Stripping the Roman Ladies: Ovid's Rites and Readers

Ziogas, I.

doi:10.1017/s0009838814000494

Stripping the Roman Ladies: Ovid's Rites and Readers

Ziogas, I.

Authors

Professor Ioannis Ziogas ioannis.ziogas@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Ovid's disclaimers in the Ars Amatoria need to be read in this context. My main argument is that, in his disclaimers, Ovid is rendering his female readership socially unrecognizable, rather than excluding respectable virgins and matronae from his audience. Ars 1.31–4, Ovid's programmatic statement about his work's target audience, is a case in point. A closer look at the passage shows that he does not necessarily warn off Roman wives and marriageable girls: este procul, uittae tenues, insigne pudoris, quaeque tegis medios instita longa pedes: nos Venerem tutam concessaque furta canemus inque meo nullum carmine crimen erit. Ov. Ars Am. 1.31–4 Stay away, slender fillets, symbol of modesty, and you, long hem, who cover half the feet: we shall sing of safe sex and permitted cheating and there will be no wrong in my song.

Citation

Ziogas, I. (2014). Stripping the Roman Ladies: Ovid's Rites and Readers. Classical Quarterly, 64(02), 735-744. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009838814000494

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 6, 2014
Online Publication Date	Nov 20, 2014
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2014
Deposit Date	Jan 6, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Jul 31, 2017
Journal	Classical Quarterly
Print ISSN	0009-8388
Electronic ISSN	1471-6844
Publisher	Classical Association
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	64
Issue	02
Pages	735-744
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009838814000494

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in The Classical Quarterly https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009838814000494. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © The Classical Association 2014.