Body and Embellishment – Ovidian Reflections

Abstract

The paper analyses the conception of beauty in two poems written by Ovid, The Art of Love and Cosmetics for the female face (also known as The Art of Beauty), and emphasizes the complex significance of the human body as social and cultural concept. Using the axiological vocabulary of his time and mindful of the dynamic character of the Roman tradition, Ovid reveals the changes in Roman mentality and life in the Age of Augustus.