Georgic and Kinegetic Elements in Ovid’s Erotodidaxis

Abstract

In this article, we intend to demonstrate the incorporation of thematic elements related to agriculture and hunting into Ovid’s two main erotodidactic poems, the Ars amatoria, and the Remedia amoris. However, this incorporation does not occur in the same way in both texts, for it depends on the adhesion of the works cited to the poetics of Roman erotic elegy. Thus, in the Ars amatoria, hunting and farming take the form of metaphors and comparisons, for the magister amoris teaches “students” to behave, at least superficially, like the lovers (or puellae) found in this poetic genre. In the Remedia amoris, on its turn, where the magister teaches his “students” how to break down romantic relationships that bring them suffering, practical occupations such as farming and hunting take the form of effective directions to be practical, as this favors the liberation of unhappy lovers from an idle existence, which puts them in a vulnerable situation in the face of love.