About the Poems

Ovid’s Heroides is a collection of twenty-one poems, written in the form of fictional letters.  They are what are known as “literary epistles,” a genre which is not especially popular today, but which was widely used for the better part of two thousand years in western Europe and parts of the Mediterranean.  Ovid represents the letters as having been written (with one exception) by and about figures from Greek legend or myth. 

The first fourteen letters are based on well-known myths and are written by women to the legendary heroes who have abandoned them.  They give a quintessentially Ovidian twist to the myths, letting us see the often less admirable—and always more human—consequences of the heroic exploits of figures like Theseus, Jason, or Ulysses.  The fifteenth letter is something of an anomaly, and its authenticity has been questioned fairly often.  It is written by a non-legendary figure, the Greek poet Sappho; she writes to the youth who was reputed to be her only male lover, Phaon.  The last six letters are the so-called “double letters.”  As the name implies, these letters are in pairs, with the first letter being written by the male lover, and the second being written in response by the female lover. 

About the Translations

The translations presented here are intended primarily for college undergraduates enrolled in introductory or general-education literature courses.  It is likely that students enrolled in these courses will not know Latin, and it is possible that they may have only a limited background in Greek and Roman mythology. 

In order to make the poems as accessible as possible for this audience, I have accompanied the text with fairly extensive hypertext notes that are intended to clarify Ovid’s frequent mythological references.  The introduction to each poem focuses, not on questions of interpretation or scholarship, but on filling in the mythological and narrative background which is necessary for understanding the context of each letter.  Each poem is also accompanied by a section-by-section “synopsis,” which is intended to make first-reading comprehension a little easier for students who may find the form or content of the poems unfamiliar.

I have not attempted a verse translation. I have preserved the line-breaks as closely as possible—in part to allow ease of reference to the Latin text for any student who might have some Latin, and in part because Ovid structures his thought and syntax in elegiac couplets—but the text itself is essentially a prose translation. 

This project was made possible by sabbatical leaves granted by Edgewood College.  All of the translations may be copied and redistributed freely for non-commercial purposes, but I would appreciate it if you would let me know about it if you choose to use them: hunter@edgewood.edu.  

Contents of the Web Edition

Background Materials

A brief introduction to Ovid:  A short sketch of the poet's life and his place in Roman literature.

Two major myth cycles:  Summaries of the events associated with two major sets of stories which function as background for several of the letters in the Heroides.  

• The House of Atreus:  The tragic fates of the descendants of Tantalus, whose destinies affect Orestes, Helen, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and a host of others.

• The Trojan War:  Perhaps the most important narrative of Greek heroic legend, and one which is directly involved in at least a third of the letters.

Some principal deities of Greek and Roman mythology:  A highly selective list of some of the major gods and goddess mentioned in the Heroides, along with brief descriptions of them.

