Ovid's Early Poetry

An important new exploration of the early poetry of Ovid, one of the greatest poets in the Roman and Western tradition.

This book explores the early works of Ovid, one of the greatest poets in the Roman and Western tradition. By emphasising how they relate to each other, this book represents the most comprehensive study to date of Ovid's early, erotic-elegiac production as a unified literary project.Ovid is one of the greatest poets in the Classical tradition and Western literature. This book represents the most comprehensive study to date of his early output as a unified literary production. Firstly, the book proposes new ways of organising this part of Ovid's poetic career, the chronology of which is notoriously difficult to establish. Next, by combining textual criticism with issues relating to manuscript transmission, the book decisively counters arguments levelled against the authenticity of Heroides 15, which consequently allows for a revaluation of Ovid's early output. Furthermore, by focusing on the literary device of allusion, the book stresses the importance of Ovid's single Heroides 1-15 in relationship with his Amores I-III, Ars amatoria I-III and Remedia amoris. Finally, the book identifies three kinds of Ovidian poetics that are found in his early poetry and that point towards the works of myth and exile that followed in his later career.