The Art of Love

Ovid’s The Art of Love had a large influence on many works that came after it, especially medieval romances. There was a renewed interest in classical or pagan works during the Middle Ages. Secular love became a popular topic among French troubadours during this time.

Two important texts that draw on Ovid’s didactic poem are The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus and The Romance of the Rose by Jean de Meun and Guillame de Lorris—though these texts did not engage with Ovid’s very frank depictions of sex and sexuality. Peter Allen, in The Art of Love: Amatory Fiction from Ovid to the Romance of the Rose (1992), argues, “For clerical authors [Capellanus and de Meun], the emotional and sexual experience of love was inappropriate, even impossible, but love as a literary fantasy was not” (57). In other words, the medieval authors were not representing the reality of love in their era, but instead fictionalizing it for entertainment.

Moreover, some of the advice in Ovid’s The Art of Love would not be out of place in 21st century dating guides. For instance, All The Rules: Time Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, published in 2007, draws heavily on Ovid’s much older text.