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61-839: Book one of Ars amatoria was written to show a man how to find a woman. In book two, Ovid shows how to keep her. The third book, written two years after the first books were published, gives women advice on how to win and keep the love of a man ("I have just armed the Greeks against the Amazons; now, Penthesilea , it remains for me to arm thee against the Greeks...").. The first two books, aimed at men, contain sections which cover such topics as 'not forgetting her birthday', 'letting her miss you - but not for long' and 'not asking about her age'. The third gives similar advice to women, sample themes include: 'making up, but in private', 'being wary of false lovers' and 'trying young and older lovers'. Although

122-592: A company of Amazons to search for Penthesilea when she does not return from the Trojan War . The ship with Amazons is swept off course and after a shipwreck on the toe of Italy in Bruttium , Clete becomes the queen of the Amazons that settle there. In Virgil 's Aeneid , written between 29 and 19 BC, the Trojan army falls back when Achilles advances. Achilles drags the greatest Trojan warrior, Hector , around

183-552: A department of scholasticism , a matter of definition and rule. The Ars amatoria was included in the syllabuses of mediaeval schools from the second half of the 11th century, and its influence on 12th and 13th centuries' European literature was so great that the German mediaevalist and palaeographer Ludwig Traube dubbed the entire age 'aetas Ovidiana' ('the Ovidian epoch'). As in the years immediately following its publication,

244-461: A flirt, and in fact, the semi-serious, semi-ironic form is ideally suited to Ovid's subject matter. Through all his ironic discourse, Ovid never becomes ribald or obscene. Embarrassing matters are not entirely excluded, for 'praecipue nostrum est, quod pudet, inquit, opus' ('what brings a blush ... is our especial business here'). Sexual matters in the narrower sense are only dealt with at the end of each book, so here again, form and content converge in

305-560: A law to grant all Italians not under arms citizenship. At the instruction of the Senate, Lucius Caesar proposed a law providing that each Italian community would decide as to whether they would take Roman citizenship and establish new tribes – possibly eight – in the Tribal Assembly for the new citizens. This grant to citizenship had the effect of almost tripling the number of Roman citizens and annexing large swathes of Italy into

366-457: A lesser scale, Martial 's epigrams take a similar context of advising readers on love. Modern literature has been continually influenced by the Ars amatoria , which has presented additional information on the relationship between Ovid's poem and more current writings. Pioneering feminist historian Emily James Putnam wrote that Medieval Europe, deaf to the humor that Ovid intended, took seriously

427-527: A private and public crime ( lex Julia de adulteriis ). To encourage population expansion, the leges Juliae offered inducements to marriage and imposed penalties upon the celibate . Augustus instituted the "Law of the three sons" which held those in high regard who produced three male offspring. Marrying-age celibates and young widows who would not marry were prohibited from receiving inheritances and from attending public games. The extracts below are from later legal codes and textbooks, but are also valuable in

488-460: A queen by a crown. Penthesilea, shown on the ground just before being struck, and Achilles are exchanging a gaze. The final slab of the series on the Amazons depicts a truce between the Greek army and the Amazons at the end of the battle. According to Pausanias , the throne of Zeus at Olympia bore a painting by Panaenus of the dying Penthesilea being supported by Achilles. Pausanias wrote "And, at

549-651: A radical attempt to redefine relationships between men and women in Roman society, advocating a move away from paradigms of force and possession, towards concepts of mutual fulfilment. The superficial brilliance, however, befuddles even scholars (paradoxically, Ovid consequently tended in the 20th century to be underrated as lacking in seriousness). The standard situations and clichés of the subject are treated in an entertainment-intended way, with details from Greek mythology , everyday Roman life and general human experience. Ovid likens love to military service, supposedly requiring

610-484: A spear when they were hunting deer; this accident caused Penthesilea so much grief that she wished only to die, but, as a warrior and an Amazon, she had to do so honorably and in battle. She therefore was easily convinced to join in the Trojan War. Smyrnaeus also describes in gory detail how the army of Amazons surprises the Greek army and the slaughter that commenced. The Amazon Klonie, after slaying her first opponent,

