Ovid

The social and poetic context including the genre of the work, use of didactic style

-Augustus ruled Rome as the first emperor from 27BC to AD 14

>great boom in Latin poetry: Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid

-Ovid tended to push the boundaries of Augustus’ moral ruling

>The clear flaunting of Augustus’ Julian laws in Ovid’s writing could well have contributed to his exile (May)

-published several books of elegy

-Didactic poems aim to teach their audience about some aspect of life and the themes can vary vividly

>The traditional poetic metre for didactic poetry was dactylic hexameters and the books tended to be short (around 800 lines), although there could be multiple books in one poetic collection

>Poetry was considered a display of skill, and therefore to teach using poetry seemed like the ultimate form of instruction

-there were ancient ‘sex manuals’ in prose

>Roman New Comedy would usually consist of a scene in which an older female brothel owner would instruct her young disciple in the ways of love.

>Ovid therefore had literary precedents for his erotic didactic work

-Ovid does create something innovative and new in his Ars Amatoria – the poem itself is written in elegiac couplets

>contrasts comically the actual content

 

 

use of themes and motifs 

(venus, war, youth, catalogues)

The role of Venus

-Uses Venus in the poem acts as a reason for writing the book.

-He claims a divine order for his book but does not suggest divine inspiration - the words come from him

>Ovid feels free to educate women in the techniques of seduction without fear of recrimination from angry men

Love and war

-He treats love as a war between men and women

o   ‘For armed men to battle with naked girls’

>Ovid is mixing the theme of seduction up with the theme of warfare expertly

Youth versus old age

-Ovid paints a vivid picture of youth and the joys that are to be had when a woman is young

-Also suggests that an old age for a woman is the end of her sexual life and the end of her joys (unlike men)

>Creates a threatening image of old age hanging over every young woman

>Using the argument of old age to convince his pupils that they must search for lovers whilst they are young

>Perhaps humorous as well as convincing

Catalogues

-Uses catalogues to teach his pupils quickly about the variation available to them

>Used to inject fun into the instruction and to show off the knowledge that Ovid has as a teacher.

>The list hardly becomes tedious because of Ovid’s constant littering of mythical allusions and humour

>Variation in style themselves

 

use of mythology

-He assumes good knowledge of mythology

>they are established as foundational in the first few lines

>Eg talks of heroines who wronged their husbands, heroines renowned for their loyalty, women wronged by their husbands

-They provide evidence for the universality of his messages

-They are an opportuninty to show off his poetic flare

Eg though the message of the story of Cephalus and Procris (P assumes her husband is having an affair, misunderstanding he was referring to the wind, and realising her mistake runs to him but he shoots her in confusion) the focus is on the beauty of the language (which evokes pity in turn)

- The most densely packed sections are catalogues (eg 1-43) or didactic stories (eg Cephalus and Procris)

-They often lead to humour as he uses the references unconvenrionally

Eg he uses Medea as an example of a wronged woman, which is comical as this goes against her usual portrayal as murderous))

Eg the reference to Dido as a wronged woman invites comparison between him and Virgil (even beginning his poem with ‘’weapons’’ as Virgil did) and instructing his audience on how to avoid mistreatment even from a pious man

Eg Andomache is used to emphasise how boring the unhappy women of myth are, though she's typically thought of as an emblem for female conduct, whilst putting Tecmessa (Ajax’s captured concubine) as her equivalent, reversing the ideas of a good bride, and comically ignoring that both women have good cause for unhappiness

 

use of humour

·       The subject matter is inherently funny considering the political climate which condemned his raunchy subject matter which was taboo post Augustinian legislation

·       He uses many puns- often difficult to translate- eg myrtle used as a euphemism for female genitalia (53-54, he delays the explanation that this is a gift of literal myrtle)

• marriage

-Augustus’ moral legislation was strict on the issue of sex outside of marriage (adultery limited to infames)

-Ovid includes a performative disclaimer that his advice is directed at those without modesty (but he later provides advice on avoiding a husband, and Ovid has no way to restrict the reading of his poem to freedwomen)

