Ovid (circa 43 B.C.E.), also known as Publius Ovidius Naso, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. His father wanted him to study rhetoric toward the practice of law, but instead he began travelling to Athens, Asia Minor, and Sicily. He held minor public posts, but resigned to pursue poetry probably around 29 – 25 B.C.E. Ovid’s first recitation has been dated to around 25 B.C.E., when he was eighteen years old. Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative that is considered one of the most important sources of classical mythology.

Quotes by Ovid…