Defense to Amor and Offer of the Cure — Ovid, The Cure of Love, lines 1–75, Latin & English

Legerat huius Amor titulum nomenque libelli:

Amor had read the title and the name of this little book:

'Bella mihi, video, bella parantur' ait.

’War, I see, war is being prepared against me,’ he said.

'Parce tuum vatem sceleris damnare,¹ Cupido,

’Spare to condemn your poet of a crime, Cupido,

Tradita qui toties te duce signa tuli.

who have so often carried the standards entrusted under your leadership.

Non ego Tydides, a quo tua saucia mater²

I am not the son of Tydeus, by whom your wounded mother

In liquidum rediit aethera Martis equis.

returned into the liquid air on the horses of Mars.

Saepe tepent alii iuvenes: ego semper amavi,

Often other youths are lukewarm; I have always loved,

Et si, quid faciam, nunc quoque, quaeris, amo.

and if you ask what I am doing now also, I love.

Quin etiam docui, qua posses arte parari,

Nay, I have even taught by what art you could be won,

Et quod nunc ratio est, impetus ante fuit.

and what is now a system was once an impulse.

Nec te, blande puer, nec nostras prodimus artes,

Neither you, charming boy, nor our arts do we betray,

Nec nova praeteritum Musa retexit opus.

nor has a new Muse unraveled the past work.

Siquis amat quod amare iuvat,³ feliciter ardens

If anyone loves what it pleases to love, let him, happily burning,

Gaudeat, et vento naviget ille suo.

rejoice, and let him sail with his own wind.

At siquis male fert indignae regna puellae,

But if anyone bears poorly the tyranny of an unworthy girl,

Ne pereat, nostrae sentiat artis opem.

lest he perish, let him feel the help of our art.

Cur aliquis laqueo collum nodatus amator

Why has some lover, his neck knotted in a noose,

A trabe sublimi triste pependit onus?

hung a sad burden from a high beam?

Cur aliquis rigido fodit sua pectora ferro?

Why has someone pierced his own breast with rigid iron?

Invidiam caedis, pacis amator, habes.

You, lover of peace, bear the odium of the slaughter.

Qui, nisi desierit, misero periturus amore est,

He who, unless he desists, is doomed to perish of a miserable love,

Desinat; et nulli funeris auctor eris.

let him desist; and you will be the author of no one’s death.

Et puer es, nec te quicquam nisi ludere oportet:

And you are a boy, and nothing is proper for you except to play:

Lude; decent annos mollia regna tuos.

play; gentle reigns suit your years.

Vitricus et gladiis et acuta dimicet hasta,

Let your stepfather fight both with swords and with the sharp spear,

Et victor multa caede cruentus eat:

and let him go as victor, stained with much slaughter:

Tu cole maternas, tuto quibus utimur, artes,

you cultivate maternal arts, which we use safely,

Et quarum vitio nulla fit orba parens.

and by whose fault no parent is made bereaved.

Effice nocturna frangatur ianua rixa,

Make it so that the door is broken in a nocturnal brawl,

Et tegat ornatas multa corona fores:

and let many a garland cover the adorned gates:

Fac coeant furtim iuvenes timidaeque puellae,

make it so that youths and timid girls meet secretly,

Verbaque dent⁴ cauto qualibet arte viro:

and let them deceive the cautious husband by any art:

Et modo blanditias rigido, modo iurgia posti

and let the shut-out lover say now flatteries, now insults to the rigid post,

Dicat et exclusus flebile cantet amans.

and let him sing mournfully.

His lacrimis contentus eris sine crimine mortis;

With these tears you will be content without the crime of death;

Non tua fax avidos digna subire rogos.'

your torch is not worthy to go under greedy funeral pyres.’

Haec ego: movit Amor gemmatas aureus alas,

Thus I spoke: golden Amor moved his gemmed wings,

Et mihi 'propositum perfice' dixit 'opus.'

and said to me, ‘Finish the proposed work.’

Ad mea, decepti iuvenes, praecepta venite,

Come to my precepts, deceived youths,

Quos suus ex omni parte fefellit amor.

whom your own love has deceived in every part.

Discite sanari, per quem didicistis amare:

Learn to be healed by him through whom you learned to love:

Una manus vobis vulnus opemque feret.

the same hand will bring both the wound and the help to you.

Terra salutares herbas, eademque nocentes

The earth nourishes salutary herbs, and the same nourishes harmful ones,

Nutrit, et urticae proxima saepe rosa est;

and the rose is often closest to the nettle;

Vulnus in Herculeo quae quondam fecerat hoste,

the Pelian spear brought help for the wound

Vulneris auxilium Pelias hasta tulit.

which it had once made in the Herculean enemy.

