Synopses & Reviews
In all of ancient literature there is nothing quite like the
Ars Amatoria, Ovid's guide to seduction. He devotes Book 3 to teaching the women of Augustan Rome how to find, catch, and keep a male lover. Along with generous portions of wit and absurdity, his text contains a wealth of cultural references, highlighting Rome's architecture, theatres, gladiatorial spectacles, temples, baths, men's and women's clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, music, poetry-reading, letter-writing, games, slavery, parties, sexuality, and sex. This last and longest book of Ovid's most notorious work helps us see ancient Rome in a new light.
Ars Amatoria Book 3 is the first volume in the Oxford Greek and Latin College Commentaries series.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Oxford Greek and Latin College Commentaries series is designed for students in intermediate or advanced Greek or Latin. Each volume includes a comprehensive introduction. The placement, on the same page, of the ancient text, a running vocabulary, and succinct notes focusing on grammar, syntax, and distinctive features of style provide students with essential learning aids.
Series Editors: Barbara Weiden Boyd, Bowdoin College, Stephen Esposito, Boston University, and Mary Lefkowitz, Wellesley College
FORTHCOMING VOLUMES
Selected Letters from Pliny the Younger's Epistulae
Jacqueline Carlon, Boston University
Suetonius's Life of Augustus
Darryl Phillips, Connecticut College
Review
"Ovid's poem of erotic instruction addressed to the women of Rome is among his most significant and entertaining works, but its wide vocabulary and elegantly compressed syntax make it a challenging read. Christopher Brunelle's witty, illuminating, and concise commentary makes the text quickly accessible on every level, and provides constant stimulation while aiding comprehension."--Roy Gibson, The University of Manchester
About the Author
Christopher M. Brunelle is Assistant Professor of Classics at St. Olaf College. He is the author of several articles on Ovid and on medieval-Latin pedagogy. Dr. Brunelle has contributed to a textbook edition of Plautus'
Poenulus and translated the entire
Ars Amatoria into limericks.
Table of Contents
Map: Rome in the time of Ovid
Introduction
Liber Tertivs, with commentary
Bibliography