Ovid Bio, Early Life, Career, Net Worth and Salary

Ovid was a Roman poet who went by the name Publius Ovidius Naso. Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria were among his most famous sensual poems. “Metamorphoses,” mythological hexameter poetry, is his most notable work. The “Fasti,” “Tristia,” and “Epistulae ex Ponto” were among his other notable works. While “Fasti” was based on the Roman calendar, “Tristia” and “Epistulae ex Ponto” were more personal exile poetry. Smaller works such as “Remedia Amoris” and “Medicamina Faciei Femineae” were also written by him. Ovid, along with Virgil and Horace, is considered a master of the elegiac couplet and is one of Latin literature’s canonic poets. His poetry had an impact on European art and literature, and it is now considered one of the most important sources of classical mythology.

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Childhood and Adolescence in Ovid

Ovid was born in Sulmo, Roman Republic, which is now Italy, on March 20, 43 BC. He was born into an equestrian family and received his rhetoric education in Rome under Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro.

His father aspired for him to be a lawyer and a government officer. Ovid was seen to be of an emotive nature, as opposed to the argumentative sort required for rhetoric in the practice of law.

He gave up law after his brother died and began traveling to Athens, Asia Minor, and Sicily. Before settling down to poetry circa 29-25 BC, he held several positions such as tresviri capitales and decemviri stlitibus iudicandis.

Around 25 BC, he gave his first recitation at the age of eighteen. Macer, Propertius, Horace, and Bassus were known to be pals of Ovid’s.

The Career of Ovid

Ovid predominantly created poetry in elegiac meter with sensual themes in the early stages of his creative career. “Heroides,” his first known work, may have been published in 19 BC. Letters from mythological heroines to their absent loves were included in this collection.

Despite the fact that the poems’ legitimacy was questioned, this original publication most likely comprised the collection’s first 14 pieces.

He is thought to have written the five-book collection of the “Amores,” a series of sensual poetry dedicated to a lover, Corinna, in 16-15 BC, and a surviving, existing three-book edited version of Amores in 8-3 BC.

Between the two versions of “Amores,” he penned the tragedy “Medea,” which was well-received but is now lost. The “Medicamina Faciei,” his next poem, was a fragmentary composition about women’s beauty treatments.

The art of love, a parody of didactic poetry, and a three-book manual about seduction and intrigue were followed by “Ars Amatoria,” the art of love, a parody of didactic poetry and a three-book manual about seduction and intrigue claimed to have been published in 2 AD.

Ovid’s “Remedia Amoris” was published in 2 AD. Ovid acquired a place among the Roman elegists Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius thanks to this collection of elegiac and erotic poetry.

Ovid’s most ambitious work, the “Metamorphoses,” a 15-book hexameter epic poem that encyclopedically recounts developments in Greek and Roman mythology from the creation of the cosmos through Julius Caesar’s deification, was completed by 8 AD. Stories of human beings turned into new bodies – trees, rocks, animals, flowers, constellations, and others – followed one other in this masterwork.

Meanwhile, he was working on the “Fasti,” a six-book elegiac couplet poem based on the Roman calendar and astronomy. This poem’s writing was halted due to his exile to Tomis, where he was rumored to have abandoned it.

The Exile of Ovid

Following Emperor Augustus’ direct intervention in 8 AD, Ovid was forced to flee to Tomis on the Black Sea. The reason for Ovid’s banishment was a poetry and a blunder, according to him.

Agrippa Postumus and Julia the Younger, Emperor Augustus’ grandchildren, were banished at the same time as he was. Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Julia’s husband, was sentenced to death for conspiring against Augustus.

Ovid was also mentioned in the plot. The Julian Marriage Laws of 18 BC, which promoted monogamous marriage to boost the population’s birth rate, and Ovid’s writing in “Ars Amatoria,” which was considered objectionable to the emperor’s moral regulations, may have been the real reason for his banishment.

He authored two poetry collections titled “Tristia” and “Epistulae ex Ponto” during his exile in Tomis, which reflected his anguish and loneliness.

Ovid abandoned his poetry, “Fasti,” which was about the Roman calendar because he was far away from Rome and had no access to libraries.

He published five books of the elegiac “Tristia” between 9 and 12 AD, a collection of poetry expressing his anguish in exile and supporting his return to Rome. During this time, he wrote “Ibis,” elegiac curse poetry directed against a domestic foe.

In 13 AD, he produced “Epistulae ex Ponto,” a collection of letters to friends in Rome pleading with them to assist him in his homecoming. The first three books were released in 13 AD, with the fourth book following between 14 and 16 AD. This piece was regarded as his final work.

He detailed his acquaintance with a Tomis local in “Epistulae,” yet he still pined for Rome and his third wife. Some of the poems were composed with Emperor Augustus in mind, while others were written for Rome’s allies.

He portrayed loneliness and the dream of returning from exile in some of his poetry. While Ovid was in exile, Emperor Augustus died in 14 AD.

Unfortunately, Emperor Tiberius, Augustus’ successor, did not summon Ovid to Rome. For Ovid, Rome was the pulsing heart of the world, and his separation from his beloved city brought him misery.

Emperor Augustus died in 17 AD, and he died three years later. “Fasti,” a collection of his poetry, was published after his death.

His Personal Experiences

Before he turned thirty, Ovid married three times and divorced twice. He only has one daughter.

His Death Date

In 17 AD, Ovid died in Tomis and was reputedly buried a few kilometers away in a small village.

His main Influence

With his renowned poetry, Ovid influenced writers and painters. Artists used his stories, particularly those from “Metamorphoses,” as a key source of inspiration.

His writings “Metamorphoses,” “Loves,” and “Heroides” were well-known in the Middle Ages. Ovid rose to prominence as the most prominent Latin poet throughout the Renaissance. For painters and sculptors, his works were recurring subjects.

His works were seen as influencing all writers and artists. Edmund Spenser, John Milton, and William Shakespeare were all influenced by his works in English literature.

Artists and painters used him indirectly after the Renaissance. Some authors and painters directly referenced him in their works; notable examples include John Dryden and Pablo Picasso.