Ovid's love-poetry was typically original and innovative. His witty analysis in the Amores (Loves) of the elegiac relationship develops with relentless irony its essential paradox - love as simultaneously fulfilling and destructive - to its logical conclusion: definitive disestablishment of the poet-lover's role as presented by Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius. In its place he went on to offer in the Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) and Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love) an equally brilliant presentation of an alternative and more realistic conception of love as a game at which both sexes can play without getting hurt - providing they stick to Ovid's rules. Under the surface of Ovid's wit there runs an undercurrent of serious meaning: the theme of the poet's complete control of his medium and his art and a proud consciousness of his achievements. His claim to be 'the Virgil of elegy' is arrestingly justified in these extraordinarily accomplished poems. Alan Melville's accomplished translations match the sophisticated elegance of Ovid's Latin. Their witty modern idiom is highly entertaining. In this volume he has included the brilliant version of the Art of Love by Moore, published more than fifty years ago and still unequalled; the small revisions he has made will enhance the reader's admiration for Moore's achievement. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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First Sentence
I'd meant in solemn metre to rehearse A tale of arms and war and violence, Matching the weighty matter with my verse, All lines alike in lengthâ ”no difference; But Cupid laughed (they say) And filched one foot away. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
I'd meant in solemn metre to rehearse A tale of arms and war and violence, Matching the weighty matter with my verse, All lines alike in lengthâ ”no difference; But Cupid laughed (they say) And filched one foot away. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think all Melville's translations of Ovid are excellent - they are accurate and they really catch the spirit of the original.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Look elsewhere
1 Feb 2009
By Andrew Spencer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Melville's translation fails for one specific reason: the Latin text is not translated faithfully, and he sacrifices an accurate representation for producing rhyming English verse. I should remind potential readers that Latin poets did not produce rhyming poetry, and the tendency for English-speaking scholars to do this is a rather out-dated, 19th century (and earlier) practice. Look to Peter Green's Penguin translation, which is a much better translation of these excellent poems.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Poetry, Prudish Editor
13 Nov 2007
By Mary
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The poetry here is racy, beautiful, funny, and provocative. The translations are well done (who am I to judge?), preserving the original intent and meaning, but the notes tend a little on the prudish side. While the notes are invaluable for a serious student (me), and especially since some translations of Ovid's Amores have no notes, this editor leaves out some pertinent information about Caesar Augustus, and family, who ruled at the time of publication, and whom Ovid addresses occasionally in his works. Also, the translator admittedly prefers the Metamorphoses, seemingly because it is gentler and more mature, so I am left wondering whether this colored his translation of the Amores--it's racy, but is it as racy as the original?
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb translation.
14 Feb 2013
By Jack Alan Robbins
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ovid in some ways the most important of the ancient Roman poets, as author of The Metamorphosis, the compendium of ancients myths well told and enjoyably readable. This is his volumes of "love" and "romance guidance" poems brought together and make excellent and enjoyable reading.
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3.8 out of 5 stars
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