OVID

born March 20, 43 BC, Sulmo, Roman Empire [now Sulmona, Italy] died AD 17, , Tomis, Moesia [now Constanta, Rom.] Latin in full Publius Ovidius Naso Roman poet noted especially for his Ars amatoria and Metamorphoses. His verse had immense influence both by its imaginative interpretations of classical myth and as an example of supreme technical accomplishment. Additional reading The best general studies are L.P. Wilkinson, Ovid Recalled (1955), available also in an abridged version, Ovid Surveyed (1962); and Hermann Frnkel, Ovid: A Poet Between Two Worlds (1945, reissued 1969). John C. Thibault, The Mystery of Ovid's Exile (1964), surveys the scholarship concerning Ovid's banishment. Ronald Syme, History in Ovid (1978), relates the poet to the major political figures of his time. Critical studies include, on the Heroides, Howard Jacobson, Ovid's Heroides (1974); on the Ass, Molly Myerowitz, Ovid's Games of Love (1985); on the Metamorphoses, Brooks Otis, Ovid As an Epic Poet, 2nd ed. (1970); G. Karl Galinsky, Ovid's Metamorphoses: An Introduction to the Basic Aspects (1975); and Joseph B. Solodow, The World of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1988); and Harry B. Evans, Publica Carmina: Ovid's Books from Exile (1983), on the Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto. Charles Martindale (ed.), Ovid Renewed (1988), studies Ovid's later influence, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.