• love and desire

-Love is a skill that can be taught through the didactic poem

>He portrays Venus as viewing love as warfare 45-46 referencing ‘unarmed crowds’

- Love being presented as a contest motivates both to try

-Desire is shown to be an important aspect of love and useful to string men along

>eg 309-10 ‘I want to kiss your shoulder’ when seeing it bare, Ovid here enters his narrative and reveals his personal desire showing the power of desire

• men and women

-Men and women are portrayed as at war, with Ovid ‘betray[ing]’ men

>He is often misogynistic despite these claims, claiming to teach women whilst its for men’s benefit

Eg speaking poorly of women aging, often treating women as prostitutes (eg getting gifts is equivalent to money)

-Hard to believe his disclaimers against prostituting them

• sex

-               He catalogues sexual positions

-               The act of sex is described as pleasurable for men and women- if there was no enjoyment for women why would they pursue sex

-               He reverts to unflattering comments for the girls on keeping her body ‘concealed’ (805-808) , a bathetic end which undermines his serous teachings

• society and values

-               His references to adultery and seduction are against the establishment

-               The mockery of the status quo and playful disclaimers suggests Ovid is daring (though this clearly changed by his exile)

-               Ovid presets Rome as a wonderful place for men and women to spend their time (eg though women cant participate in sport they could enjoy finding a man, as he claims Augustus’ relatives would do0

Ovid’s biography

-        Born in Sulmo in Italy (Sulmona) 43BC, to a father of the equestrian order (equites)

-        Augustus marked Ovid and his older brother as future senators early in his reign

o   Ovid’s brother died at 20, Ovid himself chose instead to be a poet

-        Wrote poetry from around 25BC (18 years old) till his death in AD 17 or 18

-        Moved to Rome around 28BC

-        Was married three times, the first two being short, the second giving him a daughter and the third lasting the rest of his life

-        Exiled to Tomis (Constanta in Romania) in 8AD for ‘a poem and a mistake’

o   Poem assumed to be Ars Amatoria, but debated

o   Ovid hints the mistake was a personal affront to Augustus, but not so much as murder or treason

-        Spent his years in exile writing letters to close friends and important people (including Augustus) begging to be aided in returning to Rome and be pardoned

-        He was never pardoned, and died in Tomis sad and alone

The purpose and intended audience of his poetry

-        He published Ars Amatoria between 2BC and 2AD

-        It consists of three books, and is often seen to go with Remedia Amores (The Cures for Love), published at a similar time

-        Ovid is instructing his readers, ‘pupils’, on the topic of love

o   For Ovid, love is not necessarily romantic, rather the seduction of the person you desire and the physical acts which follow

-        Ovid doesn’t tell his readers what to do after how to bed a lover, and what to do in bed

o   better to think of it as The Art of Seduction

-        To Ovid, love is a game to be played: the seduction of a lover is the ultimate prize

-        He presents his book as a manual of how to attain mastery at the game of love

-        The first two books instruct men on how to seduce women

-        The third book from the start is clearly instructing women

o   ‘I’ve given the Greeks arms, against Amazons: arms remain,/ to give to you Penthesilea, and your Amazon troop.’ – the Greeks are men, and the Amazons are women – Ovid is aiding both sides of the war

o   Ovid references his previous books, and sets the tone for his new one

-        Ovid always addresses his readers as ‘girls’, suggesting he intends to teach young women

-        Ovid should only be talking to unmarried girls of a low social status

o   ‘But since, though you lack the marriage ribbons,/ it’s your concern to deceive your lovers…’

o   Ovid is talking to infames, but they likely were not trained in reading Latin poetry

o   At this time, women would not have been encouraged to explore this guide to seduction

-        At several points Ovid offers girls as a source of humour for the reader – it is unusual to have an addressee as the butt of a joke in didactic poetry, as it undermines the teacher-pupil relationship

o   ‘The crowd come to be taught, girls pretty and plain:/ and always the greater part are not-so-good’

o   By suggesting most of the girls are ‘not-so-good’, he makes his pupils a laughing stock, implying his poetry is not just for his addressees

