In all of ancient literature there is nothing quite like the
Ars Amatoria,
Ovid's guide to seduction. He devotes Book 3 to teaching the women of Augustan Rome how to find, catch, and keep a male lover. Along with generous portions of wit and absurdity, his text contains a wealth of cultural references, highlighting Rome's architecture, theatres, gladiatorial spectacles, temples, baths, men's and women's clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, music, poetry-reading, letter-writing, games, slavery, parties, sexuality, and sex. This last and longest book of Ovid's most notorious work helps us see ancient Rome in a new light.
Ars Amatoria
Book 3 is the first volume in the
Oxford Greek and Latin College Commentaries
series.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The
series is designed for students in intermediate or advanced Greek or Latin. Each volume includes a comprehensive introduction. The placement, on the same page, of the ancient text, a running vocabulary, and succinct notes focusing on grammar, syntax, and distinctive features of style provides students with essential learning aids.
Series Editors:
Barbara Weiden Boyd,
Bowdoin College,
Stephen Esposito,
Boston University,
and Mary Lefkowitz,
Wellesley College
FORTHCOMING VOLUMES
Selected Letters from Pliny the Younger's
Epistulae
Jacqueline Carlon,
Boston University
Suetonius's Life of Augustus
Darryl Phillips,
Connecticut College