The poet Ovid had begun his Amores, written between 10 and 1 BCE, under the influence of his friend Propertius, who wrote about a tormented lover and his irrational, inarticulate passion.

Ovid’s poem portrays a witty lover who refuses to be tormented and instead turns love into a sport.

In Heroides, which also spring from a situation suggested by Propertius, the poet imagines such famous heroines as Ariadne and Dido penning passionate letters to the men who have abandoned them, undertaking an elaborate exploration of the female psyche in fifteen single and three paired letters.

In his Art of Love, written about 1 BCE, he assumes the role of "professor" to instruct men how to seduce Roman women, while in actuality exposing the folly of those who would attempt to turn love into a "science."