Editing Ovid (section)

==Life==
Ovid wrote more about his own life than most other Roman poets. Information about his biography is drawn primarily from his poetry, especially ''Tristia'' 4.10,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Conte |first=Gian Biagio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJGp_dkXnuUC |title=Latin Literature: A History |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1987 |pages=340|isbn=9780801862533 }}</ref> which gives a lengthy autobiographical account of his life. Other sources include [[Seneca the Elder]] and [[Quintilian]].

===Birth, early life, and marriage===
[[Image:Sulmona0001.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Statue of Ovid by [[Ettore Ferrari]] in the Piazza XX Settembre, [[Sulmona]], Italy]]
Ovid was born in the [[Paeligni]]an town of [[Sulmo]] (modern-day [[Sulmona]], in the [[province of L'Aquila]], Abruzzo), in an [[Apennine Mountains|Apennine]] valley east of [[Rome]], to an important [[Equestrian (Roman)|equestrian]] family, the [[Ovidia gens|''gens Ovidia'']], on 20 March 43 BC – a significant year in Roman politics.{{Efn|It was a pivotal year in the [[history of Rome]]. A year before Ovid's birth, the murder of [[Julius Caesar]] took place, an event that precipitated the end of the [[Republican Rome|republican]] regime. After Caesar's death, a series of civil wars and alliances followed (See [[Roman civil wars]]), until the victory of Caesar's nephew, Octavius (later called [[Augustus]]) over [[Mark Antony]] (leading supporter of Caesar), from which arose a new political order.<ref>{{in lang|pt}} ''Met.'', Ovid, translation to [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] by Paulo Farmhouse Alberto, Livros Cotovia, Intro, p. 11.</ref>}}<ref name=parised>{{cite book|title=Metamorphoseon|last=Ovid|editor=J. Juvencius & M.A. Amar|location=Paris|date=1800|quote=[Preface] P. Ovidius Naso A.D. XII Kalend. April [21 March] Sulmone in Pelignis natus est, quo anno ... P. Hirtius et C. Pansa Coss. [43&nbsp;BC]
}}</ref> Along with his brother, who excelled at oratory, Ovid was educated in rhetoric in Rome under the teachers [[Arellius Fuscus]] and [[Porcius Latro]].<ref>Seneca, ''Cont.'' 2.2.8 and 9.5.17</ref>

His father wanted him to study [[rhetoric]] so that he might practice law. According to Seneca the Elder, Ovid tended to the emotional, not the argumentative pole of rhetoric. Following the death of his brother at 20 years of age, Ovid renounced law and travelled to [[Athens, Greece|Athens]], [[Asia Minor]], and [[Sicily]].<ref>''Trist.'' 1.2.77</ref> He held minor public posts, as one of the ''[[Triumviri#Roman triumvirates|tresviri capitales]]'',<ref>''Trist.'' 4.10.33–34</ref> as a member of the [[Centumviral court]]<ref>''Trist.'' 2.93ff.; ''Ex P.'' 5.23ff.</ref> and as one of the ''[[Decemviri#Decemviri Litibus Iudicandis|decemviri litibus iudicandis]]'',<ref>''Fast.'' 4.383–34</ref> but resigned to pursue poetry probably around 29–25 BC, a decision of which his father apparently disapproved.<ref>''Trist.'' 4.10.21</ref>

Ovid's first recitation has been dated to around 25 BC, when he was eighteen.<ref>''Trist.'' 4.10.57–58</ref> He was part of the circle centered on the esteemed patron [[Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus]], and likewise seems to have been a friend of poets in the circle of [[Gaius Maecenas|Maecenas]]. In ''Tristia'' 4.10.41–54, Ovid mentions friendships with Macer, [[Sextus Propertius|Propertius]], Ponticus and Bassus, and claims to have heard [[Horace]] recite. He only barely met [[Virgil]] and [[Tibullus]], a fellow member of Messalla's circle, whose elegies he admired greatly.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Peter |title=Ovid: The Erotic Poems, Translated With An Introduction And Notes |date=1982 |publisher=Penguin Books, Ltd |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-044360-6 |page=32}}</ref> 

