Ovid - Ars Amatoria 3 Flashcards
(16 cards)
“the larger number among you lack such…
gifts. taking pains brings beauty, beauty neglected died” bluntly insults female appearance, uses this to effectively give advice on looks, Seneca suggests ‘modesty’ is the highest beauty.
‘Give it…
me back!’ this reported speech and anaphora in ‘beware of false lovers’ emphasises the danger of losing virginity and succumbing to desire. Shows that even infames have reputation (pudicitia) which can be lost.
“She might as well have…
put out the sleepless Vestal’s fire… as deny him sex once she’s received his gifts.”
“He who holds onto such…
tokens is treacherous, but nevertheless he holds the flames of Etna.” metaphor for danger/being caught.
military allusion
“Unarmed crowd…
betrayed to well-armed men.” men and women are presented as combatants with this military allusion here.
Lemnian
“Wrongs relight dying fires…
I’ll give Lemnian girls swords to kill me.” encourages women to deceive men, to play with their emotions and to spark jealousy.
How does Ovid go against Roman values of marriage?
He suggests that fleeting love affairs are preferable, “Find lovers at a husband’s funeral… loosened hair and unchecked weeping suits you.”
Caesar referencing through setting?
Ovid gives tips on how to carry out affairs undetected, suggesting locations such as “Bona Dea’s temple”, here, Pulcher was tried for his sacrilegious intrusion on the rites, allegedly bent on the seduction of Julius Caesar’s wife, Pompeia (62BC)
Sex as a casual game, rather than the sacred act it was treated as in Augustan Rome “Pretend to sweet…
delight with artful sounds”, “The game is done.”
looks
“Conceal your…
faults and hide your body’s defects.” he suggests this in manners such as remaining seated if short, hairstyles for certain face shapes, and to alter appearance through makeup.
sexual danger
“Some will attack you through…
a lying pretence of love and seek through that opening a shameful gain.” Ovid expresses the value of virginity, only give if you will receive gifts in return, do not be tricked in the game of sexual encounters.
“Guile is absent…
from the sacred poets.” Ovid declares that the best lovers and older men, notably poets, most likely satirical.
“I’ll give the Lemnian…
girls swords to kill me.” Love is framed as a strategic deception rather than genuine, emotional connection.
(link) “Be mindful first that old…
age will come to you; so, don’t be timid and waste any of your time.” physical beauty and youth (link to Agathon) and key to attracting and maintaining desire.
(contradiction) “Your voice is…
a better procuress than your looks.” Ovid also encourages enhancing music, poetry, and dance ability can enhance desirability, even more so than looks.
“Always speak of your…
lover as female when you write.” homoeroticism is treated as a stepping stone (contrasts Sappho) to the real heterosexual affairs women want.
