The Complete Book of Love: The Book of Love, Love Medicine, Beauty, and Love Songs

Author: Ovid (Ancient Rome)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: "The Art of Love" is a work in which Ovid feigns to receive a commission from the god of love and his mother, instructing both men and women on the techniques and art of love. The first book addresses men, teaching them where to find the women they desire and how to approach and please them; the second book guides men on how to maintain a love relationship with the women they love; the third book serves as a women's guide, instructing them on how to please men and how to make love last. "The Love Remedies" is a prescription for those who have suffered setbacks in love, offering advice such as hunting, farming, abstaining from alcohol, traveling, and avoiding reading love letters, allowing those who are heartbroken to alleviate their inner frustrations and sorrows. "Beauty" explores the art of women's adornment, though unfortunately it remains unfinished. "Amores" (Love Songs) celebrates the poet's love for a woman named Corinna, serving as a practical application of Ovid's art of love. The poet envisions various scenarios, vividly expressing his emotional changes: joy or anger, elation or dejection, desperation or longing, regret or self-blame, jealousy or triumph, flirting or sincerity. In the poet's view, love is both a sacred emotion and a beautiful art, a dizzying game of the soul. Together, these four works can be considered Ovid's "Complete Art of Love," and they are collectively regarded as timeless classics of world culture alongside India's "Kama Sutra," China's "The Secrets of the Jade Girl," and "The Method of Harmonizing Yin and Yang."