4.4 Ovid and His Attitude Towards His Homeland and His
Adoptive Country, “Scythia Minor” (Romanian
Dobrogea of Today), Where He Felt as a “Hospito”
(Guest), and Not as a “Fugatis” (Exiled)
Was Ovid a man who honored Divinity?! Here is a question to which we can answer
only affirmatively. The fact that Ovid, a humanist intellectual, had never declared
war to the Gods is also attested by his lyrics. On the contrary, he urged his peers to
look up, towards heaven, because “Opifex rerum” (the Great Artificer of things)
created ( fecit) the man from a “divino semine” (divine principle) and endowed him
with a great image (Ovidius 1822).
That a worshiper of God is, at the same time, a lover of peers is a fact revealed
nearly by all the great humanists produced by the mankind along time; an exceptional one was our Tomitan, i.e. Ovid, who believed that helping one’s peers is one
of the finest pleasures and worldly pursuits. “Conveniens homini est hominem
servare voluptas, / Et melius nulla quaeritur arte favor” (Wheeler 1939) (It is a
fitting pleasure for man to save man; there is no better way of seeking favor). How
great it would be if we hang these lines at the gate of our soul . . .!
According to Ovid, only through culture, through the practice of “Fine Arts”, the
human being becomes more human, he/she humanizes himself/herself, “ingenuas
dedicisse fideliter . . . artes, / Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros” (Wheeler 1939)
(because a faithful study of the liberal Arts humanizes character and permits it not
to be cruel).
His existential love for his homeland was also expressed by Ovid in pathetic
verses: “Nescioqua natale solum dulcedine cunctos / Ducit et inmemores non sinit
esse sui” (Wheeler 1939) (But what sweet charm I know not the native land draws
all men nor allows them to forget her).
Naturally, these verses can be understood in the entire reverberation and amplitude of their content only by those who were forced to live away from their country
for at least a decade, like poet Ovid.
Although the fate had made him a “fugatis” (exiled) from his “homeland” – as he
himself confessed – Ovid continued to love it during his stay at “Tomis”, a city, that
was “tam cara” (so dear) to him, and where he felt like a “hospito” (guest) (Pontic,
IV, 14, v. 59–60).
At Tomis, which he “loved” until the end of his earthly life ({ 17 p. Chr. n.),
Ovid remained indeed a “hospita” (guest), who had never lost his hope that the
emperor would forgive him, and that, one day, he would return to his homeland.
Here is how the poet expressed this hope: “Ipse licet sperare vetes, sperabimus
usque; / Hoc unum fieri te prohibente potest” (Wheeler 1939) (Though thou dost
thyself forbid me to hope, I shall hope constantly; this one thing can be done in spite
of thy command).
It is precisely this hope that fueled his inner combustion, helping him to
overcome the new living conditions and the harsh climate, even if, at the beginning,
he disliked the lands he had been exiled to. “Sed nihil admisi, nulla est mea culpa,
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N.V. Dura ˘
Adoptive Country, “Scythia Minor” (Romanian
Dobrogea of Today), Where He Felt as a “Hospito”
(Guest), and Not as a “Fugatis” (Exiled)
Was Ovid a man who honored Divinity?! Here is a question to which we can answer
only affirmatively. The fact that Ovid, a humanist intellectual, had never declared
war to the Gods is also attested by his lyrics. On the contrary, he urged his peers to
look up, towards heaven, because “Opifex rerum” (the Great Artificer of things)
created ( fecit) the man from a “divino semine” (divine principle) and endowed him
with a great image (Ovidius 1822).
That a worshiper of God is, at the same time, a lover of peers is a fact revealed
nearly by all the great humanists produced by the mankind along time; an exceptional one was our Tomitan, i.e. Ovid, who believed that helping one’s peers is one
of the finest pleasures and worldly pursuits. “Conveniens homini est hominem
servare voluptas, / Et melius nulla quaeritur arte favor” (Wheeler 1939) (It is a
fitting pleasure for man to save man; there is no better way of seeking favor). How
great it would be if we hang these lines at the gate of our soul . . .!
According to Ovid, only through culture, through the practice of “Fine Arts”, the
human being becomes more human, he/she humanizes himself/herself, “ingenuas
dedicisse fideliter . . . artes, / Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feros” (Wheeler 1939)
(because a faithful study of the liberal Arts humanizes character and permits it not
to be cruel).
His existential love for his homeland was also expressed by Ovid in pathetic
verses: “Nescioqua natale solum dulcedine cunctos / Ducit et inmemores non sinit
esse sui” (Wheeler 1939) (But what sweet charm I know not the native land draws
all men nor allows them to forget her).
Naturally, these verses can be understood in the entire reverberation and amplitude of their content only by those who were forced to live away from their country
for at least a decade, like poet Ovid.
Although the fate had made him a “fugatis” (exiled) from his “homeland” – as he
himself confessed – Ovid continued to love it during his stay at “Tomis”, a city, that
was “tam cara” (so dear) to him, and where he felt like a “hospito” (guest) (Pontic,
IV, 14, v. 59–60).
At Tomis, which he “loved” until the end of his earthly life ({ 17 p. Chr. n.),
Ovid remained indeed a “hospita” (guest), who had never lost his hope that the
emperor would forgive him, and that, one day, he would return to his homeland.
Here is how the poet expressed this hope: “Ipse licet sperare vetes, sperabimus
usque; / Hoc unum fieri te prohibente potest” (Wheeler 1939) (Though thou dost
thyself forbid me to hope, I shall hope constantly; this one thing can be done in spite
of thy command).
It is precisely this hope that fueled his inner combustion, helping him to
overcome the new living conditions and the harsh climate, even if, at the beginning,
he disliked the lands he had been exiled to. “Sed nihil admisi, nulla est mea culpa,
76
N.V. Dura ˘