671-458: A subtly ingenious way. Things, so to speak, always end up in bed. But here, too, Ovid retains his style and his discretion, avoiding any pornographic tinge. The end of the second book deals with the pleasures of simultaneous orgasm. Somewhat atypically for a Roman, the poet confesses, Odi concubitus, qui non utrumque resolvunt. Hoc est, cur pueri tangar amore minus ('I don't like intercourse that doesn't make both lovers come. That's why I'm less into

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732-535: Is described in detail by Virgil later in the epic. According to Virgil, Penthesilea led an army of Amazons and is a bellatrix (Latin for "female warrior") who dared to fight men ( audetque viris concurrere virgo ). Virgil based his narrative in Homer 's Iliad , while relying on the Epic Cycle for his portrayal of Penthesilea. Virgil also reworked oral legends into an epic on the foundation of Rome. In Aeneid

793-423: Is in turn killed. Penthesilea mows through the Greek lines, killing eight warriors, and cuts the arm off the Greek warrior who had killed Klonie. Penthesilea's Amazon comrades Bremusa , Evandre and Thermodosa fight valiantly alongside her but are slain, and so are Derinoe , Alkibie and Derimachea. Penthesilea slays more Greeks with axe and spear . From the towers the Trojan women watch and Penthesilea inspires

854-586: Is indebted to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey , which were grounded in oral storytelling and were only written down when the Greek alphabet was adopted in ancient Greece . In the Aethiopis Penthesilea is a Thracian woman warrior . She was an Amazon and daughter of Ares , who comes to help the Trojans. She arrived with twelve other Amazon warriors. After a day of distinguishing herself on

915-456: Is slain by Penthesilea. When she realizes that she and her pack of dogs have mangled the object of their desire, she dies herself through "a crushing feeling". The Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck wrote a 90' one-act opera, Penthesilea (Dresden, 1927) based on Kleist's drama. The French composer Pascal Dusapin 's opera based on Kleist's work premiered in 2015 at La Monnaie in Brussels under

976-499: The Ars amatoria has historically been victim of moral outcry. All of Ovid's works were burned by Savonarola in Florence, Italy in 1497; an English translation of the Ars amatoria was seized by U.S. Customs in 1930. Despite the actions against the work, it continues to be studied in college courses on Latin literature. It is possible that Edmond Rostand 's fictionalized portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac makes an allusion to

1037-400: The Ars amatoria : the theme of the erotic and seductive power of poetry is highly suggestive of Ovid's poem, and Bergerac's nose, a distinguishing feature invented by Rostand, calls to mind Ovid's cognomen , Naso (from nasus , 'large-nosed'). Penthesilea Penthesilea ( Greek : Πενθεσίλεια , romanized :  Penthesíleia ) was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology ,

1098-527: The Romans descended from the hero Aeneas and Trojan refugees who sailed to Italy after the Trojan War . This interweaving of the Penthesilea legend with the founding legend of Rome can be traced to Lycophron . In his universal history Bibliotheca historica , Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC celebrated Penthesilea as the last Amazon to win renown for valour in war. Diodorus wrote that after

1159-508: The Trojan War the Amazons diminished and tales of their former glory began to be considered mere legends. In the 4th century AD, the imperial Greek poet Quintus Smyrnaeus made Penthesilea the subject of the first book in Posthomerica . In this epic, Smyrnaeus tries to finish Homer by telling the colourful story of how the city of Troy fell. This work explains how Penthesilea came to be at Troy: Penthesilea had killed Hippolyta with

1220-519: The 'licentiousness' of the Ars amatoria was responsible in part for Ovid's relegation (banishment) by Augustus in 8 AD is dubious, and seems rather to reflect modern sensibilities than historical fact. For one thing, the work had been in circulation for eight years by the time of the relegation, and it postdates the Julian Marriage Laws by eighteen years. Secondly, it is hardly likely that Augustus, after forty years unchallenged in

