Ovid’s Poems of Exile

Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid, was born on March 21, 43 BC in Sulmo, now Sulmona, Italy, to a notable equestrian family. He was educated in rhetoric in Rome, initially pursuing a career in law and public service. Ovid held minor public posts but, against the wishes of his father, abandoned these positions to focus on poetic composition.

Ovid’s literary career commenced around 25 BC. His early works, notably the “Heroides,” presented the complaints of mythological heroines in epistolary form. He gained fame with his “Amores,” a collection of love elegies. Other significant works include “Ars Amatoria,” or “the Art of Love”, and his masterpiece the “Metamorphoses,” a 15-book re-telling of Greek and Roman myths involving physical transformations, which remains a crucial source of classical mythology.

In 8AD, the emperor Augustus exiled Ovid to Tomis (present-day Constanța, Romania) for reasons Ovid tantalisingly described as a “poem and an error.” The exact cause of this exile remains a topic of much scholarly debate. In exile, he wrote “Tristia” and “Epistulae ex Ponto,” poems expressing his desolation during exile, and his longing for Rome.

Ovid died at Tomis in 17 or 18AD. The “Fasti”, an unfinished Roman calendar in poetic form, covering only half of the Roman year, which he spent much time revising, is believed to have been published posthumously.

His influence on Western art and literature, particularly Renaissance poetry and drama, has been profound, inspiring numerous adaptations and interpretations. His innovative and witty writing style has ensured he remains a central figure in Latin literary studies.

More by this author