampson Professor Emeritus of Latin Language and Literature, Yale University, and Editor Emeritus of the Loeb Classical Library®.
Table of Contents
Preface To The Third Edition
Introduction
Bibliography
Metamorphoses
Book I
Book II
Book III
Book IV
Book V
Book VI
Book VII
Book VIII