2009.03.20
Today, the 20th of March, let’s celebrate Ovid’s anniversary ! Ovid was born in the year 43 B. C. : Trist. IV, 10, 13, and he died in the reign of Tiberius, who hated him (16 ? 17 ?). He was 50 when the emperor Augustus banished him, just as Vergil was 50 when the Sun (sic) stroke him to death. The poet tells us how gloomy his birthdays were at Tomis (Trist. III, 13, 1-4) :
Ecce superuacuus – quid enim fuit utile gigni?-
Ad sua natalis tempora noster adest.
Dure, quid ad miseros ueniebas exulis annos ?
Debueras illis imposuisse modum ?
“So is my Anniversary back and punctual, and superfluous too – for what’s the good of living ?- You cruel, why do you add to the wretched years of an exile ? You ought to put an end to them”.
He compared exile to death (ibid. 21-22):
Funeris ara mihi ferali cincta cupressu
Conuenit et structis flamma parata rogis
“What fits me is a funerary altar wreathed with funeral cypress, and the flame prepared for and erected pyre”.
What crime had he committed to deserve such a punishment ? Was the whole affair in relation with the murder of Vergil ? This Forum is open to all discussions.