1281-624: The Amazon after her death and slew Thersites for jeering at him". In the 3rd century BC, Lycophron went against the grain of the Homeric tradition. The poet had been born in Euboea , the site of a shrine to wounded Amazons who had fought in a mythic Battle for Athens. Lycophron tells the story of the young Amazon Clete , Penthesilea's attendant, who had been left behind in Pontus . Clete sets out with

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1342-587: The Amazons in his youth on the Sangarius River in Phrygia , some 350 miles east of Troy. Later writers of the antiquity located Amazons geographically in Anatolia and started an epic tradition where Greek heroes, such as Heracles and Theseus , fought an Amazon warrior of distinction. The Aethiopis version of the Penthesilea legend has become known as the Homeric tradition. Different traditions of

1403-473: The Middle Ages. In John Gower 's Confessio Amanatis she travels to Troy from Pafagoine. She is slain by Pirrus the son of Achilles. Philemenis returned her body for burial. He was rewarded with three fair maidens per year. Biographical lists of strong women were published, some included Penthesilea. The 1405 Chronicle (known as Haagse handschrift ) by the herald Baviere included Penthesilea and

1464-589: The Penthesilea legend appear to have existed at the time the Epic Cycle was published. One myth states that it was Neoptolemus who killed Penthesilea, instead of Achilles. In a lost poem of Stesichorus , believed to have been published in the 7th or 6th century, Penthesilea rather than Achilles had killed Hector . In the Pseudo-Apollodorus Epitome of the Bibliotheke she is said to have been killed by Achilles, "who fell in love with

1525-705: The Trojan War against the Greeks to impress Hector. But Penthesilea and her Amazon troops were slain at the end of a hard-fought battle with the Greeks. After recounting Penthesilea's accomplishments in De Mulieribus Claris Boccaccio wrote that "if we remember that practical experience can change natural dispositions" the legends of the Amazons become plausible. He wrote that "through practice, Penthesilea and women like her became much more manly in arms than those born male" who had been weakened through idleness and love of pleasure. The notion that upbringing and training were central to gender differences

1586-504: The assembly, bypassing the senate. The lex Julia de repetundis , also called the lex Julia repetundarum , was passed by Gaius Julius Caesar during his first consulship in 59 BC. It was a major piece of legislation containing over 100 clauses which dealt with a large number of provincial abuses, provided procedures for enforcement, and punishment for violations. Among other things, it: The law also expanded regulations on all kinds of public actions, including corruption before

1647-434: The baton of Ludovic Morlot . Austrian composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) wrote a symphonic poem on the legend entitled Penthesilea (1883–85). In Edward Bellamy's 1888 book Looking Backward , the main character (Julian West) is transported in time from 1887 (discovery date of the asteroid Penthesilea ) to 2000. There, in the year 2000, the main character reads a book by one of the 20th century's most famous writers by

1708-415: The battlefield, Penthesilea confronts Achilles and a fight ensues. Achilles kills her, and Thersites taunts Achilles by accusing him of having fallen in love with Penthesilea. Thersites is killed by Achilles after he punches Thersites so hard he dies, he then travels to the island of Lesbos to be purified before returning to Troy and fighting Memnon. According to Homer, the Trojan king Priam had fought

1769-406: The bill grew. Bibulus resorted instead to obstruction tactics by declaring negative omens on every day the bill could be voted on; one day, when moving to declare those omens, he – along with his political ally Cato – was attacked in the street by a mob (almost certainly organised by Caesar and his allies), forcing him to return home. In the absence of an announcement of negative omens, Caesar carried

1830-414: The bill in the assembly. Added to the law was then the requirement that senators swear an oath to uphold the law. Cato and an ally refused until intercession by Cicero , arguing that it would be better for Rome if Cato swore and remained than withdrew to exile. In the face of obstructive tactics from Cato's allies, Caesar brought the bill expanding the public lands subject to redistribution straight to

