Amores (Ovid)

Amores is Ovid's first completed book of poetry, written in Elegiac couplets. It was first published in 16 BC in 5 volumes of which 3 now survive. The book follows the popular model of the erotic elegy, as made famous by figures such as Tibullus or Propertius, but is often subversive and humorous with these tropes, exaggerating common motifs and devices to the point of absurdity.

Story

The Amores are a poetic first person account of the poet's love affair with an unattainable higher class girl, Corinna. The plot is linear, with a few artistic digressions such as an elegy on the death of Tibullus.

Summary

Book 1

• 1.1 - The poet announces that love will be his theme
• 1.2 - He admits defeat to Cupid
• 1.3 - He addresses his lover for the first time and lists his good qualities
• 1.4 - He attends a dinner party; the poem is mostly a list of secret instructions to his lover who is also attending the party along with her husband.
• 1.5 - He describes a visit Corinna, here named for the first time, makes to his rooms.
• 1.6 - He begs the doorkeeper to let him into the house to see his love.
• 1.7 - He hits his love and is remorseful
• 1.8 - Mostly a monologue from Dipsas, a tipsy procurer, to a young lady about how to deceive rich men. This is the longest poem in the book.
• 1.9 - The poet compares lovers with soldiers
• 1.10 - He complains that his mistress is demanding material gifts, instead of the gift of poetry
• 1.11 - He asks Corinna's maid to take a message to her
• 1.12 - The poet responds angrily when Corinna cannot visit
• 1.13 - He addresses the dawn and asks it to wait, so he can spend longer with his mistress
• 1.14 - He mocks Corinna for ruining her hair by dyeing it.
• 1.15 - The book ends with Ovid writing of the famous poets of the past, and claiming his name will be among them.

The book has a ring arrangement, with the first and last poems concerning poetry itself, and 1.2 and 1.9 both contain developed military metaphors.

Book 2

Book 3

Themes

Love Elegy

Ovid's Amores are firmly set in the genre of Love Elegy. Familiar themes include:

• A poem featuring the poet locked out of his mistress' door
• Comparisons between the poet's life of leisure and respectable Roman careers, such as farming, politics or the military

It has been regularly praised for adapting and improving on these older models with humour.

Use of Allusions

The poems contain many allusions to other works of literature beyond love elegy.

The Poet and his immortality

Poems 1.1 and 1.15 in particular both concern the way poetry makes the poet immortal, while one of his offers to a lover in 1.3 is that their names will be joined in poetry and famous forever.

Use of Humour

Ovid's love elegies stand apart from others in the genre by his use of humour.

Love and War

Amores I.1 begins with the same word as the Aeneid, "Arma" (an intentional comparison to the epic genre, which Ovid later mocks), as the poet describes his original intention: to write an epic poem in dactylic hexameter, "with material suiting the meter" (line 2), that is, war. However, Cupid "steals one (metrical) foot" (unum suripuisse pedem, I.1 ln 4), turning it into elegiac couplets, the meter of love poetry.

Ovid returns to the theme of war several times throughout the Amores, especially in Chapter Nine of Book I, an extended metaphor comparing soldiers and lovers ("Militat omnis amans", "every lover is a soldier" I.9 ln 1).

Historical Context

Speculations as to Corinna's real identity are many, if indeed she lived at all. It has been argued that she is a poetic construct copying the "puella" archetype from other works in the love elegy genre. The name Corinna may have been a typically Ovidian pun based on the Greek word for "maiden", "kore"

Though most of this book is rather tongue-in-cheek, some people didn't take it that way and this could be the reason or part of the reason why Ovid was banished from Rome. However, his banishment probably has more to do with the Ars Amatoria, written later, which offended Augustus. There is also a connection between Ovid and Augustus' daughter, Julia, who was also exiled.

Influence and Reception

There is a famous English verse translation made by Christopher Marlowe.

Footnotes

External links

• Ovid's Amores in original Latin, from Perseus [1]

• Marlowe's translation [2]

• Wikisource translation of Book 1 s:Amores 1.1

• David Drake's translation

This Ancient Rome-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Ovid Poetry by Ovid 1st-century BC works Mock-heroic poems Ancient Roman erotic literature Poetry stubs Ancient Rome stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Coringasuchus Corinna Cortes Look at other dictionaries: Ovid — For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation). Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) Imaginary depiction of Ovid with laurel wreath (from an engraving) Born March 20, 43 BC Sulmo, Roman Republic (modern …   Wikipedia Amores — is Ovid s first completed book, published in 16 BC. Amores was written in the elegiac distich. The book follows the model of the erotic elegy ndash;perhaps the most common theme of the time ndash;as treated before by Tibullus and Propertius, but… …   Wikipedia Ovid — Ovid,   eigentlich Publius Ovidius Naso, römischer Dichter, * Sulmo (heute Sulmona) 20. 3. 43 v. Chr., ✝ Tomis (heute Konstanza) etwa 17 n. Chr. Wie Ovid in seiner poetischen Autobiographie (»Tristia«, 4, 10) berichtet, sollte er sich, aus… …   Universal-Lexikon Amóres — AMÓRES, um, sind insgemein so viel, als die Cupidines. Da aber der rechte Cupido der Venus Sohn ist, so sind diese nur der Nymphen Söhne. Claud. de Nupt Honor. & Mar. v. 74. Ihrer sollen unzählig viel seyn, Philostrat. Icon. L. I. 16. und zwar… …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon Amores — Die Amores des Ovid sind eine Sammlung von 49 Gedichten, ursprünglich in fünf, später um die Zeitenwende und von Ovid selbst in drei Büchern herausgegeben. Die Amores sind ein Hauptwerk der römischen Liebeselegie, als deren Begründer Lucius… …   Deutsch Wikipedia Ovid — Ovidian /oh vid ee euhn/, adj. /ov id/, n. (Publius Ovidius Naso) 43 B.C. A.D. 17?, Roman poet. * * * Latin Publius Ovidius Naso born March 20, 43 BC, Sulmo, Roman Empire died AD 17, Tomis, Moesia Roman poet. A member of Rome s knightly class,… …   Universalium Ovid — Moderne Statue Ovids in Sulmona Publius Ovidius Naso, modern kurz Ovid [ˀoˈviːt] genannt, (* 20. März 43 v. Chr. in Sulmo; † wohl 17 n. Chr.[1] in Tomis) war ein römischer D …   Deutsch Wikipedia Ovid — Publius Ovidius Naso (20. marts 43 f.Kr. 2. januar 17) var en romersk poet som i den engelsktalende verden er bedre kendt under navnet Ovid. Ovid skrev om emnerne kærlighed, forslåede kvinder og myter og sagaer på hexametre. Ovid døde i… …   Danske encyklopædi OVID —    (Publius Ovidius Naso), Roman poet of the Augustan age, born at Salmo, of equestrian rank, bred for the bar, and serving the State in the department of law for a time, threw it up for literature and a life of pleasure; was the author, among… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Metamorphosen (Ovid) — „Die Erschaffung des Menschen“ aus einem Druck der Metamorphosen von 1676 mit Illustrationen von François Chauveau Die Metamorphosen (lateinischer Originaltitel Metamorphoseon libri: „Bücher der Verwandlungen“) des römischen Dichters Ovid,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”