Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BCE–18 CE,) better known as Ovid, was a Roman poet and mythographer. He is considered one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature along with Virgil and Horace.
Ovid is best known for his 15-book epic narrative poem Metamorphoses (Transformations,) one of the pivotal works of Western literature, and the erotic elegy Ars Amatoria (“The Art of Love.”)
Ovid was born in Sulmo, 90 miles east of Rome. His father sent him to Rome to study rhetoric. However, Ovid chose to be a poet rather than an orator or a lawyer. He burst into the Roman literary scene after publishing Ars Amatoria, poems about amorous dalliances.
Ovid then started writing the Metamorphoses, a 12,000-line seriocomic poem that spans the mythological history from creation to the assassination and apotheosis of Julius Caesar. This anthology of Greek and Roman myths and legends showcased Ovid’s wit, invention, and the expressive power of his poetry.
As Ovid was finishing Metamorphoses, he was banished from Rome possibly because his erotic poetry was judged offensive in the context of the austere, old Roman values that Emperor Augustus was determined to revive. Or Ovid was probably blamed as an unwitting accomplice for corrupting the emperor’s granddaughter, who was also exiled at the same time for having an affair with a Roman Senator.
Ovid moved to Tomis, the ancient but far-flung Black Sea commune, now the Romanian port city of Constanța. Ovid remained there until his death a decade later. In exile, Ovid composed a series of poems, Tristia (The Sorrows,) intended to gain his way back into the good graces of the Augustus, and his successor Tiberius, but to no avail.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
The mind grows sicker than the body in contemplation of it’s suffering.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Suffering
The glow of inspiration warms us; it is a holy rapture.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Acceptance, Realistic Expectations, Pleasure, Worry, Anxiety
Had I not sinned what would there be for you to pardon. My fate has given you the opportunity for mercy.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Sin
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Chance is always powerful. – Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
What is now reason was formerly impulse or instinct.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Quarrels are the dowry which married folk bring one another.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Marriage
Those gifts are ever the most acceptable
that are made precious by the giver.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Burdens become light when cheerfully borne.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Always have your hook baited, in the pool you least think, there will be a fish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Opportunity
Fortune and love befriend the bold.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Time
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