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51-469: The term ophiotaurus is a compound derived from Ancient Greek ὄφῐς óphis , meaning "serpent", and ταῦρος taûros , meaning "bull". The Ophiotaurus is said to be a creature with the front half of a bull and the back half of a serpent. The only known writing featuring the Ophiotaurus is Fasti by Ovid . Here, Ovid describes the types of monstra that are threats to both men and gods. Ovid contrasts

102-778: A bull, but not both at once. Fasti (poem) The Fasti ( Latin : Fāstī [faːstiː] , "the Calendar "), sometimes translated as The Book of Days or On the Roman Calendar , is a six-book Latin poem written by the Roman poet Ovid and published in AD 8. Ovid is believed to have left the Fasti incomplete when he was exiled to Tomis by the emperor Augustus in 8 AD. Written in elegiac couplets and drawing on conventions of Greek and Latin didactic poetry ,

153-442: A chance to draw parallels with the exiles of Aeneas and Odysseus (Ulysses) and excuse his work's failings. The introductory poem, which cautions the departing book against the dangers of its destination, was probably written last. The second book consists of a single 578-line poem. It takes the form of a plea to Augustus to end the unhappy exile brought about by his carmen et error (poem and error). The poem which had angered

204-412: A confined narrative. Murgatroyd particularly looks at Ovid's relationships with other authors, notably Livy (from whom Ovid is at pains to distinguish his poetic rather than historical enterprise) and Virgil, and traces how Ovid uses their narratives to construct his own identity in relation to his predecessors in a spirit of friendly competition. He has also traced the progression of Ovid's narrator through

255-497: A politically weighted work. Only the six books which concern the first six months of the year are extant. It may be that Ovid never finished it, that the remaining half is simply lost, or that only six books were intended. Ovid apparently worked on the poem while he was in exile at Tomis. The Tristia , a collection of elegiac letters on the poet's exile, mentions the Fasti , and that its completion had been interrupted by his banishment from Rome. Ovid also mentions that he had written

306-572: A prayer to Minerva for the Quinquatrus (809–848), and the story of Phrixus and Helle for the Tubilustrium (849–878). April begins with the appearance of Venus, who chides Ovid for his abandonment of erotic elegy; Ovid goes on to trace the genealogy of the Roman kings and Augustus from Venus and ends with a celebration of Venus as the goddess of creation (1–132). The first long episode of

357-462: A prologue which contains a dedication (1–62) of the poem to Germanicus , Ovid's recusatio , and a description of the poem's theme as the Roman calendar, festivals, and annual astronomical events, followed by a discussion of Romulus ' and Numa 's invention of the Roman calendar. The first episode (63–294) is an interview between the poet and the god Janus about the details of his nature as primal creator ( Chaos ), history, iconography, and festival on

408-516: A quotation from the alleged books for July through December (books 7 to 12). In 1504 the eccentric humanist and classical text collector Conrad Celtes claimed to have discovered the missing books in a German monastery. He wrote a letter about the books to the Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius , who insisted on seeing them himself before signing a contract. The purported missing verses had actually been composed by an 11th-century monk, were known to

459-545: A single poem. Taking this division into account, book 1 has 13 poems, book 3 has 15, book 4 has 11, book 5 has 16. Book 2, as noted above, is one single poem. Peter Green wrote in a translation of Ovid's exile poems that the Tristia "[has] not, on the whole, had a good press from posterity." Gordon Williams referred to the work as "mostly a pale reflection of the genius that he had been." However, Ralph J. Hexter wrote in 1995 that literary critics were then "beginning to give

510-573: A small section or a neglected episode into an elaborate narrative. The poem is an extensive treatment on the Roman calendar or fasti . Each of its separate books discusses one month of the Roman calendar, beginning with January. It contains some brief astronomical notes, but its more significant portions discuss the religious festivals of the Roman religion , the rites performed upon them, and their mythological explanations. These explanations preserve much mythological and religious lore that would have otherwise been lost. The first book opens with

