(also known as ''Love's Remedy'' or ''The Cure for Love''; ) is an 814-line poem in
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
by
Roman poet
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
. In this companion poem to ''
The Art of Love'', Ovid offers advice and strategies to avoid being hurt by
love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
feelings, or to fall out of love, with a
stoic overtone.
Genre
fell into the Hellenistic category of
didactic poetry, often carried out on mock-solemn subjects.
Goal and methods
Ovid's goal was to provide, for men and women alike, advice on how to escape safely from an unhappy love affair – emotional bondage – without falling into the tragic ends of such legendary figures as
Dido or
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...
.
Among the techniques he suggested were keeping busy; travelling; avoiding wine and love poetry; and concentrating on the beloved's defects rather than their strong points.
Critical reactions
*
Alexander Neckam in the Middle Ages thought that ''De Remedio Amoris'' was ''the'' most important book of Ovid's for scholars to read.
*Victorian views, seen for example in the work of
Oskar Seyffert, generally adjudged ''The Cure for Love'' to be "as frivolous as it is original and elaborate...and no less offensive in substance and tone".
*The 20th century generally took a more positive view,
H. J. Rose calling Ovid's instructions both frank and ingenious; while from a different discipline
Eric Berne commended their continuing (metropolitan) practicality.
[E. Berne, ''Sex in Human Loving'' (Penguin, 1970), p. 226]
See also
References
External links
English translation of Side-by-side Latin/English translation of
{{Authority control
1st-century books in Latin
Poetry by Ovid