![\"The](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2014\/03\/300px-Sir_Nathaniel_Dance-Holland_-_The_Meeting_of_Dido_and_Aeneas_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg\")
<\/a>The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas by Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland<\/p><\/div>\n
Phaedra and Hippolytus<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phaedra (1880) by Alexandre Cabanel<\/p><\/div>\n
Jason and Medea<\/p>\n
<\/a>Jason and Medea by John William Waterhouse (1907)<\/p><\/div>\n
Sappho and Phaon (one of the only historic references)<\/p>\n
<\/a>Sappho and Phaon. 1809
Jacques-Louis David<\/p><\/div>\n
While most of\u00a0us\u00a0know the sadness behindthese couple, we often wish we could rewrite the mythology and find a more suitable ending. Perhaps Dido does not kill herself after Aeneas leaves? Perhaps\u00a0Medea could have played hard to get so Jason would appreciate her more? Or Phaon could never leave Sappho? Better yet, Helen and Paris should have run away and lived in exile? Or how about Penelope moving on immediately since Odysseus obvious had several affairs (Circe and Calypso)?<\/p>\n
<\/a>Ovid, Statue (1887) by Ettore Ferrari
commemorating Ovid’s exile in Tomis. Courtesy of WIkiCommons & Ettore Ferrari.<\/p><\/div>\n
Ovid, in my opinion, is first author to truly take the time to write his version of a “fan fiction.” A fan fiction is when a “fan” of a show, book, or series takes the time to write an alternative ending or even a sequel to the already established lore. (For other authors who wrote fan fiction; check out this article<\/a>.)\u00a0Ovid composes the works known as the Heroides<\/em> in order to breathe new life into these Heroines and give the much needed character work to these mythical women who have been frozen in time. [ This character work is lacking for the modern woman, but for its cotemporary audience it would have been for these heroines to have the last word with their lovers.]<\/p>\n The Heroides<\/em> are essentially letters addressed from the heroine to her lover, who has often mistreated, neglected, or even abandoned her. Ovid chooses the genre of the epistles for these women to express themselves. While this choice has been questioned by various scholars (one such argument is presented: here<\/a>), it is difficult to see how else Ovid could have approached this work in order to give his heroines a voice, but not over-step bounds and write an entire fictitious mythology. \u00a0\u00a0The following is a summation of the Heroides<\/em> by Penguin Classics:<\/p>\n While, Ovid is a male author assuming the female voice of mythological characters and attempting to transgress the boundaries of gender language, diction, and characteristics (all through meter). He is still capable of invoking such emotion that anyone who has experience heartbreak knows:<\/p>\n Death of Dido, by Guercino, AD 1631.<\/p><\/div>\n alter habendus amor tibi restat et altera Dido\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Another love\u00a0awaits for you and Another Dido<\/em> (Excerpt from Dido’s Letter\u00a0to Aeneas. Letter VII)<\/em><\/p>\n In my mind, well put Dido! Bitterness envelopes her entire speech; once a liar-always liar. Right? Well, what’s the saying?<\/p>\n “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”<\/p>\n While, not all of Ovid’s heroines come off so…bitter; each one accurately reflects her place, position, and circumstance. He does over dramatize her feelings or reactions, but they appear natural and eloquently put in order to touch the reader. For information on the work, its meter and where to read it- refer below!<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n The Heroides<\/em> consist of 15 poems that have mythological females address their heroic lovers.\u00a0\u00a0These epistolary poems are written in Latin elegiac couplets (demonstrated here<\/a> and in depth\u00a0here<\/a>), which is a type of meter used in poetry. You may see a small sample of the Heroides here<\/a>, which provides part of the letter, the heroine writing, and to whom she is addressing the letter too. Or you may see the entirety of his work here<\/a>.\u00a0Ovid also composed the Double Heroid<\/em>es which include another 6 poems; which start here<\/a>. These, unlike the Heroides,<\/em> include three separate exchanges between the heroic and mythical lovers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Within antiquity there are several mythological love stories that touch our hearts, souls, and mind. When attempting to provide an example of “true love,” people generally name couples like Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra,\u00a0Helen and Paris, and so on. These couples which are often tragic and short lived romances. As enthusiasts for Latin, we…<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\n\u00a0quamque iterum fallas, altera danda fides<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and who\u00a0once more you shall deceive, having given another promise <\/em><\/p>\n