The Art of Love

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 2

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

Iliad by Homer (BCE)

The Iliad is arguably the most important epic poem of Western literature, and is alluded to many times by Ovid throughout The Art of Love. It has come to define many Western literary ideas about love and warfare.

Metamorphoses by Ovid (8CE)

Metamorphoses is considered Ovid’s masterpiece, and the source for much contemporary understanding of Greek and Roman mythology. It provides mythological context for The Art of Love.

Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare (1593)

This poetic epic by William Shakespeare includes ideas about love and the actions of gods. Shakespeare’s poem develops a story featured in Metamorphoses, showing the abiding cultural power of Ovid into the English Renaissance.

Further Literary Resources

The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus (12th Century)

This work, like Ovid’s The Art of Love, offers instructions for ideal romantic behavior. However, rather than instructing Roman citizens, The Art of Courtly Love instructs medieval French aristocrats. Similarities include the gendered advice; differences include a complete rejection of Ovid’s frank discussion of sex and sexuality.

The Abduction of the Sabines by Girolamo del Pacchia (1520)

This painting depicts one of the historical events described in The Art of Love. In the original myth, the kidnapped women eventually consented to stay in Rome, which Ovid uses as support for his sexist ideas about consent.

The Triumph of Love, from “The Triumphs of Petrarch” by Francesco Rosselli (1480-1500)

This woodcut depicts the power of love as described in the poetry of Petrarch. In the image, allusive figures like Jove and Hercules are conquered by love. Ovid also includes these figures, but argues that he himself has conquered love or, at least, can teach the reader how to conquer love.

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1555)

This irreverent landscape of a pastoral scene shows the legs of the fallen Icarus emerging from the sea in the bottom-right corner—the rest of the painting is completely oblivious of the tragedy. This depiction of Icarus shows how myths can be retold in different mediums, similar to how Ovid presents the myth of Daedalus and Icarus in The Art of Love.