-        He also mixes in advice which benefits men

o   ‘O mortal girls go to the goddesses for your examples,/ and don’t deny your delights to loving men’

o   This suggests women should give into men’s lusts, which benefits men more than women

o   Shows that Ovid is writing for an eavesdropping male audience

-        If Ovid is writing for a male audience as well as female, the poem becomes a parody of didactic

o   However, there is still serious advice to women in the poem

-        He complains he is creating problems for himself in teaching women the subtleties of love

o   ‘no doubt I’ll be attacked with my own weapons’

o   ‘What am I talking of, madman? Why shoe a naked front/ to the enemy, and betray myself on my own evidence?’

o   Ovid claims to be undoing the work he did in the first two books, but perhaps this is just what the female audience want to believe

Green on women

‘women in their natural, unmasked state, are fundametally not just uncivilised but actively disgusting’

Sharrock Ovid on women

gives space to a female voice

Gibson on Ovid and Prostitiutes

this directly contravenes the spiirit of moral reform from Lex Iulia

>prostitutes usually associated with certain colours— Ovid insists that they should chose a belt based on complexion, breaking down the distinction

Gibson on sex and seduction

PTOSIOOTCS

pleasing the opposite sex is one of the central skills to the art of love

Verstraete on sex

sexual pleasure must be equally enhoyed

James on desire (critic)
MCWSAGPTGSF

'more concerned with sex and game playing than genuine shared feeling

May on the book’s purpose

a guidbook to seduction

Sharrock on sex

SISUAAATAAC

sex is set up as an alternative to an Augustan citizenship

Epicurus on sex

sex stimulates the desire for more sex and is never fulfilling

Its time to teach your girls Part 1

SUMMARY

-Greeks represent men, Amazons represent women
-He is mocking typical didactic poetry which would anger Augustus
-Depicts love as a game
-His advice goes against Augustan laws but he claims Venus ordered him to teach women.
-'Have fun while it's allowed’

KEY POINTS

-First word is ‘arma’ as in the Aeneid

>draws comparisons to epic- parody

-Women are equated to the ‘Amazon troop’

‘it is not fair for armed men to fight naked girls’

>though the sentiment claims he is supporting women the image is voyeuristic for male pleasure

-Uses a mythological framework to explain the diversity of women

>Helen+Clytemnestra (immoral and murderous) v Penelope+Laodameia (univira and loyal)

-Provides examples of when men cheat

>comic example of Medea (shes ‘already a mother’ but she will kill her sons- not sympathetic)

>reference to Dido + Aeneas (Augustus had been using him as the proto-roman, Ovid controversially presents him as a faithless lover)

>claims ‘their art was lacking’ (the book can help)

-Claims to be inspired by Venus (his advice comes from experiance)

>she gave him ‘a few myrtle’ euphemisim for female genetalia, suggests that he had sex with her (bold)

-Provides a disclaimer to satisfy the moralist reigime ‘that modesty, principles and your rules allow’

-’Have fun’ ‘while your years are in their prime’ they ‘go by like flowing waters’

>emphasises the importance of youth for beauty which should be shared

>women cant shed their skin like snakes (natural comparison to emphasise point)

-Unreassuringly claims he isnt encouraging prostitution and they should have sex for free

>refs mortal men who had sex with goddesses- mortals should too!!