561-428: A way of subverting seemingly encomiastic episodes. Earlier scholars posited that the imperial festivals are actually the central focus of the poem embedded in an elaborated frame of charming stories which serve to draw attention to the "serious" imperial narratives — a concept which Herbert-Brown argues against while taking a less subversifying position than Newlands. Herbert-Brown argues that Ovid's main consideration

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612-408: Is posited by Herbert-Brown who feels that the poem is structured around the great contemporary architectural monuments of Rome. Other readers have chosen to focus on the poetics of the Fasti rather than political themes. Murgatroyd's work has particularly focused on the cinematic style of Ovid's work, which he shows employs elaborate and often highly subtle devices to create a vivid picture within

663-619: Is regarding the festival of the Parilia which includes agricultural prayers, aetiologies of customs, and the story of the founding augury and death of Remus (721–862). The final sections tell the story of Mezentius in connection to the Vinalia (863–900) and include an agricultural prayer on the Robigalia (901–942). This book opens with the presentation by the Muses of three etymologies for

714-477: Is versifying the calendar; although some sections may be subversive, Herbert-Brown believes that for the most part Ovid's poem harmonizes with imperial ideology in an attempt to gain favor with the imperial household from exile. Seemingly problematic passages reflect mythological ambiguities that Ovid is playing with rather than subversion of the imperial family, and his burlesque treatments of religion are part of an established Roman attitude. An architectural framework

765-509: The Empire of Nicaea and had allegedly informed a popular harvest festival under the reign of John III Doukas Vatatzes , but even so, many contemporaries of Celtes believed him, and classical scholars continued to write about the existence of the missing books until well into the 17th century. While Carole E. Newlands wrote in 1995 that the poem had suffered by comparison with other works of Ovid, Fasti has since come to be "widely acclaimed as

816-458: The Fasti is structured as a series of eye-witness reports and interviews by the first-person vates ("poet-prophet" or "bard") with Roman deities , who explain the origins of Roman holidays and associated customs—often with multiple aetiologies . The poem is a significant, and in some cases unique, source of fact in studies of religion in ancient Rome ; and the influential anthropologist and ritualist J.G. Frazer translated and annotated

867-536: The Fasti Praenestini , a contemporary calendar constructed and annotated by the grammarian Verrius Flaccus , whose fragments include much ritual material that can be found in Ovid's poem. The concept of putting these calendars into verse however, seems to be a uniquely Ovidian concept. Besides his use of calendars and astronomical poetry, Ovid's multi-generic, digressive narrative and learned poem depends on

918-534: The Regifugium describes the legends associated with the fall of the Tarquins , Lucretia 's rape and suicide, and Brutus ' revenge (685–855). The third book is dedicated by Ovid to Mars , the patron of the month; in connection to the god, the poet narrates the rape of Silvia , the birth and discovery of Romulus and Remus, and ends with a discussion of March as the former first month of the year (1–166). Next,

969-424: The 15th–18th centuries, and influenced a number of mythological paintings in the tradition of Western art . However, as scholar Carole E. Newlands has observed, throughout the 20th century "anthropologists and students of Roman religion … found it full of errors, an inadequate and unreliable source for Roman cultic practice and belief. Literary critics have generally regarded the Fasti as an artistic failure." In

1020-478: The Emperor was apparently Ovid's Ars Amatoria , a light-hearted instruction manual on how to pick up women; the nature of the "error" is never made clear, although some speculate it may have had something to do with Ovid's overhearing (or rather discovery) of the adulterous nature of Augustus' daughter, Julia . He defends his work and his life with equal vigor, appealing to the many poets who had written on

1071-584: The Kalends of January. The second long episode (317–456) describes the Agonalia , the aetiologies of sacrificial animals, the story of Aristaeus , and the story of Lotis and Priapus . The third episode (461–636) for the Carmentalia discusses the exile of Evander to Latium, the prophecy of his mother Carmentis about Aeneas , Augustus , and Livia , and the myth of Hercules and Cacus , ending with