He married three times and had divorced twice by the time he was thirty. He had one daughter and grandchildren through her.<ref name="HornblowerSpawforth2014">{{cite book|last1=Hornblower|first1=Simon|last2=Spawforth|first2=Antony|last3=Eidinow|first3=Esther|title=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIgdBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198706779|page=562|access-date=27 December 2015|archive-date=23 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123103142/https://books.google.com/books?id=AIgdBAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> His last wife was connected in some way to the influential ''[[gens Fabia]]'' and helped him during his exile in Tomis (now [[Constanța]] in Romania).<ref>''Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World'' s.v. Ovid</ref>

===Literary success===
Ovid spent the first 25 years of his literary career primarily writing poetry in [[Elegiac|elegiac meter]] with erotic themes.<ref>The most recent chart that describes the dating of Ovid's works is in Knox. P. "A Poet's Life" in ''A Companion to Ovid'' ed. Peter Knox (Oxford, 2009) pp. xvii–xviii</ref> The chronology of these early works is not secure, but scholars have established tentative dates. His earliest extant work is thought to be the ''Heroides'', letters of mythological heroines to their absent lovers, which may have been published in 19 BC, although the date is uncertain as it depends on a notice in ''Am.'' 2.18.19–26 that seems to describe the collection as an early published work.<ref name="Trist. 4.10.53–4">''Trist.'' 4.10.53–54</ref>

The authenticity of some of these poems has been challenged, but this first edition probably contained the first 14 poems of the collection. The first five-book collection of the ''[[Amores (Ovid)|Amores]]'', a series of erotic poems addressed to a lover, Corinna, is thought to have been published in 16–15 BC; the surviving version, redacted to three books according to an epigram prefixed to the first book, is thought to have been published {{circa|8}}–3 BC. Between the publications of the two editions of the ''Amores'' can be dated the premiere of his tragedy ''Medea'', which was admired in antiquity but is no longer extant.

Ovid's next poem, the ''Medicamina Faciei'' (a fragmentary work on women's beauty treatments), preceded the {{Lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} (the ''Art of Love''), a parody of [[didactic poetry]] and a three-book manual about seduction and intrigue, which has been dated to AD 2 (Books 1–2 would go back to 1 BC<ref>{{cite book | last = Hornblower | first = Simon |author2=Antony Spawforth | title = Oxford Classical Dictionary | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1996 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/1085 1085] | isbn = 978-0-19-866172-6 | url =https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726| url-access = registration }}</ref>). Ovid may identify this work in his exile poetry as the ''carmen'', or song, which was one cause of his banishment. The {{Lang|la|Ars Amatoria}} was followed by the ''Remedia Amoris'' in the same year. This corpus of elegiac, erotic poetry earned Ovid a place among the chief Roman elegists Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius, of whom he saw himself as the fourth member.<ref name="Trist. 4.10.53–4"/>

By AD 8, Ovid had completed ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', a hexameter [[epic poem]] in 15 books, which comprehensively catalogs the metamorphoses in Greek and Roman mythology, from the emergence of the cosmos to the [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|apotheosis]] of [[Julius Caesar]]. The stories follow each other in the telling of human beings transformed to new bodies: trees, rocks, animals, flowers, [[constellation]]s, etc. Simultaneously, he worked on the ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'', a six-book poem in elegiac couplets on the theme of the calendar of [[Roman festivals]] and astronomy. The composition of this poem was interrupted by Ovid's exile,{{Efn|''Fasti'' is, in fact, unfinished. ''Metamorphoses'' was already completed in the year of exile, missing only the final revision.<ref>Carlos de Miguel Moura. ''O mistério do exílio ovidiano''. In Portuguese. In: ''Àgora. Estudos Clássicos em Debate 4'' (2002), pp. 99–117.</ref> In exile, Ovid said he never gave a final review on the poem.<ref>''Tristia'' 1, 7, 14.</ref>}} and it is thought that Ovid abandoned work on the piece in Tomis. It is probably in this period that the double letters (16–21) in the ''Heroides'' were composed, although there is some contention over their authorship.

