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)
There is something in omens.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Magic
Envy aims very high.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Envy
Bear patiently with a rival.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Enemy, Enemies
Medicine sometimes snatches away health, sometimes gives it.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Medicine, Health
Few love what they may have.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Appreciation, Gratitude, Blessings
Novelty in all things is charming.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Charm
Majesty and love do not consort well together, nor do they dwell in the same place.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Kings, Royalty, Queens
Venus favors the bold.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Boldness
The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Ancestry, Ancestors, Family, One liners
Minds that are ill at ease are agitated by both hope and fear.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Everyone’s a millionaire where promises are concerned.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Promises
Happy is he who dares courageously to defend what he loves.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Love, Risk
People are slow to believe that, which if believed would work them harm.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Belief
How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Children
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
I attempt an arduous task; but there is no worth in that which is not a difficult achievement.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Achievement, Success & Failure
Dignity and love do not blend well, nor do they continue long together.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Dignity
‘Tis best to be silent in a bad cause.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Silence
Idleness ruins the constitution
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Idleness
What is now reason was formerly impulse or instinct.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Reason
If you would marry suitably, marry your equal.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Marriage
Time is generally the best doctor.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: One liners, Doctors, Medicine
The mind grows sicker than the body in contemplation of it’s suffering.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Suffering
Make the workmanship surpass the materials.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Quality, Business
Keep a mid course between two extremes.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Moderation
Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Night
Whether they give or refuse, it delights women just the same to have been asked.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Women
All things change, nothing perishes.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Change
There is a deity within us who breathes that divine fire by which we are animated.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Inspiration
A short absence is safest
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)
Topics: Absence
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