DOCSLIB.ORG

How Exilic Is Ovid's Exile Poetry?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How Exilic Is Ovid's Exile Poetry? CHAPTER EIGHT OVID AND THE ‘POETICS OF EXILE’: HOW EXILIC IS OVID’S EXILE POETRY? Jan Felix Gaertner Of the many ancient exiles and writers on exile, Ovid is clearly the most prominent fi gure: not only have his exilic works infl uenced later Latin writers on exile from Seneca to Boethius,1 but his poetry and his persona have also been a central point of reference for medieval and modern imaginings of exile.2 Banished in AD 8 for the loose morality of his Ars Amatoria and for some obscure error which, according to the poet himself, personally offended the emperor,3 Ovid spent the rest of his life in Tomis (today’s ConstanĠa, Rumania), on the shore of the Black Sea. Largely, but maybe not entirely,4 abandoning other poetic endeavours, Ovid chose his banishment as subject for his last three works of poetry: the Ibis, a venomous attack on an unnamed enemy, and the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto, two collections of literary epistles centred around the experience of the poet’s exile. There has been a long tradition of viewing Ovid’s exile poetry as fundamentally different from his earlier works. Ultimately, this idea goes 1 Cf. Innocenti Pierini (1980), Fantham p. 191 n. 61 (in this volume) on Seneca, and Claassen (1999a) 248 on Boethius. Cf. also Bouquet (1982), Fo (1989), and Tissol (2002) on echoes of Ovid’s exile poetry in Dracontius and Rutilius Namatianus, and p. 19 above on Ovidian reminiscences in Stat. Silv. 3.3.154–64. 2 On the medieval reception of Ovid’s exile poetry see Hexter (1986) 83 ff., and pp. 209 ff. in this volume; for a survey of some of the modern reception see Froesch (1976) 131–44, Hexter (1986) 83 n. 2 and p. 210 n. 4 in this volume, as well as Claassen (1999a) 252 ff.; von Albrecht (1971) discusses Pushkin’s and Grillparzer’s responses to Ovid’s exile, Willige (1969) an echo in Goethe’s Italienische Reise, Condee (1958) Milton’s reception of Ovid’s exile poetry. 3 Cf. Tr. 2.207: carmen et error, Syme’s detailed discussion ((1978) 215 ff.), and Hexter pp. 212–14 below; the many, often fairly fanciful conjectures on the nature of Ovid’s error have been gathered by Thibault (1964) 125–9 and Verdière (1992). 4 Parts of the Metamorphoses and the Fasti may have been rewritten by Ovid in Tomis, and Heroides 16–21 may have been entirely composed during the poet’s exile: cf. Ov. Tr. 1.7.33–40, Bömer (1969–86) vol. 1, pp. 488–9 (with further literature), and Harrison p. 135 n. 15 above on the Metamorphoses, Bömer (1957–8) vol. 1, pp. 18–19, Gesztelyi (1974/5), Syme (1978) 21 ff., Fantham (1998) 3 on the Fasti, and Tracy (1971), Kenney (1996) 25–6, and p. 161 n. 37 below on the Heroides. GAERTNER_f9_155-172.indd 155 11/7/2006 5:18:24 PM 156 jan felix gaertner right back to the author himself, who claims again and again that his relegation to Tomis on the Black Sea has destroyed his former poetic genius.5 Though harsh statements like that of Hosius ((1935) 248–9), in whose eyes the pitiful thing about the exile poetry was the poetic form rather than the plight of the poet, have become rare, Ovid’s situation in exile is still seen as the main reason for differences in style and content between his exilic and his non-exilic poetry: Doblhofer ((1978), (1980)) has interpreted Ovid’s exile poetry along the lines of “Verzweifl ung” and “Selbstbehauptung”, explaining e.g. the motif of continuous weeping and Ovid’s puns in the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto as outpourings of his soul and attempts at self-consolation; similarly, Claassen (1999b,c) has argued for a systematic and deliberate un-punning of elegiac terms from Ovid’s earlier poetry; González Vázquez ((1987), (1997), (1998) 110, 116) has seen redundant expressions and typical features of Norden’s ‘Neuer Stil’ in Ovid’s exile poetry as results of the poet’s fear of being forgotten in Rome and of his tendency towards psychological “interiorisación”; Videau-Delibes (1991) has developed a “poétique de la rupture” which negates ars and has as its sole objective the communication of personal suffering,6 and Malaspina ((1995) 141) has proposed that such a rhetoric has made Ovid adopt a more prosaic and colloquial, even negligent style.7 Such interpretations turn Ovid’s exile into a condicio sine qua aliter for the form and content of Ovid’s Tristia, Ibis, and Epistulae ex Ponto, i.e. they suggest that Ovid’s banishment not only prompted the author to choose his own life in exile as subject for his poetry, but also fundamentally changed his way of writing. But are Ovid’s Tristia, Ibis, and Epistulae ex Ponto really so fundamentally different from the poet’s earlier works?8 I shall begin by taking a closer look at the themes and motifs of Ovid’s exile poetry.9 Many of the typical features of Tristia and Epistulae ex 5 Cf. e.g. Tr. 1.1.45–8, 3.14.33, 5.12.21–2, Pont. 1.5.3–8, 3.4.11, 4.2.15, 4.8.65–6. 