===Exile to Tomis===
{{Main|Exile of Ovid}}
In AD 8, Ovid was banished to [[Constanța|Tomis]], on the [[Black Sea]], by the exclusive intervention of the Emperor [[Augustus]] without any participation of the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] or of any [[Roman law|Roman judge]].<ref>See ''Trist''. II, 131–32.</ref> This event shaped all his following poetry. Ovid wrote that the reason for his exile was ''carmen et error'' – "a poem and a mistake",<ref>Ovid, ''Tristia'' 2.207</ref> claiming that his crime was worse than murder,<ref>Ovid, ''Epistulae ex Ponto'' 2.9.72</ref> more harmful than poetry.<ref>Ovid, ''Epistulae ex Ponto'' 3.3.72</ref>

The Emperor's grandchildren, [[Julia the Younger]] and [[Agrippa Postumus]] (the latter adopted by him), were also banished around the same time. Julia's husband, [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 1)|Lucius Aemilius Paullus]], was put to death for a [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] against [[Augustus]], a conspiracy of which Ovid potentially knew.<ref>Norwood, Frances, "The Riddle of Ovid's Relegatio", ''Classical Philology'' (1963) p. 158</ref>

The [[Lex Julia|Julian marriage laws of 18 BC]], which promoted [[monogamy|monogamous]] marriage to increase the population's birth rate, were fresh in the Roman mind. Ovid's writing in the {{Lang|la|Ars Amatoria}} concerned the serious crime of [[adultery]]. He may have been banished for these works, which appeared subversive to the emperor's moral legislation. However, in view of the long time that elapsed between the publication of this work (1 BC) and the exile (AD 8), some authors suggest that [[Augustus]] used the poem as a mere justification for something more personal.<ref name="José González Vázquez 1992 p.10">José González Vázquez (trans.), Ov. ''Tristes e Pónticas'' (Editorial Gredos, Madrid, 1992), p. 10 and Rafael Herrera Montero (trans.), Ov. ''Tristes; Cartas del Ponto'' (Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 2002). The scholars also add that it was no more indecent than many publications by [[Propertius]], [[Tibullus]] and [[Horace]] that circulated freely in that time.</ref>

[[Image:Turner Ovid Banished from Rome.jpg|thumb|280px| ''Ovid Banished from Rome'' (1838), by [[J. M. W. Turner|J.M.W. Turner]]]]
In exile, Ovid wrote two poetry collections, ''[[Tristia]]'' and ''[[Epistulae ex Ponto]]'', which illustrated his sadness and desolation. Being far from Rome, he had no access to libraries, and thus might have been forced to abandon his ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'', a poem about the Roman calendar, of which only the first six books exist – January through June. He learned [[Scythian languages|Sarmatian and Getic]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bakay |first=Kornél |url=https://mek.oszk.hu/21600/21619/21619.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918144532/https://mek.oszk.hu/21600/21619/21619.pdf |archive-date=18 September 2021 |url-status=live |title=Kik vagyunk? Honnan jöttünk? |publisher=Püski Kiadó |year=2004 |isbn=963-9906-45-X |page=13 |language=hu |trans-title=Who are we? Where did we come from?}}</ref>

The five books of the elegiac ''Tristia'', a series of poems expressing the poet's despair in exile and advocating his return to Rome, are dated to AD 9–12. The ''Ibis'', an elegiac curse poem attacking an unnamed adversary, may also be dated to this period. The ''[[Epistulae ex Ponto]]'', a series of letters to friends in Rome asking them to effect his return, are thought to be his last compositions, with the first three books published in AD 13 and the fourth book between AD 14 and 16. The exile poetry is particularly emotive and personal. In the ''Epistulae'' he claims friendship with the natives of Tomis (in the ''Tristia'' they are frightening barbarians) and to have written a poem in their language (''Ex Ponto'', 4.13.19–20).

Yet he pined for Rome – and for his third wife, addressing many poems to her. Some are also to the Emperor Augustus, yet others are to himself, to friends in Rome, and sometimes to the poems themselves, expressing loneliness and hope of recall from banishment or exile.<ref>The first two lines of the ''Tristia'' communicate his misery: {{lang|la|Parve – nec invideo – sine me, liber, ibis in urbem; ei mihi, quod domino non licet ire tuo!}}: "Little book – for I don't begrudge it – go on to the city without me; Alas for me, because your master is not allowed to go with you!"</ref>

The obscure causes of Ovid's exile have given rise to much speculation by scholars. The medieval texts that mention the exile offer no credible explanations: their statements seem incorrect interpretations drawn from the works of Ovid.<ref>J. C. Thibault, ''The Mystery of Ovid's Exile'' (Berkeley-L. A. 1964), pp. 20–32.</ref> Ovid himself wrote many references to his offense, giving obscure or contradictory clues.<ref>About 33 mentions, according to Thibault (''Mystery'', pp. 27–31).</ref>

