The Ars amatoria (or Ars amandi) [The Art of Love], together with the Medicamina faciei femineae [Cosmetics for the Female Face, also known as The Art of Beauty] and the Remedia amoris [Remedies for Love], constitute a group of works by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) which belong to didactic poetry. Its metre, however, is not the dactylic hexameter, which is the established metre for didactic poetry (e.g. Hesiod’s Works and days, Aratus’s Phaenomena, Nicander’s Theriaca and Alexipharmaca, Vergil’s Georgics), but Ovid’s favourite metre, the elegiac couplet. Ovid’s preference for the elegiac couplet over the dactylic hexameter reveals his humorous, light-hearted and ironic approach to amatory teaching. The work consists of three books, which were not published all together at the same time. Its major theme is the art and strategy of seduction and intrigue.
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Citation: Michalopoulos, Andreas. "Ars Amatoria". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 May 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6510, accessed 09 June 2026.]
