Fasti (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780140446906)

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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Author: Ovid
ISBN-10: 0140446907
ISBN-13: 9780140446906
Publisher: Penguin Group
Language: English
Published: 12/01/2000
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.63lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.10w x 0.84d