6 Cf. Videau-Delibes (1991) 506: “absence d’inspiration et absence d’art, inaptitude à la célébration ou impossibilité de la mettre en oeuvre, incapacité à plaire à un public choisi vu l’imperfection du poème et refus de la gloire conviennent à la situation de l’exil comme lui conviennent aussi la tristesse et l’imperfection de la materia et de l’elocutio”. 7 Cf. also Bernhardt (1986), who has interpreted the catalogues in Ovid’s exile poetry as a means to ward off the threat of losing the mother tongue (see the criticism of Chwalek (1996) 131–2 and Gaertner (2001a) 298 on the literary tradition). 8 Cf. Holzberg (1997) 200: “Die Grundfrage, die sich allen Erklärern der Exilelegien Ovids stellt, ist die nach dem Grad des Einfl usses, den die besondere Schreibsituation auf Form und Gehalt dieser Dichtung ausübt”. 9 As the scholarly debate on the ‘exilic’ qualities of Ovid’s exile poetry has been GAERTNER_f9_155-172.indd 156 11/7/2006 5:18:25 PM.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Banished to the Black Sea: Ovid's Poetic
    BANISHED TO THE BLACK SEA: OVID’S POETIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRISTIA 1.1 A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of The School of Continuing Studies and of The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Studies By Christy N. Wise, M.A. Georgetown University Washington, D.C. October 16, 2014 BANISHED TO THE BLACK SEA: OVID’S POETIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN TRISTIA 1.1 Christy N. Wise, M.A. Mentor: Charles A. McNelis, Ph.D. ABSTRACT After achieving an extraordinarily successful career as an elegiac poet in the midst of the power, glory and creativity of ancient Rome during the start of the Augustan era, Ovid was abruptly separated from the stimulating community in which he thrived, and banished to the outer edge of the Roman Empire. While living the last nine or ten years of his life in Tomis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, Ovid steadily continued to compose poetry, producing two books of poems and epistles, Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto, and a 644-line curse poem, Ibis, all written in elegiac couplets. By necessity, Ovid’s writing from relegatio (relegation) served multiple roles beyond that of artistic creation and presentation. Although he continued to write elegiac poems as he had during his life in Rome, Ovid expanded the structure of those poems to portray his life as a relegatus and his estrangement from his beloved homeland, thereby redefining the elegiac genre. Additionally, and still within the elegiac structure, Ovid changed the content of his poetry in order to defend himself to Augustus and request assistance from friends in securing a reduced penalty or relocation closer to Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Receptions of Ovid's Tristia Dissertation
    RENAISSANCE RECEPTIONS OF OVID’S TRISTIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gabriel Fuchs, M.A. Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Frank T. Coulson, Advisor Benjamin Acosta-Hughes Tom Hawkins Copyright by Gabriel Fuchs 2013 ABSTRACT This study examines two facets of the reception of Ovid’s Tristia in the 16th century: its commentary tradition and its adaptation by Latin poets. It lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive study of the Renaissance reception of the Tristia by providing a scholarly platform where there was none before (particularly with regard to the unedited, unpublished commentary tradition), and offers literary case studies of poetic postscripts to Ovid’s Tristia in order to explore the wider impact of Ovid’s exilic imaginary in 16th-century Europe. After a brief introduction, the second chapter introduces the three major commentaries on the Tristia printed in the Renaissance: those of Bartolomaeus Merula (published 1499, Venice), Veit Amerbach (1549, Basel), and Hecules Ciofanus (1581, Antwerp) and analyzes their various contexts, styles, and approaches to the text. The third chapter shows the commentators at work, presenting a more focused look at how these commentators apply their differing methods to the same selection of the Tristia, namely Book 2. These two chapters combine to demonstrate how commentary on the Tristia developed over the course of the 16th century: it begins from an encyclopedic approach, becomes focused on rhetoric, and is later aimed at textual criticism, presenting a trajectory that ii becomes increasingly focused and philological.