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1122-619: The Kite brought them, and his service set him among the stars. The only other known depiction of the Ophiotaurus is a mosaic that was excavated in York . The Ophiotaurus had a prominent role in the Titanomachy , the conflict between the gods and the Titans . English professor John E. Curran Jr. describes the Ophiotaurus as one of the more overt examples of a text challenging the invulnerability of

1173-529: The Luperci with a story of Faunus' sexual humiliation when he tries to rape Hercules dressed as Omphale and the story of Remus' defeat of cattle rustlers. The narrative of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is also included. Lines 475–532 describe Romulus' transformation into Quirinus , which is followed by the narrative of Lara in connection to the Feralia (533–616). The final extensive section describing

1224-480: The Ophiotaurus with the immania monstra , the terrifying monsters. The poem describes a prophecy telling that whoever burns the Ophiotarurus will defeat the gods. It depicts Briareus, one of the 100-handed Hecatoncheires , killing the Ophiotaurus in an attempt to burn its innards only to be stopped by birds sent by Zeus . Book Three of Fasti reads: There was a bull, a marvelous monster, born of Mother Earth,

1275-427: The Roman fasti , the Roman calendrical lists, which included dates, notices of festivals, ritual prohibitions and proscriptions, anniversaries of important events, and sometimes aetiological material. Ovid often mentions consulting these calendars, such as his reference at 1.11 to pictos fastos and his references to the actual annotation marks of the calendar. The most important of these calendars for Ovid were probably

1326-645: The book is the festival of the Magna Mater , the Ludi Megalenses . For this festival Ovid recounts the birth of Rhea 's children, the castration of Attis , the goddess' transfer to Rome, and the story of Claudia Quinta (179–375). The next narrative, which is the longest and most elaborate in the Fasti describes the Cerealia and the rape of Persephone, the wandering of Ceres, and the return of Persephone to Olympus (393–620). The next extended section

1377-589: The divine interviews from a seemingly naive and somewhat overwhelmed poet to a full-fledged vates who ends up in command of the narrative process. Bibliography Tristia The Tristia ("Sad things" or "Sorrows") is a collection of poems written in elegiac couplets by the Augustan poet Ovid during the first three years following his banishment from Rome to Tomis on the Black Sea in AD 8. Despite five books in which he bewails his fate copiously,

1428-461: The empire without an influential patron to protect artists. She points out that Ovid seems to use divine interlocutors and especially divine disagreements to avoid authority and responsibility for the poem's statements, that there is an inherent and destabilizing tension with the presence of traditional Roman matronae in an elegiac poem (an erotic genre and meter), and that Ovid often uses astronomical notices and undermining narrative juxtapositions as

1479-410: The entire work, and finished revising six books. However, no ancient source quotes even a fragment from the supposedly six missing books. The Fasti is dedicated to Germanicus , a high-ranking member of the emperor Augustus 's family . These circumstances have led some to speculate that the poem was written on religious, patriotic , and antiquarian themes in order to improve Ovid's standing with

1530-571: The feast of Anna Perenna on the Ides, focusing on the story of the Vergilian Anna's escape from Carthage and journey to Italy where she becomes the river Numicius , the legend of Anna's deceit of Mars when he attempted to woo Minerva, and ending with a note on the murder of Caesar (523–710). The end of the month includes the legends of Bacchus' discovery of honey for the Liberalia (713–808),

1581-456: The final masterwork of the poet from Sulmo." One of the chief concerns that has occupied readers of the poem is its political message and its relationship with the Augustan household. The work contains much material on Augustus, his relatives, and the imperial cult, as signalled in the preface by his address to Germanicus that explains that he will find "festivals pertaining to your house; often

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1632-615: The full range of ancient poetry and prose. In this, one of the most important works for Ovid was Callimachus ' Aetia ; the use of divine interlocutors, elegiac meter, various generic registers, and a focus on explaining the origins of customs and festivals are all significant features of Callimachus' work. The Fourth Book of Propertius , who claimed to be the Roman Callimachus, might also be a model since it also deals with aetiologies of Roman customs and myths. His etymologizing implies an interest in Roman antiquarianism, particularly

