Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) is an erotic poem in three books by the Roman poet Ovid. It is a seduction manual - how and where to find suitable women and husbands, how to seduce them and maintain their interest and desire. Although written in 1 BCE, many of Ovid's wise tips and techniques are still relevant to todays modern dating world. Ars Amatoria also provides a lovely and intimate account of everyday life in Ancient Rome.
Book 1 and 2 are written from a male point of view (which gives women readers an interesting insight!). Book 3 is written more specifically for women and encourages extramarital sex (which is perhaps why Ovid was banished by Emperor Augustus).
The following quotes from Ovid's Ars Amatoria portray his masterful genius - intelligence, wit, beauty, charm and truth. We hope you enjoy his classic love poems and find his knowledge useful!
"Should anyone here not know the art of love,
read this, and learn by reading how to love."
"While you’re still free, and can roam on a loose rein,
pick one to whom you could say: ‘You alone please me.’
She won’t come falling for you out of thin air:
the right girl has to be searched for: use your eyes."
"So far, riding her unequal wheels, the Muse has taught you
where you might choose your love, where to set your nets.
Now I’ll undertake to tell you what pleases her,
by what arts she’s caught, itself a work of highest art."
"When hearts are glad, and nothing sad constrains them,
they’re open: Venus steals in then with seductive art." (Book 1)
"Beauty is a fleeting boon; it fades with the passing years, and the longer it lives, the more surely it dies."
"Pleasant words are the food of love. It is by quarrels that a woman estranges her husband, and a husband his wife. .. Quarrels are the dowry which married folk bring one another. But a mistress should only hear agreeable things. It is not the law that has landed you in bed together. Your law, the law for you and her, is Love. Never approach her but with soft caresses and words that soothe her ear, so that she may always rejoice at your coming."
"Live at peace with your mistress; have recourse to playfulness and to whatever may excite love." (Book 2)
"To women I am about to teach the art of making themselves beloved. .. Woman cannot resist the flames and cruel darts of love, shafts which, methinks, pierce not the heart of man so deeply. Man is ever a deceiver; woman deceives but rarely. Make a study of women, you'll find but few unfaithful ones among them."
"While yet you may, and while you yet enjoy the spring-time of your years, taste of the sweets of life. The years flow on like to the waters of a river. The stream that fleeteth by, never returns to the source whence it sprang. Make the most of your youth; youth that flies apace. Each new day that dawns is less sweet than those which went before."
"A woman, you will say, ought not thus to give herself to a man. Come now, why not? What does she lose? Nought but the liquid which she may take in again at will. Ah, no! I am not telling you to make drabs of yourselves; but merely not to be scared of some imaginary ill; the bestowal of such gifts will never make you poor."
".. Every woman should study to find out the style that suits her best; and for that her mirror is the surest guide! .. Some women look well with their hair done in careless fashion: you might think it hadn't been done since yesterday. In point of fact it has only just been combed. Artifice should look like carelessness."
"Still, it is only half the battle merely to play well; the important thing is to be master of yourself. Sometimes, when we are not properly on our guard, when we are carried away by the heat of the game, we forget ourselves and let our inmost nature stand revealed."
This book has been formatted by human hand, especially for Kindle.
Book 1 and 2 are written from a male point of view (which gives women readers an interesting insight!). Book 3 is written more specifically for women and encourages extramarital sex (which is perhaps why Ovid was banished by Emperor Augustus).
The following quotes from Ovid's Ars Amatoria portray his masterful genius - intelligence, wit, beauty, charm and truth. We hope you enjoy his classic love poems and find his knowledge useful!
"Should anyone here not know the art of love,
read this, and learn by reading how to love."
"While you’re still free, and can roam on a loose rein,
pick one to whom you could say: ‘You alone please me.’
She won’t come falling for you out of thin air:
the right girl has to be searched for: use your eyes."
"So far, riding her unequal wheels, the Muse has taught you
where you might choose your love, where to set your nets.
Now I’ll undertake to tell you what pleases her,
by what arts she’s caught, itself a work of highest art."
"When hearts are glad, and nothing sad constrains them,
they’re open: Venus steals in then with seductive art." (Book 1)
"Beauty is a fleeting boon; it fades with the passing years, and the longer it lives, the more surely it dies."
"Pleasant words are the food of love. It is by quarrels that a woman estranges her husband, and a husband his wife. .. Quarrels are the dowry which married folk bring one another. But a mistress should only hear agreeable things. It is not the law that has landed you in bed together. Your law, the law for you and her, is Love. Never approach her but with soft caresses and words that soothe her ear, so that she may always rejoice at your coming."
"Live at peace with your mistress; have recourse to playfulness and to whatever may excite love." (Book 2)
"To women I am about to teach the art of making themselves beloved. .. Woman cannot resist the flames and cruel darts of love, shafts which, methinks, pierce not the heart of man so deeply. Man is ever a deceiver; woman deceives but rarely. Make a study of women, you'll find but few unfaithful ones among them."
"While yet you may, and while you yet enjoy the spring-time of your years, taste of the sweets of life. The years flow on like to the waters of a river. The stream that fleeteth by, never returns to the source whence it sprang. Make the most of your youth; youth that flies apace. Each new day that dawns is less sweet than those which went before."
"A woman, you will say, ought not thus to give herself to a man. Come now, why not? What does she lose? Nought but the liquid which she may take in again at will. Ah, no! I am not telling you to make drabs of yourselves; but merely not to be scared of some imaginary ill; the bestowal of such gifts will never make you poor."
".. Every woman should study to find out the style that suits her best; and for that her mirror is the surest guide! .. Some women look well with their hair done in careless fashion: you might think it hadn't been done since yesterday. In point of fact it has only just been combed. Artifice should look like carelessness."
"Still, it is only half the battle merely to play well; the important thing is to be master of yourself. Sometimes, when we are not properly on our guard, when we are carried away by the heat of the game, we forget ourselves and let our inmost nature stand revealed."
This book has been formatted by human hand, especially for Kindle.
