Litura
Ovid · P. Ovidius Naso · Latin text with translation

Ars Amatoria, Liber Primus

The whole of Book 1: where to find a girl in Augustan Rome, the rape of the Sabines, Ariadne and Bacchus, and how to win her over.

772 lines. Every word carries its dictionary form, its parsing and what it is doing in the line, with literal, student and literary translations.

  1. 1Sīquis in hōc artem populō nōn nōvit amandī,If anyone here doesn't know the art of love,
  2. 2Hoc legat et lēctō carmine doctus amet.let him read this, and once he has read the poem, love like an expert.
  3. 3Arte citae vēlōque ratēs rēmōque moventur,Skill drives swift ships with sail and oar,
  4. 4Arte levēs currūs: arte regendus amor.skill drives light chariots; love too must be steered by skill.
  5. 5Curribus Automedōn lentīsque erat aptus habēnīs,Automedon was skilled with chariots and supple reins,
  6. 6Tīphys in Haemoniā puppe magister erat:Tiphys was helmsman of the Thessalian ship:
  7. 7Mē Venus artificem tenerō praefēcit Amōrī;Venus has made me the expert in charge of young Love;
  8. 8Tīphys et Automedōn dīcar Amōris ego.I will be known as Love's Tiphys and Automedon.
  9. 9Ille quidem ferus est et quī mihi saepe repugnet:He is wild, to be sure, and the sort to fight me often:
  10. 10Sed puer est, aetās mollis et apta regī.But he is a boy, at a pliable age, easy to control.
  11. 11Phillyridēs puerum citharā perfēcit Achillem,Chiron trained the boy Achilles with the lyre,
  12. 12Atque animōs placidā contudit arte ferōs.and tamed his fierce temper with gentle skill.
  13. 13Quī totiēns sociōs, totiēns exterruit hostēs,The man who so often terrified friend and foe
  14. 14Crēditur annōsum pertimuisse senem.is said to have been terrified of the old man.
  15. 15Quās Hector sēnsūrus erat, poscente magistrōThe hands Hector would one day feel, he held out when his teacher
  16. 16Verberibus iussās praebuit ille manūs.ordered him to be whipped.
  17. 17Aeacidae Chīrōn, ego sum praeceptor Amōris:Chiron taught Achilles; I am Love's teacher:
  18. 18Saevus uterque puer, nātus uterque deā.Both boys are fierce, and both are sons of goddesses.
  19. 19Sed tamen et taurī cervīx onerātur arātrō,Yet even a bull's neck bears the weight of the plough,
  20. 20Frēnaque magnanimī dente teruntur equī;and a proud horse champs at the bit;

Lines 21–772 continue in the reader. More texts in the library