Take Care with How You Look Part 2

SUMMAEY

-Ovid claims that 'Rome is now golden' implying that Augustus has made Rome less moral. Can be perceived as slanderous toward Augustus.
-Uses ship metaphor (continuous for both the poem and as a euphemism)

KEY POINTS

-Return to continuous metaphor of the poem as a boat (its about to launch)

-Compares girls to crops which must be cultivated

-’A large number of you lack such gifts’ mocks his audience

-Compares modern and mythical women

>’they had no cultivated men in those days’ so it was more lax

>others may miss the ancient times but he delights in the modern day, not because of Augustinian achievements which he dismisses (gold that has been mind or marble for statues) inverting usual view of moral decline as he praises the urbane cultured girls

-Meden agan- dont adorne yourself too much

>subverts expectations as he agrees with Augustinian standards, but he encourages it for making them more attractive rather than humbleness

>’you too shouldnt weight your ears with costly stones’

Taste and Elegance in Hair and Dress Part 3

SUMMARY

-Hairstyle tips, teaching which head shapes suit which hair styles (useful/genuine advice?)
-Uses mythological references yet these would be aimed at educated people despite him supposedly writing for disrespected women. He also refers to them like a goddess which is contradictory.
-Modern relatability

KEY POINTS

-He leans into the greek saying ‘know thyself’

>’there isn’t only one style: choose what suits each one’

-Genuine advice

>comedy in that catalogues are typically used for ships/epic things, but here it is of hairstyles

-He compares fashion to nature and for hyperbole

>’’but you’ll no more number the acorns’

Make-Up, but in Private Part 4

SUMMARY

-Compares women to a wild goat
-Uses Recusatio meaning that he boasts while remaining humble (mentions beauty standards by saying he's not going to mention them)
-Tells women to make up alone and hide from their lovers, opposite to Seneca's openness with Paulina
-Depicts Venus' statue where she is immortalised in stone doing things that should be done in private - ironic
-'Most things offend if you don't keep them secret'
-Tells women to treat their maids well
-Presumes heterosexual relationships

KEY POINTS

-He uses praetitio

>’how near i was to warning you’ of body hair

-Ovid shows detailed knowledge of women’s beauty regime...is this really aimed at women or is he ridiculing their tricks?​

>’highlight your eyes with thinned ashes’

-Ovid refers to his earlier work: Facial treatment for Ladies​

>’It’s I who spoke of facial treatments for your beauty, ​

a little book, but one whose labour took great care.’

-Encourages women to hide the fact that they use make-up

>personifies art as decietful

>sarcastic, he is telling them

-All the imperatives imply this is aimed at women

>but the male viewpoint and nasty vividness suggests otherwise​

-He bathetically reduces things to their most crude form (oils are extracted from a sheep’s fleece)

-Sexualised image of Venus washing (voyeuristic)

-He encourages women to be kind to maids so they dont curse them to be unattractive

Conceal your Defects Part 5

SUMMARY

-Obvious comedic advice
-Demeaning to modern women
-Mythological references act as entertainment
-Useful advice? Tells women 'if you're short, sit down' etc. Explains which clothes suit which body types

KEY POINTS

-References Semele, Leda, and Europa, as not needing his aid as they are loved by Zeus

-He insults his audience as mostly not pretty

>’girls pretty and plain: and always the greater not-so-good’ ‘conceal your faults’ ‘defects’

>Beautiful girls dont need make-up or advice (v insulting)

-He uses a nautical metaphor (calm sea represents beauty and swollen ugliness that requires make-up)

-Imperatives imply his superiority and desire for women to conform

-the length of the list implies he actually despises women​ though his advice is quite hood (eg if you bite your nails lose sparing gestures)

Be Modest in Laughter and Movement Part 6

SUMMARY

-Patronising towards women
-comedic for men, mocking women 'Girls must even learn to laugh'
-Compares women to a mangy ass
-Tells women to carry themselves in a (stereotypical) feminine way
-Compares women to each other and uses a simile referring to a red faced Umbrian
-Ends with a sexual direct address

KEY POINTS

-Close attention to the details of the face, vivid, unattractive

>’teeth mostly concealed by the lips’

-Refers to women in the 3rd person, ‘theyre’

>reminds that this poem is aimed at men

-simile showing social snobbery

>​’like the wife of a red-faced Umbrian’

-Personal comment on how he likes to kiss shoulders

Learn Music and Read the Poets Part 7

SUMMARY

-Refers to Sappho as excessively sexual
-Comic advertisement of his work
-Compliments Virgil, possibly referencing Augustus
-Wants fame

