The Erotic Poems (Penguin Classics)

This is probably the best translation of Ovid's Amores in general available at the moment. I think it is funny that all the reviewers merely want to talk up Ovid, but have seem to miss the reasons why this translation is actually very legitimate.Peter Green does not do hexametres and elegaics -- but he does something of an "imitation" which is very close, and very pleasing. It stomps out those "ABAB/ABCB" stanzaic translations. Ovid didn't write it in rime, don't be silly (the only way that is even near to pulled off is as Marlowe's heroic-couplets). Green does, however, very often hit upon a hexameter line in this style of translation. What he uses is a sort of accentual line (though it is free-flowing), the first line longer, the second shorter (like the elegiac original) -- but the awesome trait that goes towards Green's 5star, is that he almost always ends the hexameter line on a trochee or spondee, and always ends the hemiapes line on a stressed syllable or an iamb/anapest/choriamb etc. This really says something towards the translator, that he put actual poetic care into the translation. Really the only way this could have been better is if he would have done qualitative-elegaics. This fact alone makes this book a favourite to me.His translations are pretty close to the original, but its almost as if in a way he makes the vocab lewder than the original (sometimes) so that it will hit the reader harder -- perhaps this is how Green sees Ovid, so its not a blamable flaw overall, though sometimes it is makes for an odd line. Honestly even that said these Amores are highly enjoyable and readable, and I would suggest this to anyone wanting to get a feel for Ovid.Green's annotations are very thorough and, like the poems, enjoyable to read. He has a few opinions I might disagree with, but most people likely may not.Anyways, great Roman poet, great translator poet, thorough annotations - that's the most we can ask for. Which also makes it surprising that this book can only be bought used (out-of-print?), and that is a sadness, for the importance of this being practically the only truly competent book of Ovid's Amores, and this is why I surely give it 5 stars despite any minor disagreements I might have had with the annotation. Great translation!

The Erotic Poems form a set of social satires and commentaries by Ovid. They are important historically, and just poetically nice. One can see in them a lot of what the Romantic-era poets were trying to recreate. Yet the poems are remarkably timeless (I wasn't sure about the translations in a couple of points, but these were minor) and speak to our age as much as Ovid's.As a departure from my usual style, I will leave the historical importance of these works to other reviewers except to note that they are important. The translation is sufficient to give the work 5 stars.However, one may well ask why someone who is not a historian or classicist might want to read this work. The simple reason here is that the works speak of sexual desire (and love too in some cases) in ways which are fundamentally timeless, in eloquent style, and in vivid imagery. The works thus can help us understand those elements of ourselves which remain unchanged in two thousand years and help put these elements in our lives into a greater context.I would highly recommend this work to everyone.

I have been a fan of all kinds of poetry most of my life. I recently purchased this 450 page soft cover book (Ovid: The erotic poems: translated with an introduction and notes by Peter Green) on Amazon for a bargain price.Ovid is a poet from Italy born in 43 BC and this is a collection of his erotic poetry. This text covers The Amores, The art of love, Cures for love and facial treatment for ladies. Though I did find some of the material interesting; however, the style and content became somewhat tedious and boring. I thought the Asian erotic poetry much more meaningful and clear.If you are a fan of Ovid’s writing and poetry you may want to check out this book. Personally I was not impressed with this particular poet’s poems.Rating: 3 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Arts and Warrior Haiku and Senryu)

I've been reading up on a lot of the classics lately and I'd recently finished the Metamorphosis translated by Mary M. Innes and was just enthralled by it. This translation just did not hold the same flow or rich vocabulary as Innes' translation. It really felt like something written for young people of our time and while to some that is probably all well and good I much preferred the grandeur of Musa's writing.To Ovid's credit it is a good, albeit very saucy book which I think is more meant to cater to a male audience, though being a woman I couldn't say I found it completely disagreeable =P.

I am new to the works of Ovid and consider myself a beginning amateur enthusiast of Classical Roman works, not a scholar by any means.For my purposes, I like this version for its direct, up-to-date style, not too archaic or wordy.However, the image of Ovid as a sensual, racy guy who really loved women, clearly comes across.The poems are not "graphic" in the modern sense; those looking for that type of literature should look elsewhere. I do not know how close it is in shades of meaning to the original Latin or which other translations are more accurate in that regard.I picked it up as one who was interested in finding out about Ovid and have found this to be an enjoyable introduction.

Read this book if you want to up your game. I've taken a lot of these concepts and applied them to real life situations. A must read if you're trying to date!

This is a good collection of Ovid's elegies. It is translated really nicely, not at all confusing or trying to hard. The notes are also extensive and helpful. Used this book for a class, ended up reading the whole thing because it was great. Ovid is hard to read in Latin, but the English translation here makes it interesting and understandable.

this is one of the required book for my class, and I enjoy the reading

Where has this poet been in my teenage years? First of all the poems are brilliantly translated with great accompanying notes and an intelligent introduction on Ovid's poetry and the poets life itself. A lot of academic research and a bit of logical deduction has gone into this.As for the poems themselves and the advice they give they are as relevant for today's lovers of love and the opposite sex as they were 2,000 years ago. It is amazing to read this work of an Augustan poet living at the time of Christ's birth and to be able to relate to what he says when it comes to seducing women. This is advice that I could have done as a teenager. Ovid is funny, conversational and has a delightful turn of phrase especially when describing, as the Emperor Domitian would put it, 'Bed Wrestling.' There are numerous layers to his poetry - you can read it straight as poetic advice on love and dating, you can also read it as a satire on traditional mythology and even on Augustan morality. The numerous references to Greek and Roman mythology and history will leave first time readers to classical literature perhaps slightly baffled as to the specific meanings of some poems but all in all the poems do speak for themselves so a thorough knowledge of Greek & Roman history and mythology isn’t essential to the poems however if you do have this knowledge it does add a whole other layer of meaning to Ovid's works and makes his jokes and sly remarks all the more funnier. Luckily most of the footnotes explain these myths anyway for first time classics readers. Overall a great translation and a great writer - it is just a shame, yet again in Penguin Classics, that all his works aren't available as the translator and introduction for this book are very good and I would love to see other works by Ovid given the same treatment.

I love this book, Ovid has such a wonderful sarcastic sense of humour. I needed this for my course, and it was well worth the money.

Ovid is one of my favourite poets but I do have misgivings about this translation. It's great if you're interested in reading Ovid's love poetry for pleasure, but if you're studying it at any level then it's quite far from the original text.Green's translations are all a bit too jaunty and try-hard for me. For example, in 1.1.5 where the Latin is 'quis tibi, saeve puer, dedit hoc in carmina iuris?' Green translates this as ' "nasty young brat," I told him, "who made you Inspector of Metres?" '. A more literal translation would be 'who, cruel boy, gave you this right over poetry?', quite different in tone, I think, from Green.Green has also written a substantial introduction which gives biographical details in some length and outlines his position in reading Ovid. Again, I disagree with his stance which seems to me to be a very literal one, that is he assumes Ovid is writing autobiographically and takes all his evidence from the poetry, a dubious position I think.That aside, Ovid is a great poet and this is a very accessible volume for the general interested reader. However, for students I think this could be a barrier rather than a help and would stick to Loeb's  Heroides and Amores (Loeb classical library) . Heroides and Amores (Loeb classical library)

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