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Which mythological women write letters in Ovid’s Heroides?
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Ovid
Ovid, copper engraving, c. 17th century.
In the Heroides (Heroines), Ovid presents a series of dramatic monologues written as letters from legendary women to their absent husbands or lovers.1
The collection features several prominent figures from mythology, including:
These epistles utilize the rhetorical exercise known as ethopoiea, or "character drawing," to explore the emotions and perspectives of these women. The later portion of the work includes three pairs of letters, where the lover addresses and is answered by each woman.1