KEY POINTS

-Uses mythology to show the power of music (eg Sirens- suggests men should beware of women’s voices)

-Claims ‘your voice is a better procuress than your looks’ insulting (ugly woman’s voice)

-Wants women to be cultured (Egyptian music considered sensuous)

-He lists poets (eg Sappho and Callimachus) showing his literary expertise

>he alludes to Virgil without name, indicates his fame

Learn Dancing, Games Part 8

SUMMARY
-Puts expectations on women that they should spend their lives trying to please men
-dancing and games engage them with society
-games=war for women
-Shameful for women to not know how to play
-Excludes lower class women

KEY POINTS

-Increasingly personal, moved from clothing to sensuous movements (less objective), building up to sex

-Dice games and chess are analogies for love

>part of love as a battlefied/competition, ‘winner’

-Abandons analogies, focuses on pleasing men

Be Seen Around Part 6

SUMMARY

-Suggests freedom, wouldn't typically see women doing these things
-attracting men by walking around
-Augustan reference and battle of Actium
-Can't be desired if you aren't seen
-Fame is validating for men not women
-Poets want fame, Homer's work immortalised him

KEY POINTS

-He makes a clear distinction between male and female pursuits

>’Nature has alloted’

>male pursuits are active (javelin) female games are based on manipulation

-Catalogue of places women cant go followed by where they should frequent for lovers

>mocking reference to Actium

>suggests Augustus’ family monuments- shocking, suggests proximity of corruption

-Ovid counts himself among the sacred poets…he seems to be aiming for fame rather than for a girlfriend​

-He references Ennius a republican poet, rather than an Augustan one from his own social circle [such as Horace] …could show his anti-Augustus attitude​

>claims the status of poets has decreased since ancient times

-He focuses on pretty girls encouraging them to go out as much as possible to find a bf, using an aggressive hunting analogy (makes women seem predatory and men weak)

>ref finding a lover at her husband’s funeral- shocking, almost adulterous, men find vulnerability attractive

>women presented as both predatory and vulnerable

Beware of False Lovers Part 10

SUMMARY

-Refers to gay men as feminine but not always
-Advises not to be blinded by appearance
-Recalls myth of Apollo being rejected by Cassandra and cursing her
-Can't refuse sex if you've accepted a man's gifts

KEY POINT

-Lists typical tricks that men like Ovid would use to seduce a woman

>men make themselves attractive and pretend to be well educated

>their love is personified (‘wanders and lingers’) emphasising their unfathfulness

>ref to Cassandra emphasises the epic scale of consequences

>men will pretend to love you to get into bed

>semantic field of robbery- clothing a metaphor for virginity

>many vagina euphemisms (‘the opening’)

-denying a man sex after receiving his gifts (ie: leading him on) is as bad as treason, sacrilege or murder.​

>first open mention of sex

Take Care with Letters Part 11

SUMMARY

-Uses metaphor to teach women not to get carried away
-Tells women to lead men on and to not be too quick
-Women are in control of the situation
-Hide the fact you have multiple lovers
-Indication of writing for higher class of women because they can read/write - He is perhaps trying to find a class of women that doesn't exist

KEY POINTS

-Chariot driving analogy used to encourage the reader to move slowly

-He contrasts his words and his meaning to indicate they are not one and the same

-Dont give in quickly or deny him cruelly sex

-Be sure of a man before trusting him with love letters, it could be used as blackmail

>pretend to write to a female friend, deceit is fine

Avoid the Vices, Favour the Poets Part 12

SUMMARY

-Keep control of your emotions
-Sail metaphor
-Tells them how to present themselves
-Have to interact appropriately to be liked in society
-Tries to be comedic by referring to dead women eg. Andromache
-Women should choose who they want
-If you're in Ovid's poetry you'll get fame
-Don't be materialistic
-Makes men look good

KEY POINTS

-vivid description of the ugly effects of anger​

>’swells the face’ ‘eyes flash mire savagely than the Gorgon’s’