    [Show full text]
  • Identity Crisis: Scriptae Personae in Ovid's Amores
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks IDENTITY CRISIS: SCRIPTAE PERSONAE IN OVID’S AMORES 1.4 AND 2.5 BY Monique Imair Submitted to the graduate degree program in Classics and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Tara Welch, Chairperson Committee Members : Michael Shaw Pamela Gordon Date Defended: 04/01/2011 The Thesis Committee for Monique S. Imair certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: IDENTITY CRISIS: SCRIPTAE PERSONAE IN OVID’S AMORES 1.4 AND 2.5 Tara Welch, Chairperson Committee Members : Michael Shaw Pamela Gordon Date Accepted: 06/13/2011 ii Page left intentionally blank iii Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the multifaceted personae of Ovid’s Amores, specifically in Amores 1.4 and 2.5. These personae range from Ovid as poet (poeta), lover (amator), and love teacher (praeceptor amoris); the poet’s love interest, the puella; the rival, the vir; other unnamed rivals; and reader. I argue that Ovid complicates the roles of the personae in his poetry by means of subversion, inversion and amalgamation. Furthermore, I conclude that as readers, when we understand how these personae interact with each other and ourselves (as readers), we can better comprehend Ovid’s poetry and quite possibly gain some insight into his other poetic works. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One. Introduction 1 Chapter Two. Personae in Amores 1.4 12 Chapter Three.
    [Show full text]
  • Augustanism in Ovid's Ars Amatoria
    The Art of Making Oneself Hated: Rethinking (Anti-)Augustanism in Ovid’s Ars Amatoria The Art of Love: Bimillennial Essays on Ovid's Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amoris Steven Green Print publication date: 2007 Print ISBN-13: 9780199277773 Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2010 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277773.001.0001 The Art of Making Oneself Hated: Rethinking (Anti-)Augustanism in Ovid’s Ars Amatoria Sergio Casali DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277773.003.0011 Abstract and Keywords This chapter focuses on the most overtly ‘Augustan’ part of the Ars – the Parthian expedition of Gaius Caesar (1.171-228) – and invites us to read the event as an episode that exposes tensions in the dynastic family, and draws attention to the spectacle and theatricality of the Emperor's Parthian campaign. Keywords: Ars Amatoria, Remedia Amoris, Augustus, politics, Rome, Parthia, Gaius Caesar My subtitle implies that I want to strike a balance, or to discuss the question of the Augustanism/anti-Augustanism of the Ars from a theoretical point of view. In fact, I won’t be doing that. The ‘Augustan’ side of the question has been treated in the best possible way by Mario Labate in his book L’arte di farsi amare,1 the ‘anti-Augustan’ side by Alison Sharrock, particularly in her article on ‘Ovid and the Politics of Reading’,2 and the ‘aporetic’ side by Duncan Kennedy and Alessandro Barchiesi.3 I couldn’t do it better. So, the first part of my title is more relevant for my chapter. It makes fairly clear, I think, my predilection for a good old anti-Augustan approach to Ovid.
