Art of Love – Books I, II, & III

Unlock and Discover the Timeless Art of Classic Love Seduction, with …

The Unprecedented ‘Word of Venus’ Editions of the Immortal Poet Ovid’s Classic Love Seduction Masterpiece ‘Art of Love’

• A classic English translation of each book of Ovid’s timeless, and time-tested, amorous art in elegant rhyme and metre …

• Now abridged, formatted, and attentively annotated, enhanced, and packaged as easy-to-read-and-scan user-friendly manuals for the twenty-first century … and for today’s students, and would-be students, of Ovid’s amorous art

> View and download a free PDF preview! > Get your copies now!

“Her who restrains the bloody hands of rough Mars, who brings peace to warring nations and holds plenty in her rich horn, mild goddess.”

– Seneca, Medea, transl. Frank Justus Miller

Dear Honest Reader,

I’d like to introduce you to an exceptional and peerless work of ancient literature. It’s entitled Ars Amatoria – or, in English, Art of Love.

Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) then is the ancient Roman poet Ovid’s three book series of love seduction manuals, in metrical form, dedicated to helping his students master the discreet art of dramatic love and affairs. Ovid’s precepts, meanwhile, are illuminated throughout his books with his dazzling wit, poetic figures of speech, and enchanting tales, references, and allusions from classical mythology and the ancient world.

Cupid and Psyche, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). Image from ‘Salon Illustré’ (1889)

These extraordinary books are, quite simply, abundant treasure-troves of wit and wisdom in the artful adventure of love, dramatic love, and love affairs.

The art of classic love seduction … for both men and women

Each book of The Word of Venus Art of Love then contains a classic English translation of the corresponding book from Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love). The first book is for men and deals with How to Find and Seduce a Woman for Love. The second book is also for men and addresses How to Win and Secure a Woman’s Love. Finally, the third book is for women and covers How To Captivate a Man and Secure His Love.

I’ve created these book then to make each book of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) more accessible for today’s students, and would-be students, of Ovid’s amorous art. These then are The Word of Venus abridged editions of Ovid’s classic love seduction masterpiece.

> View and download a free PDF preview! > Get your copies now!

Ovid’s amorous art has stood the test of time

Written over 2,000 years ago and with a publishing history spanning centuries, Ovid’s series of love seduction manuals have clearly stood the test of time. These didactic poems are, quite simply, timeless. Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) then is, and probably always will be, to my mind, the classic seminal text (or, figuratively, The Word of Venus) on the art of love seduction.

The problem, though, for the average reader today is …

However, whilst each book of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) has a profound and logical structure, it’s not readily apparent in other editions. Instead, it just looks as though Ovid rambles on incessantly, more or less at whim.

Imaginary image of Ovid, by Anton Alexander von Werner (1843-1915), from ‘Bibliothek des allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens. Bd. 5’ (1905), Abriß der Weltliteratur, Seite 51

What’s more, since these poems were written long ago in an ancient culture that’s now mostly foreign to us, even modern translations are largely obscure to the average reader today. Many of the mythical, geographical, and other cultural references within them are stumbling blocks now for the average reader and are only properly understood by those with an exceptional knowledge of classical mythology and the ancient world. These things, however, were more widely understood when Ovid’s poems were written.

It’s for these reasons then I’ve created The Word of Venus abridged edition of each book of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) and its sequel Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love).

Introducing the unprecedented Word of Venus editions

John Dryden (1631 – 1700) – translator of Ovid’s ‘Art of Love, Book I’. Detail of engraving by Jacob Houbraken (1698-1780), in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Each book of The Word of Venus Art of Love then contains a seventeenth-to-eighteenth-century classic English translation of the corresponding book from Ovid’s series of love seduction manuals. These are verse translations, elegantly rendered in pithy, pleasing, and memorable rhyme and metre. Plus, I’ve edited and annotated and, indeed, revised and formatted each of them as an easy-to-read, user-friendly manual for the twenty-first century and made them far more accessible then for today’s students, and would-be students, of Ovid’s amorous art. I’ve highlighted each poem’s coherent structure then with discrete sections and corresponding headlines and sub-headings.

What’s more, these abridged editions are also enhanced with helpful notes and commentary. Since many of the mythical, geographical, and other cultural references are stumbling blocks now for the average reader, I’ve edited most of them out and replaced them with brief and easy-to-understand omitted content summaries. These summaries quickly convey the essential gist and significance of the omitted ancient cultural references and stories. The notes, meanwhile, provide added clarification and help uncover each text’s subtler assets and thus afford more insight. With the formatting, notes, and commentary then, you’ll see I’ve made these books far more accessible and unearthed a rare stash of wonderful treasures.

