Latin poet. His poetry deals mainly with the themes of love (
Amores (20
BC),
Ars amatoria/The Art of Love (1
BC)), mythology (
Metamorphoses (
AD 2)), and exile (
Tristia (
AD 912)). Born at Sulmo, Ovid studied rhetoric in Rome in preparation for a legal career, but soon turned to literature. In
AD 9 he was banished by Augustus to Tomis, on the Black Sea, where he died. Sophisticated, ironical, and self-pitying, his work was highly influential during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
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