    [Show full text]
  • The Example of Procris in the Ars Amatoria
    UC Berkeley Cabinet of the Muses: Rosenmeyer Festschrift Title The Example of Procris in the Ars Amatoria Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5xx8c1wj Author Anderson, William S. Publication Date 1990-04-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California THE EXAMPLE OF PROCRIS IN THE ARS AMATORIA William S. Anderson University of California, Berkeley Ever since Richard Heinze developed his masterful study of Ovid’s narrative styles by pitting similar stories recounted in elegiac meter against those of the Metamorphoses, starting from the near-contemporaneously composed myths of Persephone of Fasti 4 and of Met. 5, a methodology of contextualization has been legitimated for exploring these materials.1 As perhaps the richest pair of such narratives, elegiac and hexameter, the story of how Cephalus loved, married, and then accidentally killed Procris in a hunting accident has generated numerous studies since Heinze’s time.2 The earliest adherents of Heinze used the account in Ars Amatoria 3.687ff. to demonstrate the greater weight and epic character of the account in Met. 7.672ff. (or of 7.796ff., to limit ourselves to the death of Procris in the Met. as the strictly parallel passage).3 In more recent years, as the “epic” character of the Met. has been called into question, the procedures of contextualization have altered somewhat. On the one hand, many studies have continued to emphasize the greater power and pathos of Procris’ death in the Met. and so called attention to features of Ars 3 that appear to be earlier and less artistic details consciously changed and improved by Ovid in the later Met.
    [Show full text]
  • James-P-Holoka CV-11 Classical
    ,e 52 January 1976 THE CLASSICAL BULLETIN 41 the he retained the affection of an. older man for a universal principle of order and harmony, in con­ formity to which the whole world is ruled in fair­ fully generation, and repaid it in many ways-not ness and justice (imperio aequo), the physical the least .of which was the preservation of the world and the political world, the sphere of the ~ living and the sphere of the dead •..• 2 t>,_ -'1 memory of a fine character for the edification dght of posterity. Fraenkel goes on to explain that the autobio• William C. McDermott graphical half of 3.4 is demanded by the ab­ sence of a tradition of solemn musical perform­ •nvert University of Pennsylvania ·,rliest Philip T. Heesffi ance "deeply rooted in the very life, religious c and Millersville State College and civic, of the· society." Unlike Pindar, Hor­ at the ace "is alone, left to his experience as an indi­ ng so, NOTES ;, my vidual and to his personal inspiration." 1 ·arned 1 E.g. Manius Curius, -negotiator in Patrae, for !d, as whose career c/. W. C. McDermott CW 41 (1948) 179- Though the Pindaric ode incontestably had a Philo, ,. 84. 2 Cf. von Arnim in RE s.v. "Diodotos 11" (1903); nutritive in•ftuence on the poet of Descende ·ctors. I. Coppa "De Diodoto Stoica Cicero-nis ma.gistro," Cicero: comm. ausp. coll. studiis .Cic. pro11ehendia editi caelo, critics have overindulged in Quellenfor­ ·laim, 1 (Rome 1959) 21-29; P. T. Heesen, Cicero's Literary Career to 50 B.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Hair and Power in Ovidian Love Elegy; a Discussion of Feminine Dominance and the Hair Apparent
    University of Mary Washington Eagle Scholar Student Research Submissions Spring 4-29-2020 Hair and Power in Ovidian Love Elegy; A Discussion of Feminine Dominance and the Hair Apparent Lydia Eisenberg Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research Part of the Classics Commons Recommended Citation Eisenberg, Lydia, "Hair and Power in Ovidian Love Elegy; A Discussion of Feminine Dominance and the Hair Apparent" (2020). Student Research Submissions. 340. https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/340 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by Eagle Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research Submissions by an authorized administrator of Eagle Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HAIR AND POWER IN OVIDIAN LOVE ELEGY A DISCUSSION OF FEMININE DOMINANCE AND THE HAIR APPARENT A THESIS BY LYDIA G. EISENBERG SUBMITTED ON APRIL 29, 2020 IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEPARTMENTAL HONORS IN CLASSICS ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Liane Houghtalin Angela Pitts Joseph Romero Abstract: When considering the love elegy of Ovid, there are multiple cases in which love, beauty, or infatuation with a woman is expressed through visual descriptions of her hair. In the Amores and Ars Amatoria, these descriptions of hair support a seemingly subjective view of beauty when compared to current hairstyle trends at the time. As a result, this view of feminine beauty suggests that the woman holds the power within the amorous relationship described. However, the nature of the hair description reduces Ovid’s view of feminine beauty to an objective one, revealing a disingenuous view of feminine power and therefore supporting Ovid’s claim to masculine dominance in the relationship.