1683-480: The funeral of Remus (419–490). The birth of Orion from the urine ( ouron ) of the gods comes next (493–544). This is followed by the origin of the Temple of Mars Ultor (545–598), the end of human sacrifice at Rome (603–662), the worship of Mercury (663–692), and the death of Castor and Pollux (693–720). The sixth book begins with a prologue in which the goddesses Juno and Juventas ( Hebe ) dispute over which goddess

1734-407: The gods and presenting them as fearful. Classics professor Peter Kelly suggests that the Ophiotaurus is Ovid's interpretation of the ideas of Empedocles , who posited that most primordial creatures were hybrids. In this sense, the Ophiotaurus returns scientific and philosophical thinking to the realm of myth. He also compares the Ophiotaurus to Achelous , a river god who can transform into a snake and

1785-399: The hind part of which was of serpent-form: warned by the three Fates, grim Styx had imprisoned him in dark woods, surrounded by triple walls. There was a prophecy that whoever burnt the entrails of the bull, in the flames, would defeat the eternal gods. Briareus sacrificed it with an adamantine axe, and was about to set the innards on the flames: but Jupiter ordered the birds to snatch them: and

1836-538: The immediate cause of Augustus ' banishment of the most acclaimed living Latin poet to Pontus remains a mystery. In addition to the Tristia , Ovid wrote another collection of elegiac epistles on his exile, the Epistulae ex Ponto , as well as a 642-line curse poem called Ibis , directed against the unnamed enemy who had apparently caused his downfall. He spent several years in the outpost of Tomis and died in AD 17 or 18 without ever returning to Rome. The Tristia

1887-409: The late 1980s, however, the poem enjoyed a revival of scholarly interest and a subsequent reappraisal; it is now regarded as one of Ovid's major works, and has been published in several new English translations. Ovid was exiled from Rome for his subversive treatment of Augustus, yet the Fasti continues this treatment—which has led to the emergence of an argument in academia for treating the Fasti as

1938-469: The month is named after (1–100). Ovid goes on to relate the story of the affair of Carna, the goddess of hinges, and Janus as well as the story of how Proca was defended from murderous owls by Cranae (101–195). The next large narrative is the discussion of iconography and aetiology of the Vestalia , the festival of Vesta. The cosmic identification of Vesta with the earth, the story of Priapus' attempted rape,

1989-507: The name of the month: the goddess Maiestas, the Roman elders ( maiores ), and Maia the mother of Mercury (1–110). Ovid is unable to decide on a correct etymology. In the next section the goddess Flora appears and discusses her origin, her help in Juno's conceiving of a child, and the political origin of her games (159–378). The next notable narrative discusses the rituals of the Lemuria and

2040-410: The names of your father and grandfather will meet you on the page." (1.9–10) A current trend in Fasti scholarship has been towards the reading of Ovid's voice in the poem as subversive and cynical. Carole Newlands has read the poem as particularly subversive of the regime and imperial propaganda; she believes that several passages point to the problem of curtailed free speech and artistic freedom under

2091-575: The origin of the altar of Jupiter Pistoris (of the bakers) in the Gallic invasion of Rome, and the rescue of the Palladium by Metellus in a fire at the temple are recounted (249–468). A short astronomical notice precedes the long discussion of the Matralia in which Ovid explains the origin of the cult of Mater Matuta who as Ino journeyed to Italy and was made a goddess (473–569). This is followed by

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2142-547: The poet interviews Mars who tells the story of the rape of the Sabine women to explain why women worship him, and of Numa's capture of Jupiter and the gift of the ritual shields, the ancilia and the introduction of the salii (167–398). Next Ovid relates two short narratives, the story of Romulus' asylum and the temple of Jupiter Veiovis (429–458) and Ariadne's complaint of unfaithfulness to Bacchus and subsequent katasterism of Ariadne's crown (459–516). A long section describes

