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
Theriacaand
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…
1585 words
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 12 December 2024.]