Happy birthday, Roman poet Ovid

It is the birthday of Roman poet Ovid (43 BC), one of the great influences on European art and literature and an important source for scholars of classical mythology. The recurring theme in Ovid's work is love and amorous pursuits, among both ordinary humans and the pantheon of Roman gods.

Roman poet Ovid wrote of mythology, love

Ovid

It is the birthday of Roman poet Ovid (43 BC), whose 15-book Metamorphoses may be his most popular work. It tells stories of transformations from Greek and Roman mythology. Ovid also wrote several volumes on love, including Amores (The Loves), Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love) and Remedia Amoris (The Cure for Love). Traditionally, he was banished from Rome to Tomis (on the Black Sea in present-day Romania) by the Emperor Augustus in 8 AD, apparently for writing about adultery, according to some scholars. Adultery was a serious crime in ancient Rome. Scholars still debate the reasons for his exile, and, indeed, whether he was banished from Rome at all. In any case, he started a project he called Fasti (The Festivals), which seemed to be planned to cover a whole year in the Roman calendar. Only January through June exist. Some scholars say work on the project was interrupted by his exile because he didn't have access to the vast libraries in Rome.