> View and download a free PDF preview! > Get your copies now!

Race-day at the Circus Maximus, where a lover could be found. Image of ‘Chariot Race’ by Alexander von Wagner (1838-1919) from ‘Roma: Ancient, Subterranean, and Modern Rome, in Word and Picture’ (1916) by Albert Kuhn (1839-1929)

These extraordinary books then are succinctly packed with a great hoard of timeless, and time-tested (over 2000 years), dazzlingly witty epigrammatic tips and inspiration on the art of classic love seduction and how to become an extraordinary lover.

And now, you can get the first two books, for men, here today, exclusively from my online store, for just £16.

But, before you do, allow me first to share how this all began. What follows is the genesis then of The Word of Venus edition of each book of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) and its sequel Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love).

How Ovid first helped me

Before: the standard format

Back when I first browsed a book of Ovid’s didactic love poems, it wasn’t inviting to read. There was just line after line and page after page of incessant verse, great blocks of it, containing references and allusions that were mostly obscure to me then. The notes provided some pointers, and a limited amount of help, but were mostly too brief and incomplete. What’s more, I’ve found other editions are more or less the same.

Meanwhile, I was hungry to benefit from Ovid’s wisdom.

Even so, though, apart from the mythical, geographical, and other cultural references, Ovid’s teachings are, nonetheless, clear and easy enough to understand. From what I read and understood then, I could tell these poems were gold. So, I promptly noted some of the principal lines for future reference. The rhythm and rhyme, meanwhile, made them easier to recall.

What’s more, they helped.

Requited love represented by Eros and Anteros – engraving by Jacob Matham (1571-1631), in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Armed with Ovid’s advice then, I soon fell in love with a delightful Italian Donna (Lady). It seems a strange coincidence now that this enchanting beauty came from Ovid’s native land and from a race comprising some who are even said, at least mythologically, to have been descendants of his inspiring goddess Venus.

With her melodious intonation, she sang like a Siren when she spoke. I’d gaze endlessly, in ecstatic wonder, at her face – an endless source of diverse and captivating looks. And, I’d lose myself in the exotic depths of her dark Latin eyes. She was, or became to me, a personification of Venus herself, or ‘Love’s fair goddess’, disguised as a mortal. At least, I saw her once transfigured, apparently as such. My rapturous devotion then was the spontaneous, and often poetic, expression of the ardent love I felt, inspired by her presence and the extraordinary magic between us.

How Ovid might have helped me more

‘The Water-Nymph’, engraved from a design by Thomas Sully (1783–1872), from ‘The Literary Souvenir for 1840’

Cupid’s arrowed then had found its mark and I was all but slain. So, when she returned to Italy, I grieved. I felt Cupid’s arrow had, more or less physically, pierced right through my heart and was firmly lodged there. Actually, it felt more like a spear. Had I studied Ovid more assiduously, I might have better eased my grief with his advice in Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love). I’d not, however, properly studied my master’s works and understood the full extent of his teachings. I merely had a list of quotes I’d referred to to help me seduce.

There’s much more to these books than you’re likely to find in other editions

It wasn’t until years later then that I returned to Ovid. I was rather frustrated and disenchanted at the time by the women I was meeting and many of the seduction ideas and merchants of our time. This time, however, I studied Ovid’s work more diligently. I looked up the all the references. I closely examined the text.

Before long, I began to see its structure was far more profound and logical than it first appeared. It wasn’t just three long, rambling poems of consecutive lines written as a continuous stream of consciousness. Neither was it, essentially, like a handbook written without any chapters or paragraphs.

The birth of Cupid’s School and The Word of Venus

After: The Word of Venus abridged edition

So, that then is why, when, and how The Word of Venus was conceived. I saw what I could do to highlight the coherent structure of Ovid’s poems. I saw what I could do to make these antiquated texts more accessible and easier to understand for today’s students, and would-be students, of Ovid’s amorous art. Needless to say, this idea inspired and excited me.

What’s more, I even began to see what I could do to further systematize Ovid’s teachings and make his timeless art easier to swiftly implement and systematically master. And now, that’s what I’ve done in The Word of Venus Art of Love Home Study Course.

In the meantime, although fascinating, the voluminous work involved since then has been laborious and exacting. The comprehensive research required has been painstaking, thorough, and extensive. These books then are the hard-earned fruit of my arduous labour of love.