1891-403: The bill, he won a political victory when he forced Bibulus to admit that he had few reasons for opposing the bill while publicly expressing senseless and obstinate opposition: "You will not have this law this year, not even should you all want it!". With the support of Pompey and Crassus , two influential senators with which Caesar was cooperating in a then- secret alliance , popular support for

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1952-469: The book was finished around 2 AD, much of the advice he gives is applicable to any day and age. His intent is often more profound than the brilliance of the surface suggests. In connection with the revelation that the theatre is a good place to meet girls, for instance, Ovid, the classically educated trickster, refers to the story of the rape of the Sabine women . It has been argued that this passage represents

2013-484: The city walls and sells his dead body to king Priam for gold. Penthesilea is cast as a tragic Amazon queen who came too late in vain to help the beleaguered city. When Aeneas sees the panel of Penthesilea in the Juno temple of Carthage , he knows that the defeat of Penthesilea and Memnon presage a chain of events that would culminate in the sacking of the city. Penthesilea's fate also foreshadows that of Camilla , which

2074-432: The daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta , Antiope , and Melanippe . She assisted Troy in the Trojan War , during which she was killed by Achilles or Neoptolemus . The asteroid 271 Penthesilea , discovered in 1887, was named in her honor. In the five book epic Aethiopis , which was part of the Epic Cycle (or Cycle of Troy) on the Trojan War , the coming to Troy of Penthesilea and Memnon

2135-461: The extremity of the painting, is Penthesilea breathing her last, and Achilles supporting her". The motif of Achilles supporting a dying or dead Penthesilea has been preserved at the Temple of Aphrodisias and was reinterpreted in sculptures and mosaics in ancient Rome . A black-figure vase from about 510–500 BC shows Achilles carrying Penthesilea from the battlefield. The subject of Penthesilea

2196-637: The fictional name of Berrian. The title of this book is "Penthesilia" [sic] and it is a romance that supposedly exposes the true power and fullest extent of love. In Robert Graves ' short poem "Penthesileia", Achilles becomes infatuated with Penthesilia immediately after killing her, and then slays Thersites for his mockery of Achilles' behavior. The last verse is open to interpretation, some have interpreted it that Penthelisea's ghost thanks Thersites for standing up for her honour, but it has been suggested that she thanks Achilles for killing Thersites. Lex Julia A lex Julia (plural: leges Juliae )

2257-566: The first collection of biographies in Western literature that was devoted to famous women. The De Mulieribus Claris was published in Latin and dedicated to Andrea Acciaioli , the Countess of Altavilla . According to Boccaccio, Penthesilea succeeded the Amazon queens Antiope and Orithyia . She was in strength and skill superior to previous queens. According to Boccaccio, Penthesilea entered

2318-528: The ideals of chivalry . When kneeling before Hector's corpse, Penthesilea promises to avenge his death. Penthesilea fights at the side of the Trojan army, killing many Greek soldiers, but is slain by Achilles' son. In this tradition of the legend, her body is taken to the Thermodon for burial. Along the Terme River , various temple burial sites attest to the heroic status Penthesilea had as Amazon queen in

2379-564: The law remained "the basis of the Roman law of provincial administration". This law may have set regulations for Italian municipalities. The question of whether Julius Caesar was responsible for this law is "fiercely debated". Under Augustus, the leges Juliae of 18–17 BC attempted to elevate both the morals and the numbers of the upper classes in Rome and to increase the population by encouraging marriage and having children ( lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus ). They also established adultery as

2440-457: The love of boys.'). At the end of the third part, as in the Kama Sutra , the sexual positions are 'declined', and from them women are exhorted to choose the most suitable, taking the proportions of their own bodies into careful consideration. Ovid's tongue is again discovered in his cheek when his recommendation that tall women should not straddle their lovers is exemplified at the expense of