>so ugly that you can turn men to stone- hyperbole

-women should respond to male attention, not initiate it​

-Comedy to claim ‘we hate sad girls’ and refer to Tecmessa and Andromache, as both have cause for misery

>Big Ajax killed Tecmessa’s father, took her as a concubine and she bore his child​

>Andromache widow of Hector, saw her son Astyanax murdered, then was taken as a slave by Achilles’ son Neoptolemus​

-Uses Augustus as an example of how to conduct yourself SHOCKING

>give men fitting positions

-Poets can make their girlfriends famous BUT the examples are all pseudonyms not for women’s benefit eg Carinna or Propertius’ Cynthia

>Ovid contrasts the deceit, greed and ambition of political life with the sweetness and honesty of love poets.​

>girls shouldn’t seek material gifts from poets as poets give fame instead​

Try Young and Older Lovers Part 13

SUMMARY

KEY POINT

-Analogy in which women are riders and horses men to emphasise how one must use different techniques with dif horses

-Men are objectified as ‘a fresh prize’

-You must protect the young lover, ensure he only has eyes for you as he is less reliable

-Ovid positions the older lover as more attractive

>’loves sensibly and wisely’

>double standard in that women are past their prime but men have matured

>Ovid is biased, being 40

>he claims the younger man will be dangerous due to the intensity of his feeling- they are ‘hot boys’

>an older man burns with ‘slow fires, like wet straw’- it is slower and more controlled

Use Jealousy and Fear Part 14

SUMMARY

KEY POINTS

-Military language

>’I’ve un barred the gates to the enemy’, ‘no doubt I’ll be attacked with my own weapons’

-‘Let him lie before the door’

>ref to a paraclausithyron (lover by the open door)- obstacles makes love more intense (Sappho agree, Eros is lack)

>’cruel entrance’ equally refers to a vagina

>refers to love as ‘sweetness:bitterness’ - glukupikros

>provocative to claim that affairs are more exciting- the Julian laws are an aphrodisiac

>both he and Sappho’s present the paradox of love (painful v pleasant, Ovid dangerous and erotic)

>motifs of fire and hunting are familiar from love poetry

-Encourages women to pretend to have a guard or husband

>they are stock characters in comedies- fittingly amusing

-‘excessively erksome care of a harsh husband’- he claims it is unreasonable (though if she is having affairs it must be) and unpleasant

‘Hide the trembling youth in any hole’

>a stock situation in roman mimes

Play Cloak and Dagger Part 15

-‘i nearly forgot the skilful ways by which you can elude a husband’

>explicit guidance on breaking the Julian laws

>though he does claim ‘to guard a wife is right’ and that this applies to women ‘scarcely released from prison’ (ostensibly the enslaved)

>only high status women would have the literacy or leisure to read Ars Am

- The Latin phrase refers to washing after sex...he is suggesting that after sex with her husband the girl should write to her lover.

-Lists ways to make invisible ink

-Sensual description of the maid (‘deep curves of her warm breast’) for male pleasure

>writing on her back requires her to unclothe- for male pleasure

-The laws fail and make affairs all the more exciting

-Pun reference to ‘false key’ as the word is adultéra

-His advice is specific and genuinely useful

-‘what goods a guard, with so many theatres in the city’

>Romans would be proud of the sites which he provocatively references- suggests Rome is full of affairs

>sacreligiously encourages women to use ceremonies where only invited men can come to conduct affairs

-can distract your jailer with (drug him bribe him seduce him) alcohol or sex with your slave girl- image of Rome as a giant orgy, have sex by having sex

-warns that your friends or servants may betray you

Make Him Believe He’s Loved Part 16

SUMMARY

KEY POINT

-The Bird doesnt show the hunter where to find it

>hunting metaphors make the women seem predatory

-Make us believe (its so easy) that we’re loved

>joke at men’s expense that they are gullible

-Lists emotional tricks that women could use (eg ‘sigh deeply’ i)

-He warns about jealousy (Procris)

