2 h 42 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 42 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love is a craft—and your teacher never quite means everything he says?
In The Art of Love, Ovid puts on the teacher’s mantle and offers young Romans lessons in desire. This Latin poem in elegiac couplets begins with a bold claim: love can be learned, like steering a ship or driving a chariot. His classroom is Rome, with its crowds, festivals and opportunities to meet.
The first book teaches men how to find and win a lover; the second asks how to keep her. In the third, women receive their own lessons. Myths mingle with practical advice as Ovid jokes about his method. Beneath the mock manual lies a sharp picture of city life under Augustus.
What you’ll discover
- A mischievous teacher Meet a poet who offers lessons in love while making fun of his own authority.
- Rome in the crowd Follow desire into the gathering places and festivals that fill Ovid’s lively Roman world.
- Myths beside everyday life Discover how Chiron, Achilles and Penthesilea enter a playful conversation about learning to love.
- Beyond the first conquest Explore Ovid’s warning that keeping a lover takes more than winning one.
- Lessons change sides Watch the teacher turn to women, giving them their own place in his romantic classroom.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy witty verse, Roman city life, Greek myths told with a smile, and sharp observations about courtship, charm and the little games people play to be liked.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Love is a craft that can be learned
- Go where the crowds gather and look
- Be confident, persist, and use a go-between
- Look neat, play the lover, and use the dinner party
- To keep love, add character to good looks
- Yield, serve, and let her see your devotion
- Use habit, absence, jealousy and discretion wisely
- Women should arm themselves with grooming, grace and skill
- Read your lover, guard your secrets, and know the book's reach
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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The Art of Love
by Ovid · 2
A Roman poet coaches lovers like a charioteer, from the theater seats to the dinner couch, with Cupid as the pupil.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
Can love be taught the way a pilot learns to steer a ship? Ovid says it can.
The Art of Love at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 25 min1 h 55 min fast, 2 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 34,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- about AD 2by Ovid
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Love is a craft that can be learned
Ovid begins with a simple claim. Art drives ships with sails and oars, art guides light chariots, and so art can guide Love. He names two masters, the pilot Tiphys and the charioteer Automedon, and says Venus has made him their match.
He offers a picture of teacher and pupil. The centaur Chiron taught the young Achilles to play the lyre, and the fierce boy stood in awe of him. Ovid says he is Love's Chiron. Even the bull accepts the yoke, so Love will yield too.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 2
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Ovid. The Art of Love. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-art-of-love.
Ovid. (2026). The art of love. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-art-of-love (Original work published ca. 2)
Ovid. The Art of Love. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-art-of-love.
@book{ovid2026art,
author = {Ovid},
title = {The Art of Love},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-art-of-love},
note = {First published ca. 2}
}
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What is The Art of Love about?
It is a Roman poem in three books that teaches how to find, win and keep a lover. The first two books advise men, and the third gives women advice on beauty, manners, games and handling suitors.
Who wrote The Art of Love and when?
Ovid, a Roman poet who died in 17, wrote it in the time of the emperor Augustus. It is written in elegiac couplets, the verse form Ovid used for his love poetry.
Is The Art of Love meant seriously?
It is a playful poem. Ovid poses as a teacher of love and compares himself to a charioteer and a pilot. Humor, exaggeration and myth carry the advice, so it reads as entertainment as much as instruction.
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