Ovid's Erotic Poems: Amores and Ars Amatoria Contributor(s): Ovid (Author), Krisak, Len (Translator), Ruden, Sarah (Introduction by) |
|
ISBN: 081224625X ISBN-13: 9780812246254 Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press OUR PRICE: $37.95 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2014 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Poetry | Ancient & Classical - Literary Collections | Ancient, Classical & Medieval |
Dewey: 871.01 |
LCCN: 2014012364 |
Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.5" W x 8.6" (0.90 lbs) 232 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: The most sophisticated and daring poetic ironist of the early Roman Empire, Publius Ovidius Naso, is perhaps best known for his oft-imitated Metamorphoses. But the Roman poet also wrote lively and lewd verse on the subjects of love, sex, marriage, and adultery--a playful parody of the earnest erotic poetry traditions established by his literary ancestors. The Amores, Ovid's first completed book of poetry, explores the conventional mode of erotic elegy with some subversive and silly twists: the poetic narrator sets up a lyrical altar to an unattainable woman only to knock it down by poking fun at her imperfections. Ars Amatoria takes the form of didactic verse in which a purportedly mature and experienced narrator instructs men and women alike on how to best play their hands at the long con of love. Ovid's Erotic Poems offers a modern English translation of the Amores and Ars Amatoria that retains the irreverent wit and verve of the original. Award-winning poet Len Krisak captures the music of Ovid's richly textured Latin meters through rhyming couplets that render the verse as playful and agile as it was meant to be. Sophisticated, satirical, and wildly self-referential, Ovid's Erotic Poems is not just a wickedly funny send-up of romantic and sexual mores but also a sharp critique of literary technique and poetic convention. |