The questions of love attract an enduring interest of men and women in the modern world across many cultures. Love has become a popular topic of contemporary research.
It is also not surprising that love has been on the minds of people over the centuries. Let’s look at what those from older times knew about love. For example, Roman poet Ovid wrote the three well-known books of poems that make up the “Ars Amatoria” – “The Art of Love“.
“Ars Amatoria,” written by Ovid in the first century BCE, depicted the decadent and fashionable lives of the Roman upper class in fascinating detail. Ovid taught upper-class Roman men and women the art of love and sexual relations. He instructed men and women in his poems on how to find a lover, win them over, and keep them in a loving relationship.
His poetic writings on love have become a scholarly milestone and a masterpiece in the art of love. His wise advice on how to handle love relationships has been passed down through the ages, cultures, and generations.
In 1885, Henry Riley translated Ovid’s poems of “Ars Amatoria” into English and published them as “The Art of Love” (Riley, 1885/2014). Henry Finck used a literal prose translation rather than the original poetry.
Recently, Anthony Kline translated Ovid’s “Ars Amatoria” and published it in 2001. Since contemporary men and women do not live in the same era as the ancient Romans, it might be challenging to read these books without some familiarity with Roman culture (Kline, 2001).
However, I believe that the modern-day generation of men and women can learn a lot from the ancient wisdom of thinking about the art of love. Ovid made many insightful arguments about love that are still relevant today. So, I think these books remain fascinating and enjoyable to read.
Due to this, I have posted on this blog some interesting passages from Ovid’s wonderful love books, as translated by Anthony Kline.
The wonderful poems in Book I teach men a lot about love and relationships. Ovid’s poems can provide them with interesting ideas for “How to Find Her” (Part 2), “How to Win Her” (Part 9), “How to Make Promises of Love to Her” (Part 12), “How to Entice and Seduce a Woman” (Parts 13 and 14), “How to Make Promises and Deceive” (Part 16), “How Tears and Kisses Help in Love Affairs” (Part 17), “Psychology Love Tricks in the Art of Love” (Parts 18-19), and others.
The poems in Book II contain more advice for men about love. For instance, Parts V, VI, and VII teach how important it is in love relationships (a) not to be faint-hearted, (b) win over the servants, and (c) give her little tasteful gifts.
In Book II, Ovid also tells how to Be Gentle and Good-Tempered in Love Relations (Part III), Let Her Miss You, but Not For Long (Part X), how to Stir Her Jealousy in Their Art of Love (Part XIII), Be Wise and Ready to Suffer in Love (Part XIV).
Here is Part XVIII of Ovid’s Book II, advising men to be sensible and not ask a woman about her age.
Do Not Ask About Her Age, Part XVIII of Book II:
“Don’t ask how old she is, or who was Consul when
she was born, that’s strictly the Censor’s duty:
Especially if she’s past bloom, and the good times gone,
and now she plucks the odd grey hair.
There’s value, O youth, in this or a greater age:
this will bear seed, this is a field to sow.
Besides, they’ve more knowledge of the thing,
and have that practice that alone makes the artist:
With elegance they repair the marks of time,
and take good care that they don’t appear old.
As you wish, they’ll perform in a thousand positions:
no painting’s ever contrived to show more ways.
They don’t have to be aroused to pleasure:
man and woman equally deliver what delights.
I hate sex that doesn’t provide release for both:
that’s why the touch of boys is less desirable.
I hate a girl who gives because she has to,
and, arid herself, thinks only of her spinning.
Pleasure’s no joy to me that’s given out of duty:
let no girl be dutiful to me.
I like to hear a voice confessing to her rapture,
which begs me to hold back, and keep on going.
I gaze at the dazed eyes of my frantic mistress:
she’s exhausted, and won’t let herself be touched for ages.
Nature doesn’t give those joys to raw youths,
that often come so easily beyond thirty-five.
The hasty drink the new and unfermented: pour a vintage wine
for me, matured in the cask, from an ancient consulship.
Not till it’s grown can the plane tree bear the sun,
and naked feet destroy a new-laid lawn.
I suppose you’d prefer Hermione to Helen,
and was Medusa any better than her mother?
Then, he who wants to come to his love late,
earns a valuable prize, if he’ll only wait.”
Kline, A. S. (2001). Translation of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria: The Art of Love.