Ars Venandi

This chapter explores thematic affinities between Grattius and Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, focusing on the connection between lover and hunter, the importance of mental skill as a complement to pure physical exertion, and the art of hunting as a civilizing force. It is argued, moreover, that the interplay between brawn and brains, articulated in Grattius as a contrast between arma and ars, allows him to engage with the ‘Callimachean’ aesthetic literary debate as played out in Augustan poetry and in Ovid in particular: Grattius’ opening sections on thinly wrought nets and deceptive snares can be seen to offer significant potential for metapoetic readings.