Ovidio e l’otium dei potenti

This paper aims to analyse how the concept of otium of powerful people is exploited within Ovid’s work, with particular reference to the elegiac exilic collections. A close reading of the representation of the otium of Augustus in Tristia 2 (213-240; 509-520; 557-560), on the one hand, and a comparison, on the other, with that of the otium of Germanicus (Pont. 4. 8. 65-78; fast. 1. 19-26) and the Thracian king Cotys (Pont. 2. 9. 47-66) in the Epistulae ex Ponto and in the reworking of the Fasti during the exile show how, if the latter two are presented by the poet as positive models in their use of otium, the portrayal of Augustus instead reveals very problematic aspects from this point of view.