2193-464: The praise of the family of Augustus. The end of the book talks about the festival of Concordia (637–650), the movable Sementivae with a prayer for agricultural productivity (655–704), and the feast of the Ara Pacis (709–724). Ovid opens book 2 with an etymological derivation of February from februa (instruments of purification) (1–54). He continues relating several shorter narratives, including

2244-533: The rulers of Rome and secure his release from exile. The earliest classical calendrical poem which might have inspired Ovid is the Works and Days of Hesiod , which includes mythological lore, astronomical observations, and an agricultural calendar. For the astronomical sections, Ovid was preceded by Aratus ' Phaenomena as well as lost poetry on constellations and probably Germanicus ' adaptation of Aratus ( Fasti 1.17–27). The most significant influence on Ovid were

2295-1212: The same themes as he—among them Anacreon , Sappho , Catullus and even Homer . The plea was unsuccessful; Ovid would live out the remainder of his years in exile among the Thracian Getae . The last three books of the Tristia grow grimmer as their author ages, heavy with the knowledge that he will never return to his home. At one point he even composes his epitaph : I who lie here, sweet Ovid, poet of tender passions,     fell victim to my own sharp wit. Passer-by, if you've ever been in love, don't grudge me     the traditional prayer: 'May Ovid's bones lie soft!' The last poem of book 5 addresses Ovid's wife, praising her loyalty throughout his years of exile and wishing that she be remembered for as long as his books are read. The number of poems in Tristia differs slightly in different editions. For example, in Hall's 1995 Teubner edition, poems 1.5, 1.9, 3.4, 4.4, 5.2 and 5.7 are each split into two separate poems, which in most manuscripts each appear to be

2346-567: The sources Ovid used are untraceable. On the Roman side, Ovid particularly focuses on and employs Virgil 's Aeneid and Eclogues , most notably in the long section on Anna in Book 3. As in the Metamorphoses , Ovid's use of Virgil is multifaceted; he often prefers to invert or abbreviate Virgil's episodes. Ovid will regularly deliberately pass over material covered in the Aeneid and expand

2397-631: The stories of Arion and the dolphin (79–118), Augustus' assumption of the title pater patriae (119-148), the myth of Callisto (153–192), the fall of the Fabii at the battle of the Cremera (193–242), and the fable of the constellations of the Raven, Snake, and Crater (243–266). The next long section in the book discusses the festival of the Lupercalia (267–474). The poet aetiologizes the nakedness of

2448-415: The story of the murder of King Servius Tullius , a lover of Mater Matuta. The Lesser Quinquatrus ' legend follows about the exile and return of Roman flute players (649–710). The final notable episodes of the poem are the punishment of Aesculapius (733–762) and the praise of Marcia by Clio (797–812). Though Ovid mentions he had written twelve books, no verified ancient text has been discovered with even

2499-542: The work for the Loeb Classical Library series. Each book covers one month, January through June, of the Roman calendar , and was written several years after Julius Caesar replaced the old system of Roman time-keeping with what would come to be known as the Julian calendar . The popularity and reputation of the Fasti has fluctuated more than that of any of Ovid's other works. The poem was widely read in

2550-424: The works of Varro on etymology and Roman religion. He similarly makes use of much Roman history writing, which must include lost historical poetry as well as the annal tradition (Ovid says in the prologue that one of his sources are ancient annals ( annalibus ... priscis (1.7)). In his longer narrative sections, Ovid makes use of tragedy, epic poetry, elegy, and Hellenistic mythological poems. For some episodes,

2601-463: Was once viewed unfavorably in Ovid's oeuvre but has become the subject of scholarly interest in recent years. The first of the five books was written during Ovid's journey into exile. It addresses his grieving wife, his friends — both the faithful and the false — and his past works, especially the Metamorphoses . Ovid describes his arduous travel to the furthest edge of the empire, giving him

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