'Callimachi Manes et Coi sacra Philetae, in vestrum, quaeso, me sinite ire nemus. Primus ego ingredior puro de fonte sacerdos Itala per Graios orgia ferre choros.' Cf. iv. 1, 64, 'Umbria Romani patria Callimachi.' In wealth of mythological illustration Propertius is peculiarly Alexandrian. He is continually drawing parallels and contrasts from Greek legend; _e.g._ i. 15, Cynthia how unlike Calypso! iii. 12, Aelia Galla a modern Penelope. Of Roman poets, he names as his predecessors in amatory verse Virgil, Varro Atacinus, Catullus, Calvus, and Cornelius Gallus (ii 34, 61-92). Once he dreams of writing an epic on the Alban kings in the vein of Ennius; iii. 3, 5, 'Parvaque tam magnis admoram fontibus ora, unde pater sitiens Ennius ante bibit.' In Propertius love of social pleasures appears side by side with a strain of deep melancholy _e.g._ in. 5, 21, Me iuvat et multo mentem vincire Lyaeo et caput in verna semper habere rosa, contrasted with the numerous passages where he is thinking of the grave, _e.g._ ii. 1, 71, 'Quandocumque igitur vitam mea fata reposcent, et breve in exiguo marmore nomen ero.' There is no greater patriot than Propertius. Cf. the denunciation of Cleopatra (iii. 11) and the frequency of the epithet 'Romanus.' OVID. (1) LIFE. Ovid's own writings (especially _Tr._ iv. 10) supply nearly all the information we possess regarding his life. The biographies in the MSS. are valueless. P. Ovidius Naso was his full name, in which the MSS. agree. He speaks of himself as Naso simply, and Statius and Martial refer to him by that name; Tacitus and the two Senecas use the _nomen_ Ovidius. He was born in Sulmo, one of the three divisions of the Paelignian country, B.C. 43--the year in which Hirtius and Pansa fell at Mutina. _Tr._ iv. 10, 3, 'Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis, milia qui novies distat ab urbe decem. Editus hic ego sum; nec non ut tempora noris, cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari.' His birthday was 20th March--the second day of the festival of the Quinquatria (cf. _Fast._ iii. 809-814), l. 13, 'Haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae, quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solet.' He belonged to an equestrian family, and he frequently contrasts himself with those who had reached that dignity by military service or by possessing the requisite fortune; _ibid._ l. 7, 'Si quid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres, non sum fortunae munere factus eques.' Cf. _Am._ i. 3, 7; iii. 8, 9; iii. 15, 5; _Pont._ iv. 8, 17. Along with his elder brother, he received a careful education at Rome, and studied also at Athens. He practised rhetoric under Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro. _Tr._ iv. 10, 15, 'Protinus excolimur teneri, curaque parentis imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros.' _Tr._ i. 2, 77, 'Non peto quas quondam petii studiosus Athenas.'