Transcript Ovid’s Art of Love (Ars amatoria)

Ovid’s Art
of Love (Ars
amatoria)
Marine Venus – Pompeii, 1st cent. CE
Ideology, Poetry,
Empire
Ovid
Agenda
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Recap & Update
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Ovid’s Ars
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Virtus romana, matrimonium, lex
Background, Structure, Theme
Discussion

What Would Ovid Say?
Recap & Update
Virtus romana, matrimonium, lex
Virtus romana, matrimonium, lex
mos maiorum (“way of the
ancestors”)
and virtus romana
 matrimonial ideology
 The Augustan legislation
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lex iulia et papia
lex iulia de adulteriis
coercendis
Augustus
The Augustan Legislation
Lex iulia et papia
 18 BCE, 9 CE
 Sanctions on marriage
between members of the
ordo senatorius and
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lex iulia de adulteriis
coercendis
 18 BCE
 to Repress adultery
Freedpersons
Infames
Criminals
Adulterers
7/16/2015
5
Ovid’s Ars
Background, Structure, Theme
Bio-Historical Background
reign of Augustus
Death of Caesar
Cato censor
Catullus
184 BCE
ca. 60 BCE
accession
41 BCE
27 BCE
Sulpicia
Ovid (43 BCE–17/18 CE, banished 8 CE)
Art of Love, ca. 2 BCE-2CE
marriage
legislation
18 BCE
9 CE
death
14 CE
Structure
BOOK 1-A
 BOOK 2
“First … comes the task
“Thirdly, ensure that
of finding an object for
the affair will last” (p.
167)
your love” (p. 167)
 BOOK 3
 BOOK 1-B
“Now I must fashion
“Next, you must labor
weapons for
to woo and win your
Penthesilea and her
lady” (p. 167)
girls” (p. 214)
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Selected Themes, Issues
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Lascivi amores
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“wanton passions”
“Safe love, legitimate liaisons”
(p. 167)
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venerem tutam concessaque furta
…, / nullum … crimen
Masculinity
 “Cybele’s Votaries”
 Guilty Menelaus (p. 203)
Mos maiorum
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On Cosmetics: “Young girls didn’t
cultivate their persons in the old
days. … Let others worship the
past; I much prefer the present”
(bk3, p. 217)
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Feminine treachery
 Pasiphae et al.
Erotic asymmetry, violence
 Rape of the Sabine Women
 “It’s all right to use force…”
Adultery (?)
 “to please your lady’s
escort” (viro placuisse
puellae) (p. 184)
 “Husbands allow this
latitude to lawful wives…”
(p. 207)
Discussion
What Would Ovid Say?
What Would Ovid Say?