Ovid's "ex ponto" 1.1.: struggling to remain a roman poet in exile

Ovid's exilic works – Tristia and Ex Ponto – aim at several goals at the same time. The poet seeks, with the help of his own poetic Muse, to survive in an alien location and to bear his solitude without his closest family members and friends, and at the same time to maintain his poetic relevance and fame in Rome; he also tries to apologise to Augustus and begs for his mercy to grant him permission to come back home. Ovid's exile poetry is multi-layered. It needs to be read both directly and between the lines at the same time. Ovid hyperbolizes his difficulties in exile and criticizes the town of Tomis, its climate, culture and its habitants, seeking to present his exilic situation as nearly unbearable. Even though, according to scholars, the exile was harsh, nevertheless, such poetic presentation is biased by the poet’s own sufferings. On the other hand, Ovid compares his fate with that of the mythical heroes, especially Odysseus, in order to find a link between mythology and his own situation, and, by using old and familiar topoi, to invert them in order to persuade the reader to wish him comfort. Also, as Ovid compares himself with Aeneas and Odysseus, he seeks to show himself more enduring than those heroes and endowed with less good-will from the gods. Ovid modifies the poetics of his work in each elegy according to the addressee of the particular poem. When addressing his poems to Augustus, he worships the emperor as a god, particularly comparing him to Jupiter, seeking to soothe the emperor's wrath and in this way to obtain permission to return to Rome. Letters dedicated to his wife seek to change his reputation at home as a poet who once did not object to, or even encouraged, adulterous behaviour. When writing to his friends, Ovid tries to make use of their influence and amicitia to spread his poetry from the exile and to forward his requests to Augustus, as well as to get much needed emotional support from his friends. In this way, when writing to relatives and friends, and foreseeing that the general public would also read these letters, he excites the reader’s curiosity and creates an illusion for the readers as if they are given a chance to glance at Ovid's personal life and sufferings