These elegiac verses document the poet's pursuit of Corinna, an idealized beloved, across the urban landscapes of Augustan Rome. The poems detail the specific mechanics of Roman adultery, including the bribery of doorkeepers, the use of secret signals at dinner parties, and the physical toll of late-night vigils. Ovid rejects the serious military and political themes of his predecessors to adopt the persona of a soldier of love. He outlines the psychological frustrations of impotence, the grief over a dead parrot, and the tactical maneuvers required to maintain multiple affairs simultaneously while avoiding the detection of jealous husbands.
Classical scholars and students of Latin literature read this 1603 edition to examine the evolution of the elegiac couplet and the subversion of traditional Roman morality. The reader gains a technical understanding of Latin meter and the rhetorical devices used to argue for the supremacy of passion over civic duty. By studying these texts, the reader acquires a detailed map of the social hierarchies and domestic private lives of the Roman elite, learning how irony and wit functioned as tools for social commentary in an era of strict moral legislation.
Balanced in tone; a moderate read.
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- Published
- 1603
- Language
- EN