>uses a vivid description of a locus amoenus to show off his poetic skill

>Ovid has chosen a story where neither party is innocent, thus admitting that in love affairs both are often guilty, Cephalus had had an affair with dawn but had ended it and Procris had been tested (Cephalus disguised himself and seduced her)

>sad tale

Watch How you Eat and Drink Part 17

SUMMARY

KEY POINTS

-Boat metaphor marks the fourth and final section

>’so that my weary vessel can reach harbour’- sexual pun

-encourages women to be fashionably late

-‘night itself grants concealment to your failings’- insult, you look better in the dark

-Encourages eating moderately

>even Helen needs good table manners

-Encourages women to drink as they are more likely to succumb to lust

>uses the gods Bacchus and Cupid as a metanymn d’or wine and love respectively

>vulgar content told in a grand didactic tone

>meden again, dont get too drunk

-‘too much wine: shes worthy of sleeping with anyone who will have her’ ‘many shameful things usually happen in sleep’

>references assault, implies she is deserving of rape

>he goes from appearing relatable to a modern audience to alien and taboo

And So To Bed Part 18

SUMMARY

KEY POINTS

-Shifts responsibility to ‘kindly Venus’ for this advice

-Catalogue of sexual positions emphasises appearing attractive to the man

>reference to Andromache, a tragic serious heroine, is comically incongruous

-Speaks to the importance of female pleasure

>undermines by encouraging them to ‘coo’ regardless of pleasure

>faking orgasms, an element of their deceit

-Can’t expect presents after sex as you have lost your leverage

-After sex is over so is the relationship- trivial

Procris

-Procris was killed by her jealousy. By using a detailed myth Ovid also shows his own culture and poetic skill.

Procris is no innocent herself…Cephalus had once disguised himself to test her loyalty, and had successfully seduced her.

Followed her husband while he was hunting, when she realised he was loyal she ran to him but mistaken as an animal was impaled

-Part 16

Lemnian women

-the Lemnian women killed all their men for having affairs [relevant here!]with women on the mainland

-referenced in Part 16

Helle and Phrixus

-Helle and Phrixus were rescued from their wicked stepmother by a golden ram. As they flew across the Hellespont on its back, Helle fell off and drowned. The ram eventually landed in Colchis and when it died Phrixus kept its Golden Fleece.​

-Part 7

Menander

-One of the writers Ovid lists in Part 7

-Greek comic playwright​, a frequent plotline in Menander’s plays​ (where a master is gulled by his slaves cunning) is referenced

​

Arion

-Arion the musician was robbed and thrown overboard by sailors, but a dolphin had heard him singing and came to rescue him.​

-Part 7

Amphion

-Amphion’s mother Antiope had twins by Zeus, and was then imprisoned by her brother and mistreated by his wife Dirce. Amphion took revenge by tying Dirce to the horns of a bull. His music bewitched stones to build the wall of Thebes.​

-Part 7

procuress

a woman who runs prostitutes

Amaryllis

maiden who loved a coldhearted youth, so she pierced her heart with a golden arrow and visited him every day. Amaryllis flowers grew from her blood. (he fell for her after 30 days)​

Part 3

Ino

Ino tried to sacrifice her stepchildren but they flew away on golden sheep. Helle fell off and drowned in the Hellespont. The sheep eventualy became the Golden Fleece.

Part 3​

Ideal for romans to be a soldier-farm

>Cinpletus

Endymion, Cephalus, Adonis

-Mortal men who had sex with goddesses

>if goddesses have casual sex so should you!

Sestichorus

-Blinded after speaking on Helen’s lack of chastity, his sight returned when he complimented her

Phyllis

-example of a woman in part one who is abandonned

-her husband ditched her so she killed herself

Evadne

-example of a moral woman in part 1

-joined her husband in death

Alcestis

-example of a moral woman in part 1

-Alcestis traded her life for her husband’s (Admetus)

Laodameia

-example in part one of a loyal woman

-prayed for a few more hours with her husband before killing herself

Eriphyle

-example of a bad woman in part one

-she was responsible for her husband’s death