Heroides

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Heroides ("The Heroines") or Epistulae Heroidum ("Letters of Heroines") was a work composed by Ovid in 5 BC.

It is composed of 21 fictional letters. The first 15 are attributed to mythological heroines of antiquity grieving over their unrequited loves. Letters 16–21 were composed around AD 4 - 8, and represent exchanges of letters between mythological heroines and their male lovers.

It is still in existence and safely attributed to Ovid. A translation was made of this work in the Middle Ages by the French poet Octavien de Saint-Gelais.

The letters are written from the viewpoints of the following heroines (and heroes):

I. Penelope to her husband Ulysses during his long absence after the defeat of Troy

II. Phyllis, the daughter of Lycurgus, to her lover Demophoon, the son of Theseus king of Athens, after he failed to return from Athens

III. Briseis, the daughter of Brises, to Achilles, urging him to accept herself as part of a package from Agamemnon and return to battle against the Trojans

IV. Phaedra, wife of Theseus, to her stepson, Hippolytus, confessing her love for him

V. The nymph Oenone to Paris, the son of Priam

VI. Hypsipyle, queen of Lemnos, to Jason after he abandoned her for Medea

VII. Dido to Aeneas on his departure to Italy

VIII. Hermione, daughter of Menelaus, to Orestes, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, urging him to save her from marriage to Achilles’ son, Pyrrhus

IX. Deianira, daughter of Oeneus, king of Aetolia, to her husband Hercules after he laid down his weapons to be with Iole, the daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia

X. Ariadne to Theseus after he abandoned her in favour of her sister, Phaedra (see Epistle IV)

XI. Canace, daughter of Aeolus, to her brother and lover, Macareus, before killing herself following the death of their baby at the hands of their father

XII. Medea to Jason after he abandoned her to marry Creusa

XIII. Laodamia, the daughter of Acastus, to her husband Protesilaus, urging him not to take too many risks in the Greeks’ attack on Troy

XIV. Hypermnestra to her husband, Lynceus, calling for him to save her from death at the hands of her father, Danaus

XV. Sappho to her ex-lover Phaon after he left her

XVI. Paris to Helen, trying to persuade her to leave her husband, Menelaus, and go with him to Troy

XVII. Helen’s reply to Paris, revealing her readiness to leave Menelaus for him

XVIII. Leander to Hero on his love for her

XIX. Hero’s reply to Leander on her love for him

XX. Acontius to Cydippe on his love for her, reminding her of her commitment to marry him

XXI. Cydippe’s reply to Acontius, agreeing to marry him

• Commentary
  • Perseus/Tufts: Commentary on the Heroides of Ovid