The Art of Love (Modern Library Classics)

An old classical favorite. The translations are well done; more on the eloquent and poetic side. Translations are not consistently literal but I appreciate the author’s intuition.

Very interesting book. I am constantly surprised by how similar our society is to the ancient Rome. I didn't know it was printed in Latin on one page and English on the other, a pleasant surprise. Don't know much Latin, but good to have and fun to look over at the original once in a while.

This book is amazing. I absolutely love that it has the original Latin on the left pages. As one who has studied Latin for four years, this book is great. The translation is generally excellent, a nice balance of the literal language and Ovid/the translator's wit and poetry.

Or at least, put it in a very positive way, that's what the smile on my face meant when I finished reading this beautiful piece written by Ovid during the first century A.D.; perhaps the "step by step" seduction handbook then and now, is even more remarkable by the fact that its wisdom applies the same in today's "complex" world.The Art of Love or "Ars Amatoria" is no doubt the result of the life of a very well traveled and educated man, for he is one of those few who understands the ways (and mistery) of the feminine soul... by the same token, Ovid gives us both sides of the coin in this Roman's elegy: the ways of the male spirit in order to seduce women, and the step by step guide for women to seduce and keep men... in other words, there's nothing new under the sun, BUT, the ways we perceive and apply knowledge...

If you enjoy Byron and Pushkin, you'll probably enjoy Ovid. The tone is light-hearted, rather than serious. It sometimes feels "modern" --"Thank goodness I'm alive today;this age suits me -- ...Villas into the bay's blue water, but becauseWe have culture, and the coarse life that wasNatural to our grandfathers didn't lastTo our day, is a thing of the past."The first two book are addressed at men and the third (the most interesting) is addressed at women.He begins with the assumption that women's pleasure in love should be equal to men's.There's nothing explicit in the advice. This is not a Roman Kama Sutra. He describes women's hairstyles at length, but gives short shrift to sexual positions.For me, the most interesting passage was advice to women regarding writing letters to a lover:"... address your loverby a woman's name --referThroughout to him as her."This is meant to avoid discovery of the affair. And it occurred to me that this is an explanation for the sexual ambiguity of Shakespeare's sonnets. That was probably a deliberate strategy, following Ovid's advice, addressing a married woman as if she were a man.

Easily the most fascinating book to come out of antiquity. You come learn to realize just how little has changed.

Excelent conditions

Really funny.