Ovid, Ars Amatoria [The Art of Love]

Andreas Michalopoulos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. -1

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem collection

Resources

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The

Ars amatoria

(or

Ars amandi

) [

The Art of Love

], together with the

Medicamina faciei femineae

[Cosmetics for the Female Face, also known as

The Art of Beauty

] and the

Remedia amoris

[

Remedies for Love

], constitute a group of works by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) which belong to didactic poetry. Its metre, however, is not the dactylic hexameter, which is the established metre for didactic poetry (e.g. Hesiod’s

Works and days

, Aratus’s

Phaenomena

, Nicander’s

Theriaca

and

Alexipharmaca

, Vergil’s

Georgics

), but Ovid’s favourite metre, the elegiac couplet. Ovid’s preference for the elegiac couplet over the dactylic hexameter reveals his humorous, light-hearted and ironic approach to amatory teaching. The work consists of three books, which were not published all together at the…

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1585 words

Citation: Michalopoulos, Andreas. "Ars Amatoria". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 May 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6510, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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Ovid, Ars Amatoria [The Art of Love]

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