    [Show full text]
  • VISUALISING with OVID Jo-Marie Claassen University Of
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Stellenbosch University SUNScholar Repository WORD PICTURES: VISUALISING WITH OVID Jo-Marie Claassen University of Stellenbosch ABSTRACT Ovid verbally portrays three different modes of ‘seeing’. In the Metamorphoses readers mentally ‘watch’ his various protagonists seeing or being seen. In the elegiac poetry readers are often induced to share the field of vision of his protagonists. In Amores 3.2 and Ars Amatoria 1.135ff., readers ‘look’ with the lover and his mistress during ‘a day at the races’, virtually becoming both protagonists. In the exilic poems Ovid is sole viewer. ‘Something he saw that ruined him’ looms large in his imagination. The exile begins to rely solely on mental vision, ‘seeing’ the sights of Rome, conjuring up distant friends into his presence. Readers ‘see’ the lonely exile being comforted by his own inner vision. Introduction Videmus natura, spectamus voluntate, intuemur cura, aspicimus ex improviso. We see naturally, we look voluntarily, we watch something with care, and we inspect something if we have been surprised by it. (Ps.-Fronto, Gramm. 7.520.18 K = Charis. Gramm. P. 388.26) The four Latin verbs quoted above illustrate the fact that visual perception has various modes, which may be roughly characterised as the differences between the semantic implications of their approximate English equivalents ‘seeing’, ‘looking’, ‘watching’ and ‘scrutinising’. The four verbs chosen by Pseudo-Fronto for differentiating various modes of vision Grateful thanks to David Wardle, editor of Acta Classica, and the two anonymous referees, whose advice I tried scrupulously to follow, and also to two earlier readers, whose equally useful comments were relayed to me by Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Ovid's Wife in the Tristia and Epistulae Ex Ponto
    OVID’S WIFE IN THE TRISTIA AND EPISTULAE EX PONTO: TRANSFORMING EROTIC ELEGY INTO CONJUGAL ELEGY by AMY NOHR PETERSEN (Under the Direction of T. KEITH DIX) ABSTRACT Augustus exiled Ovid to Tomis in AD 8 in part, the poet says, because of his carmen, the Ars Amatoria. Ovid presents the misfortunes of exile in two collections of elegiac epistles, the Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto. As the recipient of nine epistles, Ovid’s wife is his most frequent addressee. Other poems throughout the two works also mention her. Ovid models the persona of his wife in the exile poetry on characters he developed in the Amores, Heroides, and Ars Amatoria. She appears initially as an abandoned heroine, then as a beloved from whom Ovid seeks fulfillment of his needs, and eventually becomes a pupil in imperial courtship. The resulting “conjugal love elegy” does not replace his earlier erotic elegy but recasts it as a means for Ovid to lament his misfortunes, present a new image for his poet-narrator, and immortalize his genius. INDEX WORDS: Augustus, Coniunx, Elegy, Epistolary Poetry, Epistulae, Exile, Latin, Livia, Ovid, Ovid’s wife, Tristia OVID’S WIFE IN THE TRISTIA AND EPISTULAE EX PONTO: TRANSFORMING EROTIC ELEGY INTO CONJUGAL ELEGY by AMY NOHR PETERSEN B.A., The University of Minnesota, 1996 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2005 © 2005 Amy Nohr Petersen All Rights Reserved OVID’S WIFE IN THE TRISTIA AND EPISTULAE EX PONTO: TRANSFORMING EROTIC ELEGY INTO CONJUGAL ELEGY by AMY NOHR PETERSEN Major Professor: T.
