Jonathan Jones: Ovid's Impotence Shows Why We Can't let Pompeii Fall
[Jonathan Jones writes on art for the Guardian and was on the jury for the 2009 Turner prize.]
When it comes to writing about sex, ancient Romans do it in togas while feeding each other grapes. I've recently been reading Ovid's poems the Amores, published a few years BC, and still able to capture modern readers. There is definitely something very special about Ovid's erotic poetry. He may be an old writer, but at times he is a new man....
...But only in Pompeii can you explore a Roman brothel, visit Roman baths decorated with saucy scenes and see the seriously kinky frescoes in The Villa of the Mysteries....
To let this magical place decay, to fail to care about such rare survivals of human intimacy, is more obscene than anything Ovid wrote. Shame on those responsible.
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
When it comes to writing about sex, ancient Romans do it in togas while feeding each other grapes. I've recently been reading Ovid's poems the Amores, published a few years BC, and still able to capture modern readers. There is definitely something very special about Ovid's erotic poetry. He may be an old writer, but at times he is a new man....
...But only in Pompeii can you explore a Roman brothel, visit Roman baths decorated with saucy scenes and see the seriously kinky frescoes in The Villa of the Mysteries....
To let this magical place decay, to fail to care about such rare survivals of human intimacy, is more obscene than anything Ovid wrote. Shame on those responsible.