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Fasti

Fasti

About the Book

Written after he had been banished to the Black Sea city of Tomis by Emperor Augustus, the Fasti is Ovid's last major poetic work. Both a calendar of daily rituals and a witty sequence of stories recounted in a variety of styles, it weaves together tales of gods and citizens together to explore Rome's history, religious beliefs and traditions. It may also be read as a subtle but powerful political manifesto which derides Augustus' attempts to control his subjects by imposing his own mythology upon them: after celebrating the emperor as a Jupiter-on-earth, for example, Ovid deliberately juxtaposes a story showing the king of the gods as a savage rapist. Endlessly playful, this is also a work of integrity and courage, and a superb climax to the life of one of Rome's greatest writers.

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Praise for Fasti

"Fasti has burst upon the scholarly scene as a work of tremendous importance for our understanding of religion under the Principate...have provided us with what must be seen as a new commentary upon the poem...But the real value of this new Fasti, of course, lies not in its front or back material but in the lively rendition of Ovid's own words...Boyle and Woodard have given us a fresh-sounding poem with updated diction." —Christopher Brunelle, Boston College
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About the Author

Ovid
Ovid—Publius Ovidius Naso—(43 bce–ce 17 or 18) was born into a wealthy Roman family and became the most distinguished poet of his time. He died in exile on the Black Sea, far from Rome and his literary life. More by Ovid
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About the Author

Anthony J. Boyle
Ovid—Publius Ovidius Naso—(43 bce–ce 17 or 18) was born into a wealthy Roman family and became the most distinguished poet of his time. He died in exile on the Black Sea, far from Rome and his literary life. More by Anthony J. Boyle
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About the Author

Roger D. Woodward
Ovid—Publius Ovidius Naso—(43 bce–ce 17 or 18) was born into a wealthy Roman family and became the most distinguished poet of his time. He died in exile on the Black Sea, far from Rome and his literary life. More by Roger D. Woodward
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