    [Show full text]
  • BACCHUS in LATIN LOVE-ELEGY by Joan Ruth
    BACCHUS IN LATIN LOVE-ELEGY by Joan Ruth Sandilands (B.A., Alberta, 1962) A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Classics We accept this thesis as conforming to the standard required from candidates for the degree of Master of Arts The University of British Columbia April, 1966 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for ex• tensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for finan• cial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date ii ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is, by means of a close exa• mination of the evidence presented by the texts, to analyse the ways in which Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid treat the god Bacchus and,by so doing, to discover why Bacchus be• comes for them a patron of poetry. Chapter I, the introduction,, deals briefly with the literary background and sets the limits of the study. Chapters II, III and IV analyse the appearances of the god in the poetry of Tibullus, Propertius and Ovid respec• tively: the Tibullan Bacchus is primarily a patron of viti• culture and is associated with poetry and Amor because of this basic role; Propertius is more concerned with the god's relationship with Ariadne and the Maenads and develops a complex exemplum for his affair with Cynthia using these as major characters; Ovid makes frequent use of ideas concerning Bacchus developed by the other two poets but adds nothing really new to the concept of the god as patron of poetry.
    [Show full text]
  • The Women of Ovid's Ars Amatoria
    THE WOMEN OF OVID’S ARS AMATORIA: NATURE OR CULTURE? The women of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria may well impress the readers of this poem as a highly ‘unnatural’ lot. They mince, pout, and posture through the three books of Ovid’s treatise on the lover’s art with the calculated elegance and studied poise of dancers in a minuet. Their appearance, however, is deceptive. Ἀ closer look exposes the cultivation of these feminae cultissimae as a fragile patina, literally only skin deep. In the following essay, we shall consider how and why this can be so. Before we can begin to penetrate the elegant surface of the women of Ovid’s poem it is first necessary to consider the context in which they appear and operate: the poem itself. Ovid’s Ars Amatoria is an exposition and celebration of erotic culture, amatory cultus which by the late first century at Rome had progressed (at least in some circles) far beyond the inept fumbling of the rustic past, but as yet awaited codification into a handbook of didactic precepts by a master of the art. Enter the praeceptor. Drawing on a vast store of personal experience, usus (AA 1.29),1 as well as objective observation, this professorial paragon codifies the lover’s art in canons which turn on artifice, inhibition, hypocracy, and sublimation. The praeceptor’s rules comprise a system for manipulating and transcending the natural erotic impulse, and as such are not only the description of a cultural process but are themselves a cultural product.2 *& Although the poet expresses certain reservations about some aspects of 1 All references to the text of the Ars Amatoria are indicated by the siglum AA and are according to the edition of E.J.
    [Show full text]
  • Ars Amatoria I
    “Finding Love at the Races” Ovid’s Ars Amatoria I. 135-164 Teacher’s Resource 1 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………3 Bibliography……………………………………………...4 Lesson Plans………………………………………………5 English Translation………………………………………7 Answers to Discussion Questions………………………..8 Multiple Choice Quiz…………………………………….9 Translation Quiz ………………………………………...12 Short Answer Quiz ……………………………………...13 Essay……………………………………………………...14 Answer Keys……………………………………………..15 2 Introduction and Teaching Tips To begin, students should read the entirety of Ars Amatoria I in English to place this scene in context. However, the English translation should be only a last resort in deciphering the meaning from the Latin. In presenting the text to them, the teacher should allow the students to gain as much of the meaning from the text by themselves as possible. Before beginning the Latin, the teacher should review meter and scansion. Ovid is conducive to the beginning phases of this skill, for his poetry flows with uncanny ease. Present the basic rules of scansion and allow them to practice both Ovidian epic (any selection from the Metamorphoses) and elegiac (this selection will suffice). I suggest putting the lines on the board via an overhead projector so students may scan out the Latin with marks and recite aloud together. Review of subjunctive forms and their uses may help. The passage includes an array of subjunctive uses, which the accompanying notes often point out, using common grammatical terminology. Students may better understand the syntax if they are familiar with these terms. The text itself, being didactic, naturally lends itself to TPR (total physical response). All the imperatives in the text allow it to be re-enacted by the students with you the teacher or another student in the role of “doctor.” As you read the Latin, have some students simply follow the instructions given to the reader.
    [Show full text]