What’s more, their production has been a strangely collaborative effort, now spanning millennia. Needless now to say, it began, with my beloved friend and patron Ovid, over 2000 years ago in ancient Rome, before they were thus translated, in England’s green and pleasant land, a little over three centuries ago. And now, much more recently then, and to varying degrees in the respective versions I’ve created of them, I’ve attentively annotated, enhanced, and packaged them for today’s students, and would-be students, of Ovid’s art.

The prophetic god of light Apollo: “First know yourself; who to himself is known, / Shall love with conduct, and his wishes crown.” Engraving by Jacob Matham (1571-1631), in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

I’m Stuart Henry, their editor, or co-author, and publisher. I’m also the founder of Cupid’s School – the unprecedented classic love seduction project … for extraordinary lovers, or, at least, aspirant ones.

Inspired by Ovid’s Ars Amatoria (Art of Love) in particular and the wider benefits of timeless literature in general, Cupid’s School is dedicated to the discreet art of classic love seduction and its attendant art of self-cultivation through literary culture. It’s theme then is love and seduction … but with a distinct literary twist.

Of course, this project all began, though, with the sheer timelessness of our immortal poet Ovid’s amorous art …

The timeless value of these poems

Whilst fads and fashions are fickle and books and ideas come and go with the waves and tides of their times, these books are, quite simply, timeless. That’s why they’re still published then and affectionately read today, more than 2,000 years after they were written.

The nymph-goddess Circe, by Émile Lévy (1826-1890). Image from ‘Salon Illustré’ (1889)

Timeless works, however, are born of timeless minds – or, at least, minds open to the Muses’ timeless inspiration. In these poems then, Ovid demonstrates an incisive understanding of human nature and psychology. His profound understanding of female psychology is particularly clear. What’s more, he demonstrates remarkable skill, born of substantial experience and learning. His learned insight, skill, and experience then, combined with the wit and eloquence of his illuminating figures of speech, deftness of expression, and prodigious learning, all make these poems the timeless classics they are.

Venus, Mars, and Cupid – engraving by Jacob Matham (1571-1631), in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

I’ve read heaps of dating and seduction literature over the years. Whilst some of what I’ve read was helpful in some respects, and to varying degrees, much of it, I found, was dubious at best. Of all I’ve studied, however, the most helpful, insightful, and delightful to read and remember is, by far, Ovid’s timeless love seduction classic Ars Amatoria (Art of Love).

Ovid’s sage instructions are liberally seasoned throughout with his illuminating figures of speech and his enchanting tales and witty references and allusions from classical mythology and the ancient world. He teaches his art then whilst expanding his student’s imagination and enlarging his or her eloquence and wit.

> View and download a free PDF preview!

So, I commend to you now these abridged editions of The Word of Venus Art of Love. These then are The Word of Venus abridged editions of Ovid’s classic love seduction masterpiece Ars Amatoria (Art of Love).

Get your copies here today

Yes, honest reader, you can get the first two books, for men, here today … for just £16 (plus VAT in applicable countries).

So, unlock and discover Ovid’s timeless amorous art for men then in the first two books of his classic love seduction masterpiece Ars Amatoria (Art of Love), with …

1) The Word of Venus Art of Love, Book I – Abridged Edition: How to Find and Seduce a Woman for Love, … PLUS …

2) The Word of Venus Art of Love, Book II – Abridged Edition: How to Win and Secure a Woman’s Love 

Your purchase today includes two 57-page (including front and back matter) instant PDF downloads.

When you click the ‘buy now’ button above, you’ll be swiftly transferred to the secure checkout of my online store, where you’ll be directed to pay by PayPal. Then, once PayPal has processed your payment, you’ll be instantly transferred to your exclusive download page. You’ll also receive an email receipt for your purchase. This email will also contain a link to your exclusive download page.

Plus, you can also get the third book, for women, here … for just £10 (plus VAT in applicable countries).

So, unlock and discover Ovid’s timeless amorous art for women, and learn how our teacher arms the fair, in the third book of his classic love seduction masterpiece Ars Amatoria (Art of Love), with …

3) The Word of Venus Art of Love, Book III – Abridged Edition: How to Captivate a Man and Secure His Love 

Enjoy,

Stuart Henry

Cupid’s School – The Classic Love Seduction Project

Meanwhile, as my patron poet bids me, it’s my honour now to advance Ovid’s immortal fame by ending with the words …

“Ovid was my tutor!”