Epistulae ex Ponto (Letters from theBlack Sea) is a work ofOvid, in four books.[1] It is a collection of letters describing Ovid's exile in Tomis (modern-dayConstanța) written inelegiac couplets and addressed to his wife and friends. The first three books were composed between 12 and 13 AD, according to the general academic consensus: "none of these elegies contains references to events falling outside that time span".[2] The fourth book is believed to have been published posthumously.
The poems
editThe themes of the letters are similar to those ofTristia.Ovid writes to his wife and friends about the grimness of his exile, his deteriorating state of health and the future of his literary works. A recurring request toOvid's named addressees inEpistulae ex Ponto remains his desire for a change of location from Tomis, which he repeatedly describes as "a town located in a war-stricken cultural wasteland on the remotest margins of empire".[3] Recent scholarship has repeatedly identified discrepancies between Ovid's version and historical fact regarding Tomis.[4][5][6]
While they explore similar themes,Epistulae ex Ponto differ fromTristia in epistolographic format, as they have named addressees. The individuals named includePaullus Fabius Maximus,Sextus Pompeius, and the brothersMarcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus andMarcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus.Ovid's hopes rested largely on the genial character ofGermanicus, nephew and adopted son of the emperorTiberius, who is addressed or mentioned in several places.[7]
Augustus andLivia feature heavily in the collection, as they do inTristia, as absolute authorities overOvid's hopes of his recalling to Rome or change of location for hisrelegation. Ovid acknowledges the EmpressLivia as a potential ally to return home, describing her like a vestal virgin –pudicarum Vesta matrum[8] 'Vesta of chaste matrons'.[9] However,Augustus' death and the death of his friend and frequent addressee,Paullus Fabius Maximus, discourageOvid from hoping for a return.[10] The collection ends on a sombre note, with a letter addressed to an unnamed enemy, accused of attempting to harm an already ruined Ovid.[11]
Structure
editEpistulae ex Ponto is divided into four books, all consisting of letters sent to different addressees.
- Book I: letters to Brutus,Paullus Fabius Maximus, Rufinus, his wife,Cotta Maximus Messalinus, Publius Pomponius Graecinus, Messalinus, Severus,Flaccus.
- Book II: letters toGermanicus, Messalinus,Cotta Maximus Messalinus, Atticus, Salanus, Publius Pomponius Graecinus,Cotys of Thrace, Macer and Rufus.
- Book III: letters to his wife,Cotta Maximus Messalinus,Paullus Fabius Maximus, Rufinus, an unknown friend and a group of unknown friends.
- Book IV: letters toSextus Pompeius,Cornelius Severus, Brutus, Vestalis, Suillius, Graecinus,Albinovanus, Gallio, Carus, Tuticanus and an unnamed enemy.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Ovid; Jan Felix Gaertner (8 December 2005).Epistulae ex Ponto. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-927721-6.
- ^Galasso, Luigi (2009),"Epistulae ex Ponto",A Companion to Ovid, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 194–206,doi:10.1002/9781444310627.ch14,ISBN 978-1-4443-1062-7, retrieved2021-02-07
- ^Williams, Gareth (2002), Hardie, Philip (ed.),"Ovid's exile poetry: Tristia, Epistulae ex Ponto and Ibis",The Cambridge Companion to Ovid, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 233–246,ISBN 978-0-521-77281-5, retrieved2021-02-07
- ^Williams, Gareth (2002), Hardie, Philip (ed.),"Ovid's exile poetry: Tristia, Epistulae ex Ponto and Ibis",The Cambridge Companion to Ovid, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 233–246,ISBN 978-0-521-77281-5, retrieved2021-02-07
- ^Tarrant, Richard (2002), Hardie, Philip (ed.),"Ovid and ancient literary history",The Cambridge Companion to Ovid, Cambridge Companions to Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 13–33,ISBN 978-0-521-77281-5, retrieved2021-02-07
- ^Claassen, Jo-Marie (2008).Ovid Revisited: The Poet in Exile. Bloomsbury.
- ^Matthew M. McGowan (2009).Ovid in Exile: Power and Poetic Redress in the Tristia and Epistulae Ex Ponto. BRILL.ISBN 978-90-04-17076-6.
- ^Ex Ponto 4.13.29.
- ^Chrystal, Paul (26 March 2015).Roman Women: The Women who influenced the History of Rome. Fonthill Media. p. 224. Retrieved22 July 2018.
pudicarum Vesta matrum
- ^Ovid,Ex Ponto, 4.6.1–50.
- ^Ovid,Ex Ponto 4.16.50–52.