2501-477: The main exceptions were the Samnites and Lucanians – in an attempt to further stem rebellion. Julius Caesar passed two pieces of agrarian legislation in 59 BC during his first consulship. They were two pieces of related legislation: a lex Julia agraria and a lex Julia de agro Campano . The first law was related to the distribution of public (both existing and purchased from willing sellers) lands to

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2562-595: The medieval genre roman antique, which recycled Greek and Roman myths in a chivalric romance context. In late medieval Europe the legend was further popularised in Christine de Pizan 's The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) and John Lydgate 's Troy Book (1420). Penthesilea and Hector became romantic heroes. Penthesilea came to Troy because she had fallen in love with the virtuous knight Hector from afar. Hector and Penthesilea were portrayed as personifications of

2623-464: The mid- to late-5th century BC, scenes from the Trojan War are preserved in the Bassae Frieze , a high relief marble sculpture in 23 panels. Here the Greek army is charged by the Amazons, who gain the upper hand, and at the height of the battle Achilles slays Penthesilea on a slab known as BM 537. Achilles and Penthesilea are flanked by a Greek soldier and an Amazon. Penthesilea is identified as

2684-520: The mock-analytical framework of Ars amatoria as a cue for further academic exegesis: The tendency of the Middle Age toward the neat, the systematic, and the encyclopaedic, which made it so easy a prey to Aristotle , had the oddest results when directed toward the passion of love. Ovid's jeu d'esprit , the Ars Amatoria , was playfully set in a framework of Alexandrian didacticism . It

2745-504: The permanent courts, the senate, and public contracts (especially as to public works and grain). It also banned the owning of ships by senators. While it extended to judicial corruption, "Caesar was prudent" in keeping away from the "political hot potato" that was anti-bribery legislation applied to the equites – diverse men including Cato and Pompey had previously tried and failed in passing such legislation. However, Caesar cooperated with an ally in introducing legislation to record

2806-507: The purple, felt the poetry of Ovid to be a serious threat or even embarrassment to his social policies. Thirdly, Ovid's own statement from his Black Sea exile that his relegation was because of 'carmen et error' ('a song and a mistake') is, for many reasons, hardly admissible. It is more probable that Ovid was somehow caught up in factional politics connected with the succession: Agrippa Postumus , Augustus' adopted son, and Augustus' granddaughter, Vipsania Julilla , were both relegated at around

2867-589: The republic proper. The offer would be open to all Italian towns which were not under arms or who would lay those arms down within a short period. The main purpose of the law was to prevent those who had not risen up against Roman rule from doing so. It also had the effect of weakening the Italian war effort by making acceptable compromises. The next year, the Romans introduced the lex Plautia Papiria de civitate , granting citizenship to more allies under rebellion –

2928-425: The same time. This would also explain why Ovid was not reprieved when Augustus was succeeded by Agrippa's rival Tiberius . It is likely, then, that the Ars amatoria was used as an excuse for the relegation. This would be neither the first nor the last time a 'crackdown on immorality' disguised an uncomfortable political secret. The Ars amatoria created considerable interest at the time of its publication. On

2989-399: The strictest obedience to the woman. He advises women to make their lovers artificially jealous so that they do not become neglectful through complacency. Perhaps accordingly, a slave should be instructed to interrupt the lovers' tryst with the cry 'Perimus' ('We are lost!'), compelling the young lover to hide in fear in a cupboard. The tension implicit in this uncommitted tone is reminiscent of

3050-471: The tallest hero of the Trojan Wars: Quod erat longissima, numquam Thebais Hectoreo nupta resedit equo ('Since she was very tall, the daughter of Thebes ( Andromache ) as wife never mounted Hector as horse'). However, the word ars in the title is not to be translated coldly as 'technique', or as 'art' in the sense of civilized refinement, but as "textbook", the literal and antique definition of

