Ovid quotes Flashcards
opening lines
I’ve given the Greek arms, against Amazons: arms remain,
to give to you Penthesilea, and your amazon troop
talking to unmarried women
“though you lack the marriage ribbon”
mocking his pupils
“the greater part are not-so-good”
“if you’re short sit down”
“those with strong breath don’t talk when your fasting”
he gives advice which benefits men
“don’t deny your delights to loving men”
“why should any woman say ‘not now’?”
“as deny him sex if she’s received gifts”
“whatever wrong occurs, be lightly troubled”
claims his advice hinders him and other men
“no doubt I’ll be attacked with my own weapons”
sailing metaphors to mark out sections
“while we’re in a harbor, may you ride the gentle breeze”
“spread the full expanse of swelling sail”
industry metaphors
“Iron crumbles, stone’s worn away with use”
“though a thousand use it, nothing’s destoryed that way”
simile
“like a mangy ass braying at the shameful mill”
metonyms
“Bacchus you don’t go badly with Venus’ boy”
litotes
“not the least part of charm is walking”
apostrophe
“and your values, you rolled dice”
Venus commissioning the poem
“before my eyes/ stood venus herself, and ordered me to teach you”
Ovid defending women
“beware of loading the crime of many onto the few:
let the merits of each separate girl be seen”
final lines
“inscribe on your trophies ‘Ovid was my master’”
old age for women
“don’t be timid and waste any of your time”
“pluck the flower/ which, if not plucked, will of itself, shamefully, fall”
“alone, and aged, in the cold of night”
old age for men
“your older warrior loves sensibly and wisely”
“slow fires, like wet straw”
hairstyles
“another tied up behind, in Diana’s usual style”
“tangled hair suits many girls”
stretch marks
“marked with childbirths wrinkles/ like the swift child of Parthia, turn your mount around”
sex positions
“Andromache/ his theban bride, was too tall to straddle Hector’s horse”
“adopt a reliable posture for her body”
Andromache
“I find it hard to believe… that you ever slept with your husbands”
Puns and wordplay
“she gave me a leaf, and a few myrtle”
love as a skill to be taught
“what destroyed you all I ask? Not knowing how to love”
Ovid is betraying men to women
“let all be betrayed: I’ve unbarred the gates to the enemy”
pleasure
“let both delight equally in the thing”
“pretend to sweet delight with artful sounds”
disclaimer
“those that modesty, principles and your rules allow”
“(don’t harm the cultured girls now!)”
women avoiding their husbands
“adhere to my religion, and deceive!”
References to Rome
“before they eyes of Hercules and the virgin muses choir”
“holy Palatine”
“sand thats drenched with warm blood”
Deception
“I don’t approve of openly cleaning your teeth”
“till your beauty’s ready banish men”
“when the lover you’ve just caught falls in to the net”
“so that the empty chariot carries secret messages”
narrative intervention
“When I see it, I want to kiss your shoulder”
“she’s been mine more than once”
Fame
“read our masters cultured song, in which he teaches both the sexes”
“what do sacred poets seek but fame?”
“Girls, be kind to poets”
“ambition and desire for possession don’t touch us”
games
“It’s shameful for a girl to not know how to play”
“in a game the naked hearts exposed”
“waiting always arouses love”
“let him sense a rival”
chariot racing
“muses, don’t smash the wheels”
reciprocal love
“glance at a glance, smile tenderly at a smile”
young men
“must know you only, and cling to you alone”
“burn with cruel fire”
“rip apart his clothing or his girls”
lewd
“concealed in the deep curves of her warm breasts”
Cephalus and Procris
“doubting love twists at your heart”
“body had pressed down in the grass”
“you’ve pierced a loving heart”
genuine advice
“shameful… drenched with too much wine”
“and it’s not safe”
Ovid as a god
“time to descend, you swans”
Ovids advice is good for infames
Don’t drink too much
Beware of false men
Encourages a stronger woman’s voice
Infames NEED to get a man to support them
Ovid respects women more than any of the other writers
Sees their perspective
Accepts their sexuality and desires
Gives them a voice (letters from perspective of heroines)
Describes lots of powerful examples from myths
Ovid is a brave free thinker
Radical focus on women
Subverts Augustan Rome
