Ovid , 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, Ovid dutifully started an official career but soon abandoned it for poetry. His first work, The Loves, was an immediate success. It was followed by Epistles of the Heroines; The Art of Beauty; The Art of Love, one of his best-known works; and Remedies for Love, all reflecting the sophisticated, pleasure-seeking society in which he moved. He was a well-established poet when he undertook perhaps his greatest work, Metamorphoses, on legends of transformations of human beings into nonhuman forms by gods; and Fasti (“Calendar”), an account of the Roman year and its religious festivals. His verse had immense influence because of its imaginative interpretations of classical myth and its supreme technical accomplishment. For unclear reasons, in ad 8 Augustus banished him to Tomis on the Black Sea; despite Ovid’s many pleas, he was never allowed to return. He described his life in an autobiographical poem in Sorrows. He was extensively read and imitated in the Renaissance, and his influence was felt into modern times.
Discover