3111-515: The two Amazons Semiramis and Tomyris among the strong women. A Netherlandish list of 101 strong women published between 1465 and 1480 included Penthesilea. This list of 101 women circulated at the court of Mary of Burgundy and was read by members of the Brussels administration. Philippe Bouton in 1480 published a Miroir des dames , which included Penthesilea. Between 1361 and 1362 the Italian Giovanni Boccaccio wrote

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3172-543: The urban poor and Pompey 's veterans; the latter added public lands in Campania for distribution. The passage of the first law was troubled. Caesar started his consulship by introducing it; it immediately met a filibuster from Cato the Younger . After being blocked in the senate, Caesar brought the bill before the popular assemblies. Inviting Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus , his co-consul and political opponent, to debate

3233-451: The votes of the jury panels (senators, equites , and tribuni aerarii ) separately, which "imposed a degree of indirect accountability without violating the secrecy of the individual verdict". It was passed with little dissent, receiving "high praise from [Caesar's] contemporaries". Many senators contributed to it, including Cato, who may have proposed the addition of some regulations against extortion of provincial towns. For centuries,

3294-456: The word. Appropriately for its subject, the Ars amatoria is composed in elegiac couplets , rather than the dactylic hexameters , which are more usually associated with the didactic poem. The work was such a popular success that the poet wrote a sequel, Remedia Amoris (Remedies for Love). At an early recitatio , however, S. Vivianus Rhesus, Roman governor of Thracia , is noted as having walked out in disgust. The assumption that

3355-432: The young Hippodamia , who urges the Trojan women to join the battle. Antimachus' daughter Tisiphone gives an inspirational speech: "not in strength are we inferior to men; the same our eyes, our limbs the same; one common light we see, one air we breathe; nor different is the food we eat. What then denied to us hath heaven on man bestowed? O let us hasten to the glorious war!" At the Temple of Apollo Epicurius , built in

3416-517: Was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia . Most often, "Julian laws", lex Julia or leges Juliae refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, or to a law related to Julius Caesar . During the Social War , a conflict between the Italians and the Romans over the withholding of Italian citizenship, the consul Lucius Julius Caesar passed

3477-462: Was described in detail. The Aethiopis was published in the 8th century BC and is attributed to Arctinus of Miletus . The main character of the epic is Achilles , who fights Penthesilea and Memnon before he is himself killed. Although Aethiopis has been lost, the Epic Cycle has been adapted and recycled in different periods of the classical age. The tradition of retelling the epic fall of Troy

3538-467: Was developed and recycled, with Achilles fading into the background. In illuminations that illustrated manuscripts, Penthesilea was cast as medieval warrior queen. A tradition developed where Penthesilea entered the Trojan War because of her reverence for the Trojan hero Hector. Penthesilea appears in the Roman de Troie (1160) by Benoît de Sainte-Maure as a chivalric heroine, and through this became part of

3599-412: Was discussed by Agostino Strozzi and Mario Equicola in 16th century Italy. The treatment of Penthesilea that has received most critical attention since the early twentieth century is the drama Penthesilea by Heinrich von Kleist , who cast its "precipitously violent tempo" in the form of twenty-four consecutive scenes without formal breaks into acts . In Kleist's Penthesilea, however, Achilles

3660-469: Was mildly amusing in his day to assume that rules could be laid down, by the use of which any one could become 'a master of the art of love,' to use the phrase of Diotima in Plato 's Symposium . This work was well known to clerks in its Latin form, and when love became a matter of general theoretical interest, it was rendered into French and became the textbook of the subject. Thanks to its method, love became

3721-473: Was treated so regularly by the so-called Penthesilea Painter , who was active between 470 and 450 BC, that Adolf Furtwängler dubbed him "The Penthesilea Painter". A considerable corpus for this innovative and prolific painter, whose work bridged the Severe style and Classicism and must have had a workshop of his own, was rapidly assembled in part by J.D. Beazley . In Medieval Europe , the Penthesilea legend

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