Ovidius

Ovidius is the Latinized name of Publius Ovidius Naso, a prominent Roman poet of the Augustan age. Born in 43 BCE in Sulmo (present-day Sulmona, Italy), he belonged to a family of local equestrian status and pursued studies in rhetoric before turning to poetry. His early works, including Amores (Loves) and the Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love), established his reputation for refined wit, elegant meter, and playful, often erotic, themes.

In 8 CE Ovidius was banished by Emperor Augustus to Tomis on the Black Sea, a sentence he described as exile for "a poem and a fault" though the exact grounds remain unclear. He spent the remainder of his life in exile, composing works that reflect longing for Rome as well as personal misfortune. His exile texts include the Tristia (Sorrows) and the Epistulae ex Ponto (Letters from Pontus), which blend elegiac lament with social and political commentary.

Ovidius’s greatest and most influential work is Metamorphoses (The Metamorphoses), a narrative poem in fifteen books that weaves together myth and legend in a continuous series of transformations. Begun before the exile, it became a cornerstone of classical mythology and a major source for later literature and art.

Ovidius died in exile around 17 or 18 CE. His polished style, inventive storytelling, and deft handling of mythic material left a lasting mark on Western literature, giving rise to the term Ovidian to describe his influence and stylistic traits.