The Single Letters

• Heroides I: Penelope to Ulysses It has been ten years since the end of the Trojan War; Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus) has been through all the adventures recorded in the Odyssey, and has almost battled his way home to Ithaca. Penelope, ignorant of her husband's imminent return, laments his long delay--and has a few sharp words to say about the possible reasons for it.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides II: Phyllis to Demophoon Phyllis fell in love with one of the sons of Theseus, who promised to return to her after he had seen to his affairs in Athens. After a long delay, she fell into despair and hanged herself, transforming into an almond tree upon her death. When Demophoon finally returned, he could only embrace the tree, which put forth leaves in recognition of their love. This letter is written shortly before her suicide.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides III: Briseis to Achilles During the siege of Troy, Briseis is taken from Achilles by the leader of the Greek armies, Agamemnon. Achilles, incensed at the insult, refuses to fight for the Greeks any further. In an attempt to resolve the dispute, Agamemnon sends emissaries to Achilles, who offer to return Briseis and to give him lavish gifts in addition if he will return to the fighting. Achilles refuses--and Briseis writes to him, asking him why he will not take her back.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides IV: Phaedra to Hippolytus Phaedra, the wife of Theseus, has been overwhelmed by an illicit, incestuous passion for her stepson, Hippolytus. She writes to him in an attempt to persuade him to share her love. Hippolytus, however, is a devotee of Diana, the goddess of chastity, and he refuses her. Phaedra's crazed revenge on Hippolytus is recorded in Euripides' Hippolytus.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides V: Oenone to Paris The nymph Oenone has been abandoned by her lover, Paris, a younger son of King Priam of Troy. Following the famous "judgement," in which Paris selected Venus as the most beautiful of the goddesses on Olympus, Paris seized the opportunity to wed the beautiful Helen, daughter of Zeus and wife of Menelaus. Oenone complains of her lover's infidelity and sharply criticizes the virtue of his much-married bride, alluding as well to the havoc of the Trojan War which follows the abduction of Helen.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides VI:  Hypsipyle to Jason Hypsipyle, the ruler of Lemnos, gave shelter to Jason and the Argonauts when they were on their quest for the Golden Fleece.  Hypsipyle and Jason were married, and Jason promised to return when the quest was accomplished.  Hypsipyle, now the mother of twins by Jason, has received news that he is safely home, and that he has brought with him a new wife--the sorceress, Medea.  Hypsipyle writes to Jason, reproaching him for deserting her and questioning the character of Medea.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides VII: Dido to Aeneas Aeneas, a refugee from the fall of Troy and the future founder of Rome, was cast ahore on the coast of Africa and sought refuge in the city of Carthage.  He stayed for quite some time and became romantically involved with the city's queen, Dido.  Now he is about to sail from Carthage to pursue his own destiny in Italy. Dido upbraids him for leaving her, in this intriguing reprise of Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides VIII: Hermione to Orestes  Hermione is the daughter of Helen of Troy and King Menelaus of Sparta.  Orestes is the son of Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, and Helen's sister, Clytemnaestra.  Hermione is in love with Orestes, and her grandfather had arranged for them to marry.  Menelaus had other ideas, however, and married her off to Neoptolemus, Achilles' son.  Hermione now languishes in Neoptolemus' palace; she writes to Orestes, reminding him of his place as her rightful husband, lamenting her own fate, and urging him to rescue her.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides IX: Deianira to Hercules  Deianira is the wife of Hercules, who is returning from his recent conquest of the kingdom of Oechalia.  Hercules has a long history of involvement with other women, and now Deianira believes that he has taken the woman Iole, whom he captured in battle, as his mistress.  Desperate to retain Hercules' love, Deianira has sent him a tunic soaked with what she believes is an infallible love charm; it is actually a deadly poison.  She reminds Hercules of his great achievements and reproaches him for his infidelity.  As the letter nears its end, she learns of the effects of the poison, and she finishes on a note of bitter remorse.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides X: Ariadne to Theseus  Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos of Crete.  Theseus is the son of King Aegeus of Athens.  Theseus came to Crete vowing to end the human tribute that Minos demanded of Athens each year--fourteen youths to be sent into the Labyrinth as food for the monstrous Minotaur.  Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and helped him complete his quest.  The two of them fled together, but on the way back to Athens Ariadne was abandoned on the island of Naxos.  Ariadne writes from Naxos, reproaching Theseus for deserting her.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides XI:  Canace to Macareus  Canace and Macareus are brother and sister; they are the children of Aeolus, the ruler of the winds.  They have had an incestuous love affair, and Canace has borne a child.  Aeolus becomes enraged when he discovers the affair and its offspring.  He orders the child destroyed, and sends a sword to Canace, with a clear indication that she is to commit suicide with it.  Canace writes a last letter to Macareus, after her child has been taken from her and just before she commits suicide.  (Full introduction)
• HeroidesXII: Medea to Jason Jason was the leader of the Argonauts, who brought the Golden Fleece back from Colchis.  Medea, the daughter of the king of Colchis, helped him capture the Fleece in exchange for his promise to marry her and take her back to Greece with him.  Now Jason is abandoning Medea to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth; Medea is being exiled. Medea writes to Jason, reminding him of all that she has done for him, and foreshadowing the grisly revenge that she takes on him in Euripides' Medea.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides XIII:  Laodamia to Protesilaus  Laodamia and Protesilaus are married.  Protesilaus has sailed off from their home in Thessaly to fight with the Greek forces in the Trojan War.  Laodamia has dark forebodings about his safety, and her fears will ultimately prove to be well-founded.  In the meantime, to assuage her immense grief over her husband's absence, Laodamia has made a lifelike wax image of him, which she dotes on as if it were really Protesilaus.  Hearing that the Greek fleet has been delayed at Aulis, she writes a letter to her husband.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides XIV:  Hypermnestra to Lynceus  The fifty daughters of Danaus were to be married to the fifty sons of his brother, Aegyptus.  However Danaus, fearing a prophecy which foretold that he would be killed by his son-in-law, gave daggers to all of his daughters and ordered them to kill their husbands on their wedding-night.  Although the other daughters carried out his order, Hypermnestra spared the life of her husband, Lynceus, and helped him flee the palace.  When Danaus discovered Hypermnestra's betrayal, he threw her in prison.  As she sits in prison, loaded down with chains, Hypermnestra writes to Lynceus, asking him to come to her aid.  (Full introduction)
• Heroides XV:  Sappho to Phaon  Sappho, one of the great lyric poets of the ancient world, has been abandoned by her lover, Phaon.  Although she has had a number of romantic involvements with women in the past, Phaon was her only male lover.  Now she remains behind, broken-hearted, on the island of Lesbos, while he has departed for Sicily.  She upbraids him for his desertion of her and begs him to return; she imagines him wooing the young girls of Sicily while she remains behind.  She also informs him of her plan to throw herself from the cliffs of Leucos if she can not be with him.  (Full introduction)