Sed quaecumque viris, vobis quoque dicta, puellae,

But whatever is said to men, believe it said to you also, girls:

Credite: diversis partibus arma damus,

we give weapons to opposing sides,

E quibus ad vestros siquid non pertinet usus,

of which, if anything does not pertain to your uses,

Attamen exemplo multa docere potest.

yet it can teach much by example.

Utile propositum est saevas extinguere flammas,

It is a useful purpose to extinguish fierce flames,

Nec servum vitii pectus habere sui.

and not to have a heart slave to its own vice.

Vixisset Phyllis, si me foret usa⁵ magistro,

Phyllis would have lived, if she had used me as teacher,

Et per quod novies, saepius isset iter;

and she would have gone more often the journey which she went nine times;

Nec moriens Dido summa vidisset ab arce

nor would dying Dido have seen from her highest citadel

Dardanias vento vela dedisse rates;

the Dardanian ships give their sails to the wind;

Nec dolor armasset contra sua viscera matrem,

nor would grief have armed against her own offspring the mother

Quae socii damno sanguinis ulta virum est.

who avenged her husband by the loss of shared blood.

Arte mea Tereus, quamvis Philomela placeret,

By my art, Tereus, although Philomela pleased him,

Per facinus fieri non meruisset avis.

would not have deserved to become a bird through crime.

Da mihi Pasiphaën, iam tauri ponet amorem:

Give me Pasiphae, soon she will lay aside her love for the bull:

Da Phaedram, Phaedrae turpis abibit amor.

give me Phaedra, the shameful love of Phaedra will depart.

Crede Parim nobis, Helenen Menelaus habebit,

Entrust Paris to us, Menelaus will keep Helen,

Nec manibus Danais Pergama victa cadent.

nor will Pergama fall, conquered by Danaan hands.

Impia si nostros legisset Scylla libellos,

If impious Scylla had read our little books,

Haesisset capiti purpura, Nise, tuo.

the purple hair would have clung to your head, Nisus.

Me duce damnosas, homines, conpescite curas,

Under my guidance, O men, restrain your damaging cares,

Rectaque cum sociis me duce navis eat.

and under my guidance let the straight ship go with its companions.

Naso legendus erat tum, cum didicistis amare:

Naso had to be read then, when you learned to love:

Idem nunc vobis Naso legendus erit.

the same Naso will have to be read by you now.

Publicus assertor⁶ dominis suppressa levabo

As a public liberator, I will relieve breasts suppressed

Pectora: vindictae quisque favete suae.

by masters: let each favor his own deliverance.

Te precor incipiens, adsit tua laurea nobis,

I pray to you, Apollo, as I begin, let your laurel be present for us,

Syntax notes6 items

3Parce tuum vatem sceleris damnare
The verb 'parcere' followed by the infinitive 'damnare'. 'parcere' + infinitive is a poetic construction expressing a prohibition or entreaty ('refrain from doing', 'stop doing'). 'sceleris' is a genitive of charge dependent on 'damnare'.
5a quo tua saucia mater
The ablative phrase 'a quo' (by whom) refers back to the antecedent 'Tydides' (Diomedes, son of Tydeus). The subject of the verb 'rediit' is 'tua saucia mater' (your wounded mother, Venus), referencing the Trojan War myth where Diomedes wounded her.
13siquis amat quod amare iuvat
The verb 'iuvat' is used impersonally meaning 'it pleases [someone] to love'. 'quod' is a relative pronoun in the accusative with its antecedent (the object of 'amat') omitted, creating the sense: 'whoever loves that which it pleases to love'.
34Verbaque dent
The idiomatic expression 'verba dare' (literally 'to give words' instead of deeds), meaning 'to deceive' or 'to trick'. The subjunctive 'dent' expresses a command/wish, referring to the girls and youths deceiving the 'cauto viro' (cautious husband/man).
55foret usa
The form 'foret' is an alternative for 'esset' (imperfect subjunctive of 'esse'), which combined with the past participle 'usa' (from the deponent 'uti') forms the pluperfect subjunctive. This serves as a past contrary-to-fact condition: 'if she had used me as a teacher'.
73Publicus assertor
A technical legal term from Roman law; 'assertor' (specifically 'assertor libertatis') is one who formally claims the freedom of a slave in a court of law. Here, the poet uses it metaphorically to describe himself as the public liberator of those enslaved by love.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1-75