[1/2] Ovid, the torments of the Roman poet of love

Ovid is the Don Juan of Roman Antiquity! In a new story in two parts, Virginie Girod tells you the story of this poet of love forced into exile, for a mysterious reason. 

Ovid was born in -43 BC. JC. He belongs to the equestrian order, the small aristocracy. At the top of the social hierarchy is the senatorial order. Ovide's family had dreams of social ambitions and provided the young man with an excellent education. Ovid is passionate about mythology. He knows all the gods, all the heroes and their adventures. And the more he knows the myths, the more Ovid doubts them. For him, it was the poets who invented them. 

He settled in Rome and began writing. He is part of the last generation of great Roman elegiac poets, who leave more room for the feeling of love. In his first book, Les Amours, the author traces the life of a Roman seducer. It’s Ovid’s literary double! Ovid paints a vivid picture of the social and romantic life of the Romans in a capital which practices flirting as a high-level sport. Adultery and divorce are commonplace. Rome then went through a period of political unrest. The empire replaced the Republic and this period of freedom of morals is not eternal. The new strong man of Rome, Augustus, intends to put an end to it.  

Themes covered: Roman Empire, elegiac poetry, love passion, mythology 

“At the heart of history” is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

- Presentation: Virginie Girod 

- Production: Caroline Garnier

- Director: Nicolas Gaspard

- Composition of the original music: Julien Tharaud 

- Writing and Distribution: Nathan Laporte

- Communication: Marie Corpet

- Visual: Sidonie Mangin

Bibliography:  

Carcopino Jérôme: “Ovid on the island of Elba? », Mixtures of the French school of Rome, year 1962, 74-2, p. 519-528. 

Hermann Léon: “The secret fault of Ovid”, Belgian review of philosophy and history, 1938, 17-3-4, p. 695-725.

Sources:  

The art of loving 

The Heroides 

The loves 

The Metamorphoses