In 1923, scholar J. J. Hartman proposed a theory that is little considered among scholars of Latin civilization today: that Ovid was never exiled from Rome and that all of his exile works are the result of his fertile imagination. This theory was supported and rejected{{clarify|date=October 2013}} in the 1930s, especially by Dutch authors.<ref>A. W. J. Holleman, "Ovid's exile", ''Liverpool Classical Monthly'' 10.3 (1985), p. 48.<br />H. Hofmann, "The unreality of Ovid's Tomitan exile once again", ''Liverpool Classical Monthly'' 12.2 (1987), p. 23.</ref>

In 1985, a research paper by Fitton Brown advanced new arguments in support of Hartman's theory.<ref>A. D. F. Brown, "The unreality of Ovid's Tomitan exile", ''Liverpool Classical Monthly'' 10.2 (1985), pp. 18–22.</ref> Brown's article was followed by a series of supports and refutations in the short space of five years.<ref>Cf. the summary provided by A. Alvar Ezquerra, ''Exilio y elegía latina entre la Antigüedad y el Renacimiento'' (Huelva, 1997), pp. 23–24</ref> Among the supporting reasons Brown presents are: Ovid's exile is only mentioned by his own work, except in "dubious" passages by [[Pliny the Elder]]<ref>''Naturalis Historia'', 32.152: "His adiciemus ab Ovidio posita animalia, quae apud neminem alium reperiuntur, sed fortassis in Ponto nascentia, ubi id volumen supremis suis temporibus inchoavit".</ref> and [[Statius]],<ref>''Silvae'', 1.2, 254–55: "nec tristis in ipsis Naso Tomis".</ref> but no other author until the 4th century;<ref>Short references in Jerome (''Chronicon'', 2033, an. Tiberii 4, an. Dom. 17: "Ovidius poeta in exilio diem obiit et iuxta oppidum Tomos sepelitur") and in ''Epitome de Caesaribus'' (I, 24: "Nam [Augustus] poetam Ovidium, qui et Naso, pro eo, quod tres libellos amatoriae artis conscripsit, exilio damnavit").</ref> that the author of ''[[Heroides]]'' was able to separate the poetic "I" of his own and real life; and that information on the geography of Tomis was already known by [[Virgil]], by [[Herodotus]] and by Ovid himself in his ''[[Metamorphoses]]''.{{Efn|Ovid cites [[Scythia]] in I 64, II 224, V 649, VII 407, VIII 788, XV 285, 359, 460, and others.}}<ref>A. D. F. Brown, "The unreality of Ovid's Tomitan exile", ''Liverpool Classical Monthly'' 10.2 (1985), pp. 20–21.</ref>

Most scholars, however, oppose these hypotheses.<ref>J. M. Claassen, "Error and the imperial household: an angry god and the exiled Ovid's fate", ''Acta classica: proceedings of the Classical Association of South Africa'' 30 (1987), pp. 31–47.</ref> One of the main arguments of these scholars is that Ovid would not let his ''Fasti'' remain unfinished, mainly because this poem meant his consecration as an imperial poet.<ref>Although some authors such as Martin (P. M. Martin, "À propos de l'exil d'Ovide... et de la succession d'Auguste", ''Latomus'' 45 (1986), pp. 609–11.) and Porte (D. Porte, "Un épisode satirique des ''Fastes'' et l'exil d'Ovide", ''Latomus'' 43 (1984), pp. 284–306.) detected in a passage of the ''Fasti'' (2.371–80) an Ovidian attitude contrary to the wishes of [[Augustus]] to his succession, most researchers agree that this work is the clearest testimony of support of Augustan ideals by Ovid (E. Fantham, ''Ovid: Fasti. Book IV'' (Cambridge 1998), p. 42.)</ref>

===Death===
Ovid died at Tomis in AD 17 or 18.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=16zxAgAAQBAJ&q=Ancient+Rome:+An+Anthology+of+Sources|title=Ancient Rome: An Anthology of Sources|last=Smith|first=R. Scott|date=15 March 2014|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=978-1624661167|language=en}}</ref> It is thought that the ''Fasti'', which he spent time revising, were published posthumously.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yPUDE65WEMoC&q=ovid%20fasti%20published%20posthumously&pg=PA22|title=Ovid, Fasti 1: A Commentary|last=Green|first=Steven J.|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004139855|pages=22|language=en}}</ref>