The Double Letters

• Heroides XVI:  Paris to Helen  Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, is a guest at the palace of King Menelaus of Sparta.  He has fallen deeply in love with Helen, Menelaus' wife, and the goddess Venus has promised that he can marry her in spite of her wedded state.  While Menelaus is absent in Crete, Paris writes to Helen, urging her to accept his love and run away with him.  He describes how he has suffered from unrequted love and he presents many reasons for her to accept his proposal, ignoring the prophecies of disaster that accompany his suit and waving aside the possibility of war if he takes the king's wife.  Ultimately Helen's departure with Paris will result in the Trojan War and the complete destruction of Troy itself.  (Full introduction)

• Heroides XVII:  Helen to Paris  Helen replies to Paris' letter, reprimanding him for his improper conduct in courting a married woman, and at first refusing his proposal outright.  As the letter progresses, however, she reveals that she is attracted to him and is moved by his love for her.  She reviews all the reasons that they can not consummate their love, including the damage to her honor and the very real possibility of war, but by the end of the letter it has become clear that she wants to be persuaded to yield to Paris' entreaties.  (Full introduction)

• Heroides XVIII:  Leander to Hero  Hero and Leander are star-crossed lovers.  She is a priestess of Venus in Sestos, and he is a young man of noble birth from Abydos.  All that separates them physically is the narrow strait of the Hellespont (the modern Dardanelles), but Hero is forbidden to marry a foreigner, so they can never let their love be known.  In order to carry on their love affair in secret, Leander swims across the Hellespont each night, using a light in her tower as a guide, and then swims back to his home before dawn.  But now the calm weather of summer is ending, and the strait has turned stormy.  Leander remains unwillingly on his side of the Hellespont, waiting for calm seas so that he can swim once again.  In the meantime, he writes to Hero, telling her how unhappy he is at being apart and describing his abortive attempts to reach her in spite of the storms.  On his next attempt to swim across, presumably undertaken right after the letter is written, he will be drowned in the Hellespont.  (Full introduction)

• Heroides XIX:  Hero to Leander  Hero replies to Leander, expressing the wish that he should come to her soon.  She describes her lonely vigils, as she waits in vain for his arrival each night.  She scolds him for becoming timid about the sea, since he was bold in his swimming before, and she wonders whether his love for her has become less strong, or even whether he might be held back by another lover.  She also describes a dream which presages Leander's own death by drowning; she urges caution, but still begs him to come.  (Full introduction)

• Heroides XX:  Acontius to Cycippe  Acontius loves Cydippe, but she will not pay any attention to him.  So inscribes the words of an oath on an apple, and rolls it into the temple of Diana where she is worshipping.  Cydippe automatically reads the words aloud, thus swearing in the goddess' presence to marry Acontius.  She does not pay any attention to this trick at the time, but the goddess Diana does; whenever Cydippe becomes engaged to be married after that, the goddess makes her deathly ill, only allowing her to recover when the marriage is called off. Acontius has continues to court Cydippe by writing letters to her, and she has become aware that his trickery is responsible for her illness.  Acontius writes one last letter to her, defending his actions and urging her to marry him.

• Heroides XXI:  Cydippe to Acontius  Cydippe replies to Acontius, upbraiding him for his deceitful conduct and blaming him for her sickness.  She asks him why he did not court her in the usual way, by relying on his own personal merits, rather than resorting to trickery.  She admits that rumors have reached her from the Delphic oracle that her illness is the result of trying to break her oath to Diana.  She also admits that he would be, after all, a worthy husband for her, and she ends the letter by accepting his proposal of marriage.