Ovid Amores Study Questions
Ovid is almost a full generation later than Propertius and Tibullus. Although he’s writing in the
same genre as them, his is a more self-conscious and literary version of elegy. In fact, you might
say that Ovid’s poetry is more about poetry itself than about typical elegiac love.
1.1: Ovid’s opening poem in the Amores is a programmatic statement for the entire collection
and simultaneously a literary and mythological joke. In epic we would expect an invocation for
inspiration from the muses. Who inspires (or attacks) Ovid here? What is Ovid’s reaction? Given
what we discussed about epic and elegiac meter last class, what has happened to Ovid’s poetry.
The end of the poem is also full of phallic imagery; what does it say about Ovid’s choice of ma-
terial? About his masculinity?
1.2: What is Ovid’s emotional state? Why does he describe his defeat at Cupid’s hands as a
Roman triumph? Why all the Mars imagery? And who is he in love with, anyway?
1.3: We still don’t have a name for Ovid’s girl (puella), but he makes his case for her love. Why
doesn’t she have a name? Why should she love him? Are these typical attributes for a Roman
man?
1.4: What scene does Ovid describe? What more do we learn about the puella’s character and sit-
uation? N.b.: as in last class, “husband” is a mistranslation of vir.
1.5: Finally, we get a name for Ovid’s puella, but in the most objectifying poem in the entire col-
lection. What is going on in the narrator’s brain during this encounter with Corinna?
1.8: “Procuress” is our translator’s strange word for a madam (lena). Why does Ovid hate her so
much? What is she doing for Corinna? (This poem, by the way, is strong evidence that vir in
these poems cannot mean “husband.”)
1.9: Cf. this poem with 1.2. Why does Ovid keep describing love as war? What epic precedents
does he use here?
1.15: This last poem in the book defends Ovid’s poetic mission. What does poetry gain him? Is it
an admirable pursuit for a Roman man?