The most famous Latin poets of the three of the time of Augustus, Virgil, Horace and Ovid, undoubtedly the most influential of them all in Western culture has been Ovid, although not the best valued by literary criticism. The influence of Ovid has been felt since antiquity itself, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present day in all arts, in literature of course, but also especially in painting and even in music. This is a subject very attended by the scholars and to which perhaps I should on my part dedicate some ample comment at some time. Something of this I have said in some of the articles that I have published in the thread of the celebration of the bimillenary of the poet’s death.
Calligramme, technopaegnia τεχνοπαíγνια, Carmina figurata, Pattern Poetry, figure poem, visual Poetry, concrete Poetry, creative writing .
We name “calligramme” or pattern poem or visual poem it that with the arrangement of its verses and words written in the text draws the shape that the content of the poem refers to extend the emotional content. It is therefore a beautiful visual poem; that’s what “calligramme” means.
Should the painting be imitation of nature, or creation of the intellect?
The art of painting was very important in Antiquity, although hardly we have a rest from it by the nature of the support on it is usually done.
Crowned with laurel
Laurel leaves crown the best poets and the most seasoned soldiers. It is true that “weapons and the letters” quite frequently go together, but it is curious that the same decorative and symbolic element that rewards intelligence and art also serve as recognition of the value and military courage. The bay also has other values that should know, but why?
Nero inaugurates a great gym and Demetrius will ruin the opening ceremony. (Intellectuals against the power III)
One of the greatest contributions of Roma to Western civilization was the urbanization of the territory that was conquered with its legions. Rome built cities (urbs) and implemented a modern system of citizen life (civitas).
The Nymph Callisto
Who enjoys reading or listening to the colorful stories of the Greco-Roman mythology he has an essential work for this: Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In this work the prolific poet tells us many cases of transformation or metamorphosis of men, women or mythological characters in other beings.
Ecphrasis, ekphrasis. Ut pictura poesis (Horace). Poetry is like painting
“Ekphrasis” o “ephrasis” is a Greek word ἔκφρασις (ek and phrasis, ‘out’ and ‘to talk’), (from the verb ἐκφράζο, ekphraso, from ek, out, and phraso, to explain with signs and words) that therefore means “exhibition in detail, explanation, description from outside or from the beginning or till the end,” to make intelligible, discover, uncover, …. It is a vivid description placing the object or event before the eyes.
A tunnel in Babylon under the River Euphrates
Babylon, even phonetics of the name, has a great capacity for suggestions, even now, the area stricken by war and ongoing violence. So it must also occur in antiquity.
The abduction of Hylas: a very peculiar mosaic of Italica (Spain)
In Greek mythology there are numerous episodes in which powerful gods fall in love with beautiful mortals and procreate with them heroes, in their half immortal and in other half mortal. Also the goddesses fall in love sometimes with men, who are mortal. For example Venus is the mother of Aeneas, born from the mortal Anchises, from whom the race of Julius (Julius Caesar, Augustus, etc.) descended.
War destroys everything, including culture and art
The war is the domain of the adversary first by destroying the people, whom it kills without mercy, and then everything that gets (although not opposed) passing. The most valuable losses are people, of course. Then an irreparable loss is the art and culture sometimes accumulated over centuries and millennia, that some “warriors” qualify euphemistically of “collateral damage”.