Ovid

Ovid was a poet during Rome's Golden Age. His given name is Publius Ovidius Naso and he was born on March 20, 43 BC. His father wanted him to persue a political carrer, but he was much too ambitious and talented for that. He was reading his poetry to audiences by the time he was twenty and by the age of thirty, he was Rome's most famous poet. He remained successful for two decades when his carrer abruply came to an end. Augustus exiled Ovid when he was fifty. The reason for the exile is unclear, but some have presumed that it had to do with a mistake Ovid made with regard to one of his poems. He was exiled to Tomis, which is in modern Costanza, in Romania. His remaining years were spent writing poetry about exile and he died an unhappy man of sixty. Ovid's works before his exile reflects his thoughts, theories, and beliefs about love.

Ovid, born Publius Ovidius Naso in 43 B.C. was one of the most renowned and unmatched among Roman poets. His writing style was not only flamboyant but dissolute especially during the puritanical society in which he lived at the time. The Emperor, Augustus instigated this change that made it unacceptable for licentiousness in public arenas such as education namely literature. There were official charges lounged against Ovid in ad 8, based on the immorality of some of his poetry. Public opinion raised the question that there could have been other reasons for the severity of his sentence, which was banishment to live the rest of his life in Tomi, in a Roman province of Dacia. There are several speculations as to the real reason for his banishment. Some say he was involved in a scandal; having an affair with Augustus’ daughtes, Julia or a relative of Augustus. According to Ovid though, the reason for his exile was the publication of Ars Amatoria; A handbook of seduction and sex for men and women. Ovid’s third wife remained loyal to him but he would not see her or his homeland again. He died eight years later in exile.

Ovid life is defined in three sections by scholars. But it was the middle period that was most noticed because of the release of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Considered a masterpiece, Metamorphoses reveals Ovid’s intelligent and sense of humor into a series of tales from Greek mythology. He changes strategies throughout the epic, leaving the reader with a sense of unexpected twist and turns. He tells stories within stories and Ovid follows characters from one story line to another as well as the friend or relative of the character. But Ovid made sure to keep the consistency of the metamorphosis theme so the reader will understand the epic is not just random collection of stories. Ovid is also deliberate with the progression of time throughout the epic. His poem starts with the flood and continues until the day of Augustus on the throne. However chronology is less important in light of the Ovid’s bold writing style dealing with changes and lewdness of his own perceptions of Roman society which are also reflected in his other writings of this period.

File:Http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:tDJv0ErWfzMJ:www.ncf.ca/~ek867/intotrees ovid.jpg.jpg

Works Cited

"The Life and Work of Ovid". The Metamorphoses of Ovid eNotes. 17 April. 2005 <http://www